Depression affects all aspects of your life – mood, sleep, appetite, ability to function. Most of all, it affects your happiness. It is a very common mental disorder, which will affect around 1 in 6 people during their lifetimes.
The usual treatments are medication and psychotherapy, but treatment-resistant depression is increasingly common. Definitions vary, but up to 30% of major depressive disorder could be treatment-resistant.
A 2023 article reviewed 12 recent studies. It concludes that neurofeedback ‘may be an effective intervention tool that can be utilised as a supplementary treatment for depression’.
The same article points out that neurofeedback has a low risk of side-effects. Further, although neurofeedback sessions can seem expensive at first glance, the long-lasting improvement makes them cost-effective over time.
At ZenWaves we use neurofeedback to treat both standard and treatment-resistant depression. We tailor plans to you individually, so we use neurofeedback as a supplement to drugs, or instead of drugs. Our approach is always to find out about you, then propose a treatment plan which considers your situation and your preferences.
In addition to neurofeedback, we may propose nutrigenomic and laboratory testing, and targeted use of supplements.
Any course of treatment at Zenwaves starts with a review of clinical history, a personal interview and a QEEG assessment. The QEEG allows us to look at your brainwaves and how they are different from normal. We use that information to develop a neurofeedback protocol for you.
During neurofeedback sessions, all you have to do is watch a movie or show you enjoy. While your brain is wired up to sensors, that is. A computer program tracks your brain waves, and the closer they are to target, the better the quality of your video. So your brain is encouraged to work in a different and healthier way.
Most people experience no side effects. You may feel a little tired or have a headache – in that case, tell us and we’ll adjust the protocol for your next session.
After multiple sessions – exactly how many varies from person to person – your brain is ‘retrained’ and continues to work in the new, healthy way even without stimulus. It’s the mental equivalent of learning to walk or run better, so you do yourself less damage.
