An Overview of Biofeedback Techniques

Biofeedback is a complementary and alternative medical treatment which uses various methods to measure the body's processes to help a subject become aware of them, and learn to gain conscious control of them. Generally, the method involves using a device of some sort to make the subject aware of his own responses to stimulus. The theory is that by recognizing the 'feeling' of a bodily process, the subject can work to gain physical control of it.

The theory was proposed in the 1960s by Neal Miller, a Yale University neuroscientist who discovered that rats could be taught to control their heart rates, pulse and other bodily processes once believed to be automatic an involuntary. Biofeedback has been used to treat a number of conditions, including asthma, incontinence, ADHD, anxiety, headaches, high blood pressure and cardiac arrhythmias.

The popularity of biofeedback as a treatment for medical conditions has waxed and waned since the 1960s, and it is currently on the rise again. The use of biofeedback has been widely accepted as a treatment for incontinence disorders, particularly bed wetting, and for the control of hypertension in adults. There are also psychiatrist who use biofeedback as a conditioning tool to help patients deal with phobias.

There are a number of kinds of biofeedback used for different types of treatment. The most common are used to measure brainwaves, body temperature, heart rate, pulse and galvanic skin tension.

-- electromyogram feedback measures muscle tension and is used to treat stress-related illnesses

-- galvanic skin tension biofeedback measures the activities of sweat glands, and is used to treat anxiety related illnesses like phobias and stuttering.

-- Temperature biofeedback measures skin temperature and is used to treat circulatory disorders including high blood pressure and migraine headaches.

The Evidence For

The strongest evidence of the effectiveness of biofeedback is in the area of bed wetting and other incontinence disorders, though there is recent research that biofeedback can help people learn to lower their blood pressure and heart rate. In addition there are small studies and anecdotal reports that biofeedback is useful in:

-- anger management

-- treatment of insomnia

-- treatment of phobias and anxiety

-- controlling migraines

-- treatment of sleep disorders

-- controlling hunger

-- controlling impulse behavior in patients with ADHD

Criticisms of Biofeedback therapy

Most criticisms of biofeedback are based on a lack of scientific evidence that it works. In addition, there are some who criticize it as a uselessly expensive therapy that is used in place of less expensive but just as effective options like meditation and relaxation exercises.