Ritalin continues to be one of the most over-prescribed drugs in US history, with diagnoses of ADD and ADHD coming down the line for every four-year-old that would rather run around the classroom than sit still for snacktime. Fortunately, with each passing year, more and more parents are turning away from the thought of drugging their children — and turning toward an option that has neither side effects nor a cost that will go on for the rest of your child’s life.
That option is EEG Biofeedback Training, or EEGBT. It’s a high-tech treatment option that uses EEG electrodes to record the goings-on inside your child’s brain without breaking the skin, and shows the child what’s going on in their own head. About 70% of parents whose children undergo EEGBT rate the treatment’s success as either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.
Here’s what happens in an EEGBT treatment: EEG electrodes are attached to the child’s head in two or four places. The brain’s electrical activity is displayed on a screen in the form of waves on the therapist’s screen, as well as in the form of an animation on a screen the child can see. As the various frequencies of brainwave increase or decrease, the animation changes, giving feedback to the child. The brain begins to understand how to manipulate its own wavelengths in order to make the animation perform in specific ways.
The doctor then teaches the child to associate certain forms of brainwave formation with ‘success’ or ‘winning’. As the associations between calmer, more focused brainwaves and ‘winning’ increase, the brain becomes more likely to become calmer and more focused in response to excitement, creating a feedback loop that dampens excitable behavior and improves attention and focus.
Realistically, a child that has never been on Ritalin or other meds for ADD or ADHD has the best rate of success with EEGBT. Most kids that are already on such meds can generally dramatically reduce the minimum effective dose, but won’t generally be able to completely drop the medicine.
EEGBT — it’s just one of the many powerful uses that modern biotechnology has found for EEG electrodes. If your kid shouldn’t be on Ritalin but needs help staying in control of himself, check it out today.
