Brainwave Entrainment Is Not A Treatment For Anxiety
Brainwave entrainment is not a recognised treatment for anxiety, depression or trauma. But it is also true that cardiovascular exercise and dietary restriction are not ‘treatments’ for obesity. There is a difference between a medical style ‘treatment’ and something that we can just do to create meaningful change for ourselves. Yet one is not necessarily better than the other.
Observing that the use of brainwave entrainment is not a treatment for anxiety, depression, or trauma can seemingly give the impression that it is not an important or effective tool for managing these incredibly difficult complaints. But countless people have reported it to be profoundly transformative to the point of being ‘life-changing, whatever that meant for them at the time when they said it.
The word treatment seems to imply that it would be the most effective and worthwhile way of fixing a problem. Yet this may only be true of certain health conditions and not others. The question is, when it comes to the likes of anxiety disorders, chronic stress, depression, insomnia, PTSD and ADHD, is ‘treatment’ all we need?
If you are suffering with a massive bladder infection or an aggressive cancer, it is currently fair to say that, as far as we know, treatment is not only ‘the best’ but ‘the only’ course of action that is likely to bring success.
But going back to our previous example, what if you are overweight? If you want to lose weight, is treatment the best option? Or is the reduction of carbohydrates and an increase in physical movement the best course of action?
When we consider our ‘treatment’ options for weight loss, extreme solutions like gastric band surgery are the only solutions that could be termed medical treatment.
'Going for a run isn't healthcare; it's self-care.'
So I am sure we can all agree that ideally, it isn’t treatment that we want when we are overweight but actually improvements in our lifestyle and self-care. We want to be as healthy as we can possibly be with the minimum dangerous or invasive medical intervention possible.
ADHD is an excellent test case for the occasional power of ‘self-care’ over healthcare in the mental health field. Countless parents have found that treatment is not the most important or effective way of improving their child’s ADHD. Instead, they found that reducing artificial food colouring, sugar and screen time was infinitely more beneficial than the often highly questionable treatments like Ritalin that were offered. This well-trodden path is an excellent reminder that it is not only physical issues like obesity that can respond to more than just ‘treatment’.
Looking at the whole topic of treatment this way could be useful when considering how you are going to overcome a challenge like anxiety, depression, PTSD, ADHD, insomnia or chronic stress. What other tools and changes could be made that would bring similar or even better long-term benefits than treatment alone? Maybe none! But you won’t know for sure unless you keep an open mind.
Whilst treatment is often an absolute necessity; it may not be all we need to get truly happy with ourselves and back to fully enjoying the life we have been given. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the percentage of treatments (like antidepressants) definitely carry their risks. Therefore it’s at least worth considering that there may be other ways of feeling better beyond the classical treatment of conditions like anxiety disorders and PTSD.
Brainwave entrainment is not a treatment for conditions like anxiety, stress, ADHD and PTSD. But that does not stop people who use it from finding dramatic changes in their mental well-being even after a small handful of sessions. Experiencing and observing this on a daily basis has, for me, been a constant reminder that there’s so much more to recovering from mental health challenges like anxiety, depression and PTSD than just treatment.
'Tools and activities that support healthy brain and body function can be just as useful and, in fact, even more useful than treatment in many cases.'
At the very heart of this approach to mental health is the idea that conditions like anxiety, PTSD, ADHD and stress are not diseases. They are something far more personal that calls many of us to look closely at ourselves and our lives to try and understand where things are at with balance. And it is entirely possible that one day we will understand ourselves and our brains well enough to resolve our deepest pains without needing pills or therapists. But until then, the smartest option is probably to keep a cautiously open mind about everything we call a treatment; and everything that we call ‘self-care. And most important of all… if you are struggling, seek professional help!
Brainwave Entrainment targets the brain centres that are responsible for fight or flight and the brain’s relaxation response. It does this using high-frequency LED light that is designed to match the frequencies we see on the brain scans of happy, relaxed human beings. Sessions last for 30 to 45 minutes, and most people find them deeply relaxing at the time and subsequently report profound changes in their mood, sleep and general levels of resilience.
At the very heart of this approach to mental health is the idea that conditions like anxiety, PTSD, ADHD and stress are not diseases. They are something far more personal that calls many of us to look closely at ourselves and our lives to try and understand where things are at with balance. And it is entirely possible that one day we will understand ourselves and our brains well enough to resolve our deepest pains without needing pills or therapists. But until then, the smartest option is probably to keep a cautiously open mind about everything we call a treatment; and everything that we call ‘self-care. And most important of all… if you are struggling, seek professional help!
Brainwave Entrainment targets the brain centres that are responsible for fight or flight and the brain’s relaxation response. It does this using high-frequency LED light that is designed to match the frequencies we see on the brain scans of happy, relaxed human beings. Sessions last for 30 to 45 minutes, and most people find them deeply relaxing at the time and subsequently report profound changes in their mood, sleep and general levels of resilience.
Brainwave Entrainment isn’t healthcare; it’s self-care for the brain. But no matter how good it is, there will always be so many other ways to support your mental health. If, for you, self-care means exercise and it makes your mood better, keep doing it. If self-care means listening to some cheesy music and dancing like an actual crazy person, then you should do that. If self-care means playing golf with some of your favourite people, have at it… often. If self-care means drinking green juices for a week, you should do that too. Anything that genuinely improves the way you feel and helps clear your mind of negative thoughts could be considered a form of self-care or even self-treatment, but for now, we should just call it commonsense. Do lots of it.