When we’re in a situation with other people and our understanding of the social dynamics and complexities is overwhelmed.  

Hypervigilance as a result of avoiding a bully or abuser is another form of anxiety.  We can detect vulnerability to this with a brain map.

Our brain interprets all sensory stimulus as directed to ourselves.  We lose the ability to discern what is directed at us, and which matters or interactions are of no concern to us.  This sets us up for panic attacks and ultimately psychosis.  It also means we become singular in our perspective, unable to take on other points of view. 

An extreme example is when we feel that too much is going on around us and we respond by having to turn the music down, explode at our environment or, potentially worse, retreating into tacit acceptance and self-deprecating thought.  We can even feel that people are talking about us, and are convinced that we are the centre of every situation.  This is highly stressful, resulting in anxiety and often deep depression.  With neurofeedback, we can restore the brain’s ability to self-regulate efficiently.

Our episodic understanding of the situation, how we got there and what happens next, is impaired, and we are unsure of where we are and where we’re going.  This hyperactivates our amygdala, and the sensation is highly emotional

We become prone to overly interpreting the emotional content of words and sounds, creating an air of prickliness and pushing people away without knowing it

Our Ascending Reticular Activating System (ARAS)  is responsible for setting the right level of physiological arousal, or wakefulness, for the situation, and to remain stable there.  When this is on overdrive, we are pushed further into fight-or-flight mode than necessary, thus heightening sensory sensitivity.  Panic attacks are an extreme manifestation.  We may also feel trauma-like body sensations.  

An inability to self-nurture – creating an emotional safe-space around us – and self-soothe – being able to talk ourselves down rationally from a situation, thus resulting in mood instability.  This can also manifest in dissociation and heightened pain perception, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue.  We ruminate about the past and worry about the future, instead of being able to enjoy the present.  

Our autonomic nervous system is primed to produce sympathetic nervous system responses, or fight-flight-freeze mode.  This wears us down, as it is more energy intensive, our recuperation periods are shortened and we can even become used to the adrenalinergic buzz of being in hypervigilant overdrive.  It becomes a safe space.  Our pain perception is altered and fluctuates between numbness and hypersensitivity.  Deprived of a ‘calm’ reference state, we become vulnerable to overattributing emotions to sensations.    

There are distinct brain areas regulating pain, physical sensations and our self-awareness, and we can train these with neurofeedback.  We can also train brain areas with strong connections to sub-cortical structures that regulate our autonomic nervous system, including the amygdala and our reticular activating (or limbic) system.  Our brain is ultimately in charge of trauma response, and with neurofeedback we can assess vulnerability to its various submodalities, and address these with training.  This is evidence-based and effective. 

See here for more information on Neurofeedback and Trauma.

Self-criticism overshadows motivation and confidence, and we become self-aware and distracted by negative thoughts and feelings.  Some use acquired habits to distract from this. Our confidence, motivation and social interaction suffer as a result. 

Over-attentive with regard to bodies, shapes and faces, and excessive monitoring of our own in relation to others, our self-confidence and social interactions suffer.  There are neural correlates for this which we can train.

Sleep is adversely affected by trauma and anxiety.  First, the mind needs to ‘let go’ in order to enter deeper sleep cycles, which is a challenge for many.  Excessive rumination and intrusive thoughts can hinder this, as does the loss of our ability to rationally calm ourselves down.  The depth of our sleep is governed by our ability to self-nurture and create an emotional ‘safe space’.  Homeostasis during various sleep stages is governed by other parts of our brain, some still involving the cortex.  With a Kaiser Neuromap we can detect dysrhythmia in the relevant brain areas and train these accordingly with Default Network Training (together, Personalised Brain Training).  

Focus and organisation suffers as a consequence of sleep issues.  This time, different brain areas are affected, which we can also train.  When we are unable to concentrate and produce our best output, we become demotivated and our mood and sense of self suffer.  Again, there are brain areas responsible for these aspects of being, for which we can again detect dysrhythmia and provide neurofeedback training.  The process is holistic – many components have to work together effectively for us to function optimally.

Mood regulation suffers when we lose social integration, sleep and focus. Neurofeedback training found to significantly help 80% of people with depression by aiming to restore motivation, improving sleep and focus, and reducing anxiety.  

There are numerous potential cortical contributors to depression, and with a brain map we can see vulnerabilities.  

Neurofeedback training lets us address these as well as establish a generally improved sense of well-being in a holistic manner.  The positive effects of neurofeedback training have been shown to be lasting.  Neurofeedback is non-invasive and medication-free.