Biofeedback may help sadness

Try Neurofeedback, biofeedback for the brain

As fall’s cooler temperatures and shorter days set in, and the strain of the pandemic continues, many people are struggling more deeply with sadness. Social distancing and staying safe can mean cancellation of activities we usually enjoy, as well as less social contact, and all of this can take its toll on our mood.

There are many who turn to prescription medications to boost their sense of well-being during times like this. However, there’s another method that can use your body’s own energy and physiology to naturally help regulate your mood.

Neurofeedback uses specialized equipment to help a person learn about and better balance their brainwaves. Just like your heartbeat, brainwaves have a rhythm and run continuously, day and night. If you were to wear a heart monitor, you might learn that your heart beats quicker than it needs to, and you could learn exercises to help slow your heartbeat, thus reducing your stress.

This process would be called “Biofeedback,” and Neurofeedback is a type of Biofeedback for the brain.

So, if your brain rhythms are slower than they should be, you might be more prone to feel sad and/or unmotivated. “Gina” was finding it increasingly hard to get out of bed, and her mood and energy levels were very low. She decided she was tired of the way her mind and body felt, and she began the Neurofeedback process. Over several sessions, her brain learned to sustain a more balanced state, and she found her mood and energy had lifted.

Neurofeedback can also help “insulate” us against things in our environment that make it hard to cope, by naturally and gently lessening the nervous system’s response to stressors. This can be helpful to people with a range of symptoms, including mood, behavior, sleep, pain and behavioral issues. Some people respond very quickly to the process, but most take several sessions to begin to “feel” the changes that are happening.

Gretchen Morse, DMA, is Board Certified in Neurofeedback and serves on the Board of the Midwest Society for Behavioral Medicine and Biofeedback.For information, call her at 517/290-4965, visit her website at www.mmneuro.com , or “Like” Mid-Michigan Neurofeedback on Facebook.