"There has to be a better way"

Over the past couple of decades, Neuroscience has taught us that Depression and Anxiety are simply labels for symptoms that point to specific areas of dysfunction in the brain. The medical community's usual "solution" for these brain problems is drugs such as Prozac, Effexor, Zoloft, Paxil, and Xanax. Unfortunately, these drugs work poorly or not at all in at least 30%, effectiveness in relieving symptoms have been found to be no better or even less than placebo for many studies, and all create serious side effects, including a worsening of symptoms and introduction of new problems such as increased suicide risk, sudden death from cardiac problems, and "permanent brain dysfunction." Most importantly, no formal long term studies have been done on the drug's effect on the developing brains of children, or even on the adult brain for that matter.

For those interested, several books detail how these psychiatric drugs work, the effect on the brain, and the potential side effects. Popular titles include Your drug may be your problem, Toxic Psychiatry, and Talking Back to Prozac, both by Peter Breggin, MD, America Fooled by Timothy Scott, and Prozac Backlash by Joseph Glenmullen, MD. Also, information can be obtained on-line by typing in the name of the drug followed by "side effects" and on such web sites as www.askapatient.com

By addressing the brain dysfunction causing the symptoms, NeuroMatrix Neural Efficiency Training™ offers an alternative to drugs. A Quantitative EEG (computerized brain wave analysis) defines where and in what way the brain is doing its job poorly; research based NeuroMatrix Neurofeedback (brain wave training) protocols then remediate what is found.

And, importantly, NeuroMatrix Neural Efficiency Training™ is for more than just mood. Focus, attention and learning ability also improve, memory is sharpened, and emotional resilience is enhanced. And, the results are expected to last a lifetime.

The symptoms of Depression and Anxiety

Depression

We all have times in our life when we feel blue. These are often referred to as "off days" or "the blahs." However, lose a close friend or family member and we encounter something much more intense. Our life can literally shut down as we experience grief, a form of depression. We are "forced" to take time and reflect on what that person meant to us and how much we will miss him or her. The encouraging news is that in a couple of weeks, we slowly start to come out and rejoin the world, though we will no doubt miss our departed loved one for our lifetime.

Major depressive disorder, also known as Clinical Depression, Major Depression, or just Depression, is much more than the sadness we may feel from time to time or the grief we experience when we lose a loved one. Clinical Depression is a serious mental disorder characterized by pervasive low mood, low self esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in activities that are normally pleasurable. And, importantly, it doesn't back off in a couple of weeks.

Major depression, then, is a disabling condition that adversely affects a person's family, work or school life, sleeping and eating habits. Even health is affected. Depressed individuals tend to have shorter life expectancies that those without depression, mainly because of greater susceptibility to medical illnesses such as cardiovascular disease.

Anxiety

We all respond with fear when we have a real or perceived threat in our environment. For example, if we hear the back door rattle while watching TV late at night, our breathing speeds up, our heart pounds, and our muscle tighten up. In a fraction of a second, we are prepared to defend ourselves or run like the dickens. This is the so-called "fight or flight response." If we come to realize that the rattle was just the wind, we give a sigh of relief, relax, and go back to watching TV. Anxiety, on the other hand, can be thought of as a feeling of fear with no identifiable external threat. The symptoms may include heart palpitations, fatigue, nausea, shortness of breath, chest pain, stomach aches, and headaches. Blood pressure and heart rate may increase dramatically, and our digestion and immune system may become compromised. These unpleasant feelings can consume our thoughts, body, and emotions, driving us to look for relief to calm the discomfort. In the extreme, the uneasiness, fear, and worry can lead to panic attacks and addictions.

Neuroscience and Mood Disorders

While Depression and Anxiety are commonly thought of as "mental disorders," brain technologies such as the Quantitative Electroencephalogram (computerized brain wave analysis), PET scan, functional MRI, and SPECT scan have demonstrated that these symptoms are produced by specific brain dysfunction. For those interested in this extensive research, an internet search for "depression" or "anxiety" followed by Quantitative EEG, for example, will yield a large number of hits. A recent Google search for "Depression + EEG," for example, yielded 145,000 entries and "Anxiety + EEG" offered 96,000. Many of these papers and sites describe the abnormal brain wave patterning in these mood problems. Also, books such as Change your brain, change your life by Dr. Daniel Amen describe the findings of brain imaging technology with various "psychiatric" symptoms.

The electroencephalogram (EEG) has a long history, having been used clinically to help diagnose diseases of the nervous system since the 1940s and to study and rule out pathology in those with mood disorders since the 1960s. When computer analysis of the brain wave signals became commercially available in the 1980s, research into brain function in those with mood disorders expanded even more dramatically.

The PET and SPECT scans require injection of radioactive materials, limiting their use because of safety issues (cancer from radiation). While the functional MRI machines emit no radiation, the technology, by any standard, is very expensive. Startup costs begin at $1M and run up to $3M, plus $50,000 a month operating expenses. Most importantly, while these technologies present very valuable research information about the working brain, nothing can be done to change what is found. Only the Quantitative EEG (QEEG) findings combined with specific neural efficiency training protocols allow both the defining and remediation of the neurological issues found. Another big advantage of the QEEG is that it is not invasive and does not involve radiation. It can be safely repeated as many times as desired.

Mood and the Brain

Many people know that a stroke (a clogged or ruptured blood vessel) on one side of the brain can cause numbness or paralysis on the opposite side of the body. Less well known is that mood can also be dramatically affected. If there is a stroke in the right side of the brain, for example, spirits may stay high with the person not seeming to recognize that there is a serious problem. Laying there partially paralyzed, he or she may argue that there is nothing wrong and they just want to go home. This surprising reaction came because the brain quickly reassigned duties normally performed by the now damaged right hemisphere to the more normally functioning upbeat, optimistic left hemisphere. Without balancing input from the opposing negative right side, the left hemisphere may be limited in recognizing problems, even big ones such as not being able to move an arm or leg. If there is a stroke on the left side of the brain, there will likely be paralysis on the right side of the body, speech may be negatively affected (because the "mechanics" of speech are on the left side), and, even if the damage is not too bad, there may despondency and a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. This is because the pessimistic nature of the right side of the brain is in full bloom and dominating the personality.

What does all this have to do with depression? These dramatic experiences with stroke victims have shown us that the dominant hemisphere (usually left in right handed people) subserves positive feelings while the nondominant hemisphere is responsible for our negative emotions. To put this "division of labor" into perhaps overly simplified terms, you can think of the left side of the brain as the "happy brain" and the right side as the "sad brain."

The brain waves of Depression and Anxiety

Depression

The dramatic mood changes that can be seen in those with stroke help us understand the brain wave patterning most often seen in those with chronic depression. For many, the left side of the brain, especially the frontal and temporal lobes (front and sides), are over producing Alpha waves instead of the expected high frequency working Beta waves. Alpha waves are oscillating rhythmic activity that the brain uses to "idle" or rest a working area. With the "happy" left hemisphere "idling out," the brain defaults to the "sad" right side. Feelings of melancholy and depression follow.

In some, however, the EEG reveals a different but still understandable pattern: Instead of the left brain showing a shift into neutral, areas in the right hemisphere are found to be dominated with fast, high energy Beta waves. The Beta waves "ramp up" the right hemisphere, allowing it to wrest control and dominate the optimistic left. In either case, the outcome is the same: The mood becomes dark and gloomy.

There are exceptions to the zoned out left or hyperactive right hemisphere EEG findings. For some, the Quantitative EEG show the left hemisphere to be "locked down" with excessive Coherence. Coherence is an EEG measure of the brain's communication networks. When the Coherence is excessive, it means performance circuits are too tightly coupled and the brain is struggling to allocate its resources. This acts like a traffic jam in the brain and energy transfer becomes slow and sluggish. With the left brain not being able to do its job efficiently, the "happy" brain becomes unhappy indeed, leaving a "stuck" mood in place.

Finally, Delta slow waves from the deep brain can dominate and overwhelm the faster working frequencies of the cortex (thinking brain). When this happens, the brain cannot efficiently activate critical working areas in the cortex. A zoned out feeling then occurs.

To summarize the EEG findings in those with depression:

• Idling Alpha waves in the left hemisphere, causing the brain to default to the right hemisphere.
• Fast Beta waves over energizing the right side.
• Excessive Coherence locking down the left hemisphere.
• High voltage Delta slow waves submerging the fast working frequencies.

What causes these neurological issues? It can be from any number of causes, including labor difficulties or birth trauma, genetics, childhood emotional or physical trauma, and even stressful incidents in life. Often as not, the reason for the brain dysfunction is not known and never will be. Fortunately, identifying what caused the problem is not important. The Quantitative EEG detects and defines the patterns and problems that are producing the symptoms; NeuroMatrix Neural Efficiency Training™ sessions help the brain remediate the dysfunctional areas. Once done, depression can slide away and life can be fun and exciting again.

Anxiety

Most of us have experienced the "wired" feeling from too much coffee or soft drinks. This is due to the stimulating effects of caffeine, a central nervous system stimulant. Certain medical problems can also produce feelings of anxiety, but often the cause is not identified with standard medical tests. When this is the case, the feelings of anxiety are typically associated with a problem with the right side of the brain.

The right hemisphere of the brain can be thought of as the "gathering brain." This is where information from the outside world first enters the brain system for initial processing. When faulty communication networks or lazy slow brain waves hamper the brain's ability to analyze incoming data, the amygdala and basal ganglia in the deep brain may perceive a threat and "ramp up" to meet the challenge. (The amygdale has independent authority to over ride our conscious brain to protect us from danger; the basal ganglia set our anxiety's "idle speed.") With these deep brain structures in full alert, we are filled with anxiety and made ready to stand our ground to fight or to run like heck. Unfortunately, if there is no real threat to our safety, we are left in a high state of arousal with nothing to do with it. And, for some, it just doesn't go away.

The Quantitative EEG tends to show one of several patterns in those with anxiety:

• Excessive Coherence over the right hemisphere.
• Slow wave frequencies in the Theta (4-8 cycles per second) and slow Alpha (8-10 cycles per second) range over the right hemisphere, especially in the frontal and temporal regions (front and side).
• Excessive high frequency Beta in the center of the brain (central vertex).

The sometimes seen high frequency activity is a reflection of over activity in the deep brain, probably the basal ganglia.

Panic attacks

Panic attacks are sudden, unexpected periods of extreme anxiety, often accompanied by hypervigilance, fear, nausea, and profuse sweating that appears "out of nowhere." There may be hyperventilation (rapid breathing) and a feeling of imminent death or that a heart attack or nervous breakdown is occurring.

The EEG in those with panic attacks often shows the same characteristics as those with anxiety, but a study that recorded the brain waves during actual panic attacks found that 30% had the EEG pattern of epilepsy! This study suggests that the source of the panic attacks in some may be a seizure disorder.

What's a person to do?

NeuroMatrix Neural Efficiency Training™ offers a safe, effective alternative to drugs and their side effects. And, the analysis and training are totally "data driven:"

• The initial Quantitative EEG data is compared to the brain wave patterning of normal subjects to understand what specific neurological inefficiencies are producing the symptoms;
• Follow up Quantitative EEGs are done at each session to document session to session improvements;
• Frequent normative database updates are printed and compared to the initial evaluation to determine how much remediation has been accomplished.

Training Schedule

If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, we schedule to your convenience. At least two to four sessions a week are recommended.

For those coming from outside the Dallas/Fort Worth area, a typical stay is two weeks. We do two sessions a day, working six days a week.

Many complete NeuroMatrix Neural Efficiency Training™ in 24-36 sessions. Those with a traumatic brain injury, complicated symptoms, or a long history of drug use may take a few more sessions. Should this prove to be the case, training can be completed on a brief return visit in a few months or weeks, or with a special home trainer.

Is coming to Plano (Dallas), Texas difficult right now or your budget tight? Please visit our Pegasus Mental Fitness System page for an exciting option.

Fees

E-mail us from our Contact Page or call 972.733.3009 or 972.612.0160 for our current fee schedule.

To schedule an evaluation

Just call 972.733.3009 to arrange a convenient time for you or your family member to start.

For more information

For more specific information, send Dr. Sams an email from our Contact Page or call 972.612.0160 for personal attention.

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