anxiety reduction
Research Papers
Biofeedback as a placebo: Anxiety reduction facilitated by training in either suppression or enhancement of alpha brainwaves
Assessed the differential effects (on experiential reports of anxiety) of actual performance and perceived success at an EEG biofeedback task. 10 college students who were high in trait anxiety (MMPI, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) underwent training in either the suppression of enhancement of EEG alpha activity with the expectation that success at their biofeedback task would result in reductions of chronic anxiety levels. Both groups experienced significant reductions in both trait and state anxiety. Anxiety reductions were highly correlated with the trainees' ratings of perceived success at the feedback task but were unrelated to either the direction or magnitude of the changes in their alpha activity. (27 ref)
View Full Paper →Alpha Conditioning as an Adjunct Treatment for Drug Dependence: Part II
The use of alpha biofeedback in a multimodal client-centered program is seen to have certain unique advantages for treating an opiate-abusing population. It employs immediate reinforcement for success in a task which virtually all subjects can accomplish. Subjects are seen to be responding to intrinsically important motives, including the desire to reduce transient, situational anxiety or to seek a state of euphoria. The concreteness and nonverbal nature of the alpha techniques appear to be favorably contrasted to the word therapy techniques which client populations have often found unsuccessful and/or rewarding. The shift of responsibility for health onto the client, combined with the achievement of self-produced success experiences, appears to offer a useful method for therapeutic generalization and treatment.Reservations in such use of alpha biofeedback include the fact that little or no controlled study of alpha as a therapeutic modality has been published. Also, there are data suggesting that anxiety reduction and increase in alpha are not intrinsically tied together. Finally, alpha use is suggested only as one link in a total program focusing on the unique history and motives of the client. The maladaptive motives and habits of the clients make alpha control useful at an early stage, but the therapeutic program must lead to the development of styles of thought and behavior fostering autonomy from such existential crutches. Research is needed to clarify both the short -and long-term functions that alpha can serve in a therapeutic program and the types of substance abusers that can most profit from its use. More clarification is also needed in the exact techniques of alpha training to allow comparison and criticism.
View Full Paper →Physiological and Psychological Effects of Alpha and Emg Feedback Training with College Drug Users a Pilot Study*
Twenty four volunteer college students who were regular drug users were randomly allocated to three training groups of equal size: alpha feedback, EMG feedback and a joked control group. The subjects were unaware of which feedback condition they received and were asked to practise at home during a six month follow up period in order to achieve a relaxed state similar to that experienced during training. No group was successful in retaining gains made in their alpha levels during each session, but the EMG group significantly reduced their muscular activity during training and retained the improvement during follow up. The alpha and joked groups did not greatly improve their EMG during training but at follow up achieved the same levels as the EMG group. There was evidence to suggest that a reduction in drug use among light and medium users was maintained during follow up. Significant and lasting improvements were made by each group in the duration and quality of their sleep and anxiety levels were reduced.
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