Neurofeedback helps bipolar disorder

Siegfried Othmer of eeginfo.com wrote, “Some 57 years ago the efficacy of lithium was discovered in Australia for what was then called 'Manic-Depressive Illness'. The finding took another 15 years or so to gain acceptance in the United States, but then lithium changed the face of American psychiatry almost single-handedly. By now, of course, treatment with lithium and the anti-convulsants is standard. But we are still just trying to manage the condition with the medications.

"Neurofeedback now seems so tailor-made for bipolar disorder that we may well be on the way to a second revolution in psychiatry to supersede the pharmacological revolution spurred on by lithium. The problem is one of brain instability, and this instability appears to be lodged in the cerebral networks. Neurofeedback can be used to train the brain toward stability.

"Neurofeedback represents a more organic remedy, which is buttressed by the reports that people don't experience the constriction of their functionality that is sometimes seen with the meds. Successful training may mean that trainees must forego the euphoria that can attend uncontrolled mania, but at least there is no evidence that function is constrained or that a person's spark and spunk are somehow dulled.

"In practice, neurofeedback is usually combined with a medication strategy. People will usually already be well-medicated when they seek us out for neurofeedback, and successful training will usually result in a downward titration of the medication dose. Where that process ends is a very individual matter, and it also depends on the judgment of the responsible physician.”