Millions of people across the United States are affected by anxiety disorders every year. In fact, it’s the most prevalent mental health disorder in the country, impacting as many as 40 million Americans at any given time. Anxiety can have many physical, social, and financial impacts on an individual. It’s undeniably difficult to deal with, but anxiety is highly treatable. If you are struggling to manage your mental health, it’s important to seek treatment as soon as possible. And if the treatment you’re currently receiving isn’t providing you the relief you need, it’s time to find a new regime. One such anxiety treatment in downtown Denver worth considering is neurofeedback to retrain your brain.
But before we dive in, let’s take some time to understand the difference between anxious feelings and anxiety disorders.
Anxious feelings versus anxiety disorder
It’s normal for us all to feel anxious from time to time. However, people with anxiety disorders experience excessive feelings of worry, apprehension, nervousness, and fear more often than not. Anxiety disorders are experienced through both physical and psychological symptoms that can range in severity and greatly impact your quality of life.
What is neurofeedback?
Neurofeedback, also known as EEG biofeedback, is a non-invasive, non-pharmacological therapy that measures the electrical activity occurring in your brain and helps you retrain your brain. Through real-time feedback and positive reinforcement, neurofeedback therapy helps strengthen the connectivity in certain parts of your brain that may not be functioning the way they should.
The connection between anxiety disorders and dysfunctional amygdala
People with anxiety often have connectivity issues between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, which can contribute to excessive anxiety responses. The amygdala is the emotional processing center of your brain. It’s part of the limbic system and is responsible for regulating your stress response.
When dysfunction occurs in your amygdala, your brain and body are constantly in “fight or flight” mode, which contributes to the psychological and physical symptoms associated with anxiety. Neurofeedback provides real-time feedback about the state of your brain and helps enhance the connectivity between the amygdala and prefrontal cortex.
Studies show that once connectivity is improved, it’s maintained, even after treatment has ended. Neurofeedback can lead to long-lasting and sustainable changes in the way your brain functions. And it’s incredibly simple in practice.
What to expect in a neurofeedback training session
During a neurofeedback training session, electrodes are placed on your scalp and used to measure and provide feedback about the state of your brain. When your brain is functioning optimally, a visual or auditory reward is given, such as a movie or song.
When it’s not, that reward is taken away, signifying to your brain it needs to work to get back to that optimal state. As with any kind of training, this begins to become easier and easier over time. And eventually, optimal brain functioning becomes second nature.
Learn more about anxiety treatment in downtown Denver
If you’re interested in learning more about this highly effective anxiety treatment in downtown Denver, reach out to us today at Braincode Centers. We offer neurofeedback as well as traditional talk therapy to help you manage your mental health and take control of your anxiety disorder.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
