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Biofeedback
Biofeedback is an alternative approach to therapy for
agoraphobia in which you learn to reduce anxiety symptoms in
your body by taking conscious control of certain brain
activity.
In biofeedback therapy, you will be hooked up to an
electroencephalograph (EEG), an electronic monitoring device
that measures and monitors brain activity with sensing
devices (electrodes) placed on your scalp. The electrodes
detect energy flow in your brain and display them as waves
on a monitor.
As they appear on the monitor, your brain’s “waves” are
transformed to a video format and displayed on a second
monitor. You are seated across from this second monitor and
are taught how to alter your brain wave patterns. When your
brain wave patterns are in a normal rhythm or range, you are
reinforced on the monitor by points, colors, or music.
In this way, through operant conditioning (i.e., rehearsal
and positive feedback), you can learn to exert conscious
control over your brain’s energy. Eventually you learn to
apply this skill when you are in normal life settings and
not hooked up to an EEG.
After enough biofeedback training, most people with
agoraphobia are able to learn to lower their anxiety levels
by keeping their brain activity in a natural rhythm. When
you are able to regulate brain activity, the activity of
your central nervous system is also more regulated
(including body temperature, heart rate, breathing, etc.)
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