Blissful Sleep Free From Side-effects

by Madge Desmond, M.Ed

Lack of sleep. It's like driving around on flattened tires. There is a reason that one-third of our day is supposed to be devoted to slumber. We need sleep in order to recover from, and make sense of, life stressors that test our patience and our resilience. Traffic, pollution, health concerns, work demands, rude people, and family obligations are just some of the reasons many of us don't get enough sleep. How many? According to a poll taken by the National Sleep Foundation approximately 75% of Americans suffer from frequent insomnia. Given how important sleep is for maintaining good cognitive, physical, and emotional functioning, that's a whole lot of tired people out there bringing a whole lot less than their best game to work, school, play, and relationships.

Without adequate sleep memory grows dull and it's difficult to muster, never mind sustain, a good mood. Lack of sleep compromises the immune system, making tired people more susceptible to diseases. Chronic insomnia can affect the psyche, contributing to depression or even paranoia. Tired drivers cause tens of thousands of accidents every year. It's no wonder the sleeping pill industry is booming. Desperately sleepy people will do anything to get a night's rest. When you're dead on your feet, it's easy not to care that those pills have unpleasant side effects such as dizziness and headaches. Sleep deficit can also allow someone to ignore that sleeping pills can be highly addictive. Oh, and by the way, they can cause memory problems, behavior problems and can even interfere with clear thinking. But, what other choice is there? What could be better than a pill that bequeaths sleep glorious sleep?

Neurofeedback, a type of brain training, gets people sleeping and keeps them sleeping without pills or side effects. Among its many other vital responsibilities, the brain is heavily involved in sleep regulation. Should the brain somehow loose its ability to manage good sleep, it may need to be retrained.

Sleeping pills don't train the brain how to get to or stay asleep; chemicals knock the brain into unconsciousness. Neurofeedback takes a gentler approach. A non-invasive therapy, Neurofeedback, also called EEG Biofeedback, involves applying electrodes to the scalp so that, by using an EEG machine, brainwave activity can be observed from moment to moment. The information is shown to the client, and their brain is rewarded for changing its own activity to more appropriate patterns. Benefits can include sleep that is free of nightmares, snoring, teeth grinding, bedwetting and nocturnal talking. Neurofeedback can help with headache activity, dizziness and mood swings (see discussion of sleeping pill side effects above) even if they're unrelated to taking chemicals. Better neuronal regulation can mean better sleep. Better sleep can lead to fewer grouchy people and to more alert drivers behind the wheels of their very big cars. If you can relate to that, maybe it's time you learned more about Neurofeedback.

Madge Desmond is a Neurofeedback Clinician at the EEG Institute in Woodland Hills. Please visit www.eeginfo.com or call (818) 373-1334 for more information, or if you'd like to schedule a free consult.