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EEG: Addictions Case Studies / General Reference Info
Neurofeedback for Addictions
Alcohol and drugs are psychoactive substances. They act in the brain, and their effects represent changes in neurological functioning. It is possible to learn to control one's brain states from within, without drugs and alcohol. In this way, addictions can be overcome without a lifetime of struggle and craving. Neurofeedback (also called EEG biofeedback) trains the brain to modulate its level of activity, to become more or less activated according to the needs of the individual. Some addictions, such as alcoholism, often involve brain over-activation. In these cases it can be helpful to teach the brain to quiet down, become less activated. In other cases, for example in people with ADHD who abuse amphetamines, the brain is under-activated and needs to learn to speed up.
Neurofeedback can improve addictions treatment outcomes and lead to better results than the best mainstream approaches now available. The evidence for this is good and likely will be better when the results of some on-going studies reach peer-reviewed journals. Treatment often begins with QEEG and is individualized, but in most cases it involves slowing down or speeding up the cortex. One widely used process for slowing is called the "alpha-theta protocol" or the Peniston protocol, after the researcher Eugene Peniston who refined and researched it. The technique actually goes back to the Menninger Clinic and work by Elmer Green, Dale Walters, and Steve Fahrion over thirty years ago.
It has been found that many alcoholics, and some other addicts, are deficient in alpha and theta waves. These types of brainwaves are associated, respectively, with a relaxed, alert state and a state of reverie and intense imagery. These alcoholics are cortically hyper-aroused and find it hard to relax and imagine.
Evidence shows pretty clearly that this pattern of hyper-arousal is present before a person becomes alcoholic, although alcoholism itself eventually exacerbates it, reducing alpha and theta even more.
Case Studies
• Compulsive Sexual Behavior, 4 cases
• Alcohol Dependency and Depression in 42yM
• PTSD & Alcoholism: 5 cases
Technical Papers
The treatment of addictive disorders by brain wave biofeedback: a review and suggestions for future research.
Trudeau DL. Clin Electroencephalogr. 2000 Jan;31(1):13-22. Review.
The state of EEG biofeedback therapy (EEG operant conditioning) in 2000: an editor's opinion.
Duffy FH. Clin Electroencephalogr. 2000 Jan;31(1):V-VII.
Alterations in EEG amplitude, personality factors, and brain electrical mapping after alpha-theta brainwave training: a controlled case study of an alcoholic in recovery.
Fahrion SL, Walters ED, Coyne L, Allen T Alcohol Clin Exp Res 16 (3): 547-552 (Jun 1992)
Effect of Neurofeedback on Chemical Dependency Treatment
Kaiser, DA, Othmer, S, & Scott, W. Presented at AAAS Conference in Anaheim, CA, Jan 23 1999
"Native Americans, Neurofeedback, and Substance Abuse Theory." Three Year Outcome of Alpha/theta Neurofeedback Training in the Treatment of Problem Drinking among Dine' (Navajo) People.
Kelley, MJ Journal of Neurotherapy, 2(3), Fall-Winter 1997
Source(s):
EEGSpectrum.com /
ISNR.com
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