Short of obstructive sleep apnea and major depression, most sleep problems fall under one of four categories: The first being what we call having an “over-active” central nervous system, or CNS. Over-active types will often have issues with “busy brain” when trying to fall asleep. They toss and turn a great deal and will wake up multiple times during the night. Feeling like they’ve been just hit by a bus is a common, daily occurrence.
Under-actives are on the opposite end of the spectrum. These folks can sleep 10-12-14 hours a night and still wake up exhausted. For all practical purposes, they look like they’re sleeping through the night, but again, the stages of sleep needed to wake up feeling rested and refreshed are simply not there. Spouses and family members don’t seem to understand, they think under-actives are just hypochondriacs, chronic complainers or both. Many a good solid marriage has been blown apart due to this simple misunderstanding.
The third category is that some lucky winners have both problems in one brain. The left brain hemisphere is under-aroused, while the right is over. While the forth item is unresolved emotional trauma. (More on trauma and sleep in another post).
So is there hope for this legion of sleepless ladies? The answer is a resounding yes! But you won’t hear about it on network TV or from your doctor. It’s a small but growing field called neurofeedback. A 2004 study performed at the Norwalk Hospital Sleep Disorder Center, and published in the Journal SLEEP, showed a significant increase in sleep quality, compared to a control group who received only sham neurofeedback training. It’s beautiful, it’s reasonable, and no one seems to have ever heard of it. Why? Because it doesn’t come in pill form and carries on warning label. Insurance companies, drug companies and the National Institute of Mental Health have done a masterful job of shutting neurofeedback out of the public eye.
A 2004 scientific study, performed at the Norwalk Hospital Sleep Disorder Center and published in the journal SLEEP, showed a significant increase of both sleep quality and quantity, compared to a control group who received only sham neurofeedback training. It works beautifully, it’s reasonable, and no one has ever heard about it for sleep. Why? Because it doesn’t come in a pill form and it has no warning label. For the last 30 years, insurance companies, drug companies and the National Institute of Mental Health have done a masterful job of shutting neurofeedback out of the public eye.
So here’s a quick rundown on how it works. Two sensors are placed on the scalp, much like very delicate microphones that listen in on your brainwaves. This information feeds into software that does a google-like search on your brain globally, (don’t worry, it doesn’t share all those nasty emails that you’ve decided not to send out!) and identifies where your brain has mis-alignments, such as being over-active, under-active, or both. It then feeds this data back the your brain in the form of music with little skips and scratched imbedded in it. The human brain is so self intelligent that it goes right to work balancing itself up when under-active, or down when over-active. Over time and a number of sessions, it achieves it’s own optimal balance, and custom designs a protocol tailored for your brain and your sleep quality. It carries virtually no side effects and results are typically seen in four sessions or less. The really cool thing about this type of neurofeedback, (as opposed to having to take Ambien long term) is that after 15 sessions or so, your done. Your brain has learned to sleep better and will choose to stay that way.
So ladies, raise your glasses of warm milk, and toast! To a sweet dream tonight and a better rested tomorrow.
David A. Mayen, CNP is program director and senior sleep technician for Sleep Recovery Centers. You can find his blog at: http://sleeprecoverycenters.comOr on YouTube: http://tinyurl.com/y9v38f3
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