how to increase mind power when you're always feel depress..

hopefully someone out here can enlighten me.

thank you.

Try meditation

Hi,

I would like to suggest you to see clinical hypnotherapist/counselor/psychologist.
Self hypnosis, EEG biofeedback, nutritional therpay for mood regulation, and psychotherapy are actually good for overcome depressed mood.

thanks for the tips. Most probably its time for me back to meditation schedule

oh well, you're right. nowadays after work, the only things i do get back home to Lyn / gaming / watch tv.

Man, it's tiring after work would like to stay out from social life.

Disrupted sleep and circadian rhythm can have major impact on emotion, cognition and physical health.


Source: https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/11/how-slee...d-in-the-brain/

Why daydreaming could be good for you

Most people think of rest as the times when we stop work or movement in order to relax, sleep, or recover strength. But historians and anthropologists have discovered that what counts as rest has varied a lot over time and across cultures.

Rest is very difficult to understand, not least because it is experienced in so many different ways. To get a better understanding of what rest is, an international and interdisciplinary team of researchers, led by Durham University, recently launched the world’s largest study on rest, called the Rest Test. The Rest Test is an online survey to investigate people’s resting habits and their attitudes towards relaxation and busyness.

We aim to uncover the differences in what people think rest is and the practices that they engage in to find it. Do people really think that rest is the opposite of work? What activities are the most restful? What are people’s inner experiences like when they are “at rest”, and does having more rest really make you feel better?

The default mode

If you mention rest, people tend to think of bodily rest. But, as anyone who has ever experienced his or her mind whirring before sleep knows, physical rest can sometimes be far from restful.

One curious finding shedding new light on the concept of “rest” that has emerged from cognitive neuroscience is the idea of the resting state of the brain; that when our bodies are still our minds remain active. Remarkably consistent patterns of brain activation have been found in a constellation of brain regions – collectively termed “the default mode network”– when people are supposedly “doing nothing” during brain imaging studies.

The default mode network has been closely linked to states of daydreaming and mindwandering leading to suggestions that daydreaming may be the default mode of thought. (Daydreams are thoughts that people have that aren’t tied to the external environment or whatever they’re currently doing.)

Thinking about an email you need to reply to when you’re reading this article, mentally planning your day on the work commute, or thinking about an argument with a loved one during a meeting are all examples of daydreaming, which often occur spontaneously as part of the stream of consciousness.

Consistent with the idea that daydreaming represents a mental baseline, several investigations have shown that people’s minds tend to wander from their current task at fairly consistent rates of between 30 and 50% of the time. Most convincingly, a large scale investigation sampling 2250 people’s daydreams with a mobile phone app as they went about their daily lives, revealed that people were daydreaming on 47% of occasions that they were polled. Daydreaming rates were a consistent 30% across a range of 22 daily activities, except having sex, where the rate of daydreaming was considerably lower.

The downside

Considering that we spend roughly a third of life asleep, this means that we might spend nearly as much time daydreaming as we do sleeping.

Daydreaming is clearly very common, yet people tend to have negative perceptions of it. Pejorative terms as “off with the fairies” and “zoning out” label daydreaming as futile, and daydreamers as lazy, inattentive and dissatisfied with life.

Some studies suggest that daydreaming’s bad reputation might be justified. A recent reviewof daydreaming research shows its negative effects on a variety of tasks such as reading, attention, and memory. Daydreaming behind the wheel might also represent a risk for road traffic accidents. Research published in the BMJ showed that 52% of drivers involved in road traffic accidents reported daydreaming immediately before crashing.

Other studies suggest that daydreaming has emotional, as well as cognitive, costs. Daydreaming has been associated with lower levels of happiness leading to the claim that a “wandering mind is an unhappy mind”.

The benefits

But daydreaming is not necessarily something to be avoided or discouraged. Emerging research has started to shine a spotlight on the benefits of daydreaming. For example, daydreaming has been linked to greater creativity, the ability to delay gratification, problem-solving, and future planning.

The idea that daydreaming is detrimental for personal happiness has also been challenged. Several studies show that a person’s mood following daydreaming depends on the content of their thoughts. For instance, daydreaming is only associated with negative mood when the content of thought is also negative, self-focused, and ruminative.

Other research points to the distinct benefits of daydreaming and imagination for well-being. Asking people to engage in “positive mental time travel”, where they imagine four positive events that will take place the following day, increases levels of happiness. Likewise, new research suggests that daydreaming of loved ones might be an antidote to loneliness, fostering feelings of social connection.

Daydreaming might even be restful – an escape from the external present. (Consider what life might be like if you couldn’t mentally escape your external world when you wanted!) In fact, daydreaming has been suggested as a way of taking mental breaks when we’re doing everyday tasks; a way of refreshing our attention (or “dishabituation”, to use the scientific term). People might also actively enjoy daydreaming and use it for entertainment, comfort, and relief from distress.

Don’t be here now

So, daydreaming isn’t all bad, despite its commonly held negative effects. We are frequently reminded of the benefits of “being in-the-moment” which has been reflected in the widespread interest and popularity of mindfulness and the need to “still the mind”. But what about the benefits of escaping the present and imagining things away from the here and now?

The benefits of daydreaming and its connection with rest are likely to depend on both the content of daydreaming and the context in which it occurs. For example, a busy mind full with thoughts of tomorrows tasks probably won’t be conducive to a restful night’s sleep. But conjuring nostalgic childhood memories to mentally transport you from a noisy commute might be just the ticket for rest and relaxation. Rather than representing a meaningless mental meandering, daydreaming potentially has the power to benefit our lives in many ways.


Source:
https://agenda.weforum.org/2015/12/why-dayd...e-good-for-you/

Today is the World Hypnotism Day (4th January).
Professionals in the field of hypnotism in organizations around the world will be sharing their expertise and promoting the truths and benefits of hypnosis.

According to the American Psychological Association’s Division of Psychological Hypnosis，“hypnosis is a procedure during which a health professional or researcher suggests while treating someone that he or she experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behavior. Although some hypnosis is used to make people more alert, most hypnosis includes suggestions for relaxation, calmness, and well-being. Instructions to imagine or think about pleasant experiences are also commonly included during hypnosis. People respond to hypnosis in different ways. Some describe hypnosis as a state of focused attention, in which they feel very calm and relaxed. Most people describe the experience as pleasant.”


This day was established to help educate the general public of the fact and benefits of hypnosis. Under law of Malaysia, hypnotherapist is considered as a traditional and complementary (T&CMUnder mind, body and soul therapy) health care practitioner. It had been scientifically proven that hypnosis can help to deal with fear, weight loss or gain, stress management, feel younger and sleep management etc.

This post has been edited by zeropoint9: Jan 4 2016, 12:16 PM

what are your thoughts on iboga and ayahuasca rising popularity in the west ?

The brain-computer duel: Do we have free will?

The background to this new set of experiments lies in the debate regarding conscious will and determinism in human decision-making, which has attracted researchers, psychologists, philosophers and the general public, and which has been ongoing since at least the 1980s. At that time, the American researcher Benjamin Libet studied the nature of cerebral processes of study participants during conscious decision-making. He demonstrated that conscious decisions were initiated by unconscious brain processes, and that a wave of brain activity referred to as a 'readiness potential' could be recorded even before the subject had made a conscious decision.

How can the unconscious brain processes possibly know in advance what decision a person is going to make at a time when they are not yet sure themselves? Until now, the existence of such preparatory brain processes has been regarded as evidence of 'determinism', according to which free will is nothing but an illusion, meaning our decisions are initiated by unconscious brain processes, and not by our 'conscious self'. In conjunction with Prof. Dr. Benjamin Blankertz and Matthias Schultze-Kraft from Technische Universität Berlin, a team of researchers from Charité's Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, led by Prof. Dr. John-Dylan Haynes, has now taken a fresh look at this issue. Using state-of-the-art measurement techniques, the researchers tested whether people are able to stop planned movements once the readiness potential for a movement has been triggered.

"The aim of our research was to find out whether the presence of early brain waves means that further decision-making is automatic and not under conscious control, or whether the person can still cancel the decision, i.e. use a 'veto'," explains Prof. Haynes. As part of this study, researchers asked study participants to enter into a 'duel' with a computer, and then monitored their brain waves throughout the duration of the game using electroencephalography (EEG). A specially-trained computer was then tasked with using these EEG data to predict when a subject would move, the aim being to out-maneuver the player. This was achieved by manipulating the game in favor of the computer as soon as brain wave measurements indicated that the player was about to move.

If subjects are able to evade being predicted based on their own brain processes this would be evidence that control over their actions can be retained for much longer than previously thought, which is exactly what the researchers were able to demonstrate. "A person's decisions are not at the mercy of unconscious and early brain waves. They are able to actively intervene in the decision-making process and interrupt a movement," says Prof. Haynes. "Previously people have used the preparatory brain signals to argue against free will. Our study now shows that the freedom is much less limited than previously thought. However, there is a 'point of no return' in the decision-making process, after which cancellation of movement is no longer possible." Further studies are planned in which the researchers will investigate more complex decision-making processes.



Source:

http://www.neuroscientistnews.com/research...-have-free-will

Ayahuasca is performed by Shaman.
Shamanism is the oldest and most widespread method of healing.
Many of the techniques of Hypnosis can be found in Shamanism itself.

Shamans most often visualize a spiral as they work through trance and journeywork. The spiral is ancient. The earliest example known for the shamanic spiral in cave drawings is about 37 thousand years old. A spiral can go in, or it can go out, we see the spiral in the beginning of learning this work in order to have something to hold on to visually. First, you see the spiral. Later, you become the spiral. All of this, the tools, the trance, is used to move us apart from ourselves, to allow our energy to move to other realities, through time and through space. The ecstatic trance is an aware trance and one of movement, not used to understand or see the self, as is often the case in self-hypnosis, but to see other things outside our normal awareness.
You can read more here:
http://www.shamanscave.com/contemporary-sh...nce-vs-hypnosis

What Really Happens During a Therapy Session?

When you take your car to the car mechanic, you know what’s going to happen: Your car will get repaired.
When you break a bone and visit your doctor, you know what’s going to happen: Your bone will be set in a splint or cast and eventually heal.
But when you make an appointment to see a therapist, do you know what’s going to happen? Many people aren’t quite certain. Will you just talk? Will you have to discuss your childhood? Will you be “hypnotized?" And what’s the “point” of seeing a therapist, anyway? Why not just talk to a friend?
There is a great deal of uncertainty in our society about what actually happens during a therapy session, what types of issues and problems are suitable for therapy, and what benefits a therapy session can provide. I’d like to address a few typical questions—and misconceptions—about what therapy is, what it isn’t, and how it really works.

Q: Do I have to be “sick” or “disturbed” to go see a therapist?
A: No. Thinking that one has to be “seriously disturbed” in order to see a therapist is a myth.
While some therapists do specialize in severe emotional disturbances—including schizophrenia or suicidal thoughts—many focus on simply helping clients work through far more typical, everyday challenges like mapping out a career change, improving parenting skills, strengthening stress management skills, or navigating a divorce. Just as some physicians specialize in curing life-threatening illnesses, while others treat “everyday” illnesses like flus, coughs, and colds, psychotherapists can serve a wide range of clients with a range of needs and goals, too.
In fact, most of my clients are successful, high-achieving people who are quite healthy, overall. Most are challenged by a specific, personal goal—like losing weight, creating more work-life balance, finding ways to parent more effectively, or feeling anxious about dating again after a rough break up.

Q: How can I choose the right therapist for my goal/situation?
A: Choosing a therapist is like choosing any other service provider—it’s a good idea to visit the practitioner’s website, and read client testimonials or reviews (if they have any—many do not, for confidentiality reasons). It's also good to ask friends and family members, or your physician, for referrals (and of course, check to see who is covered in your health insurance network).
If you are hoping to work on a specific issue—overeating, smoking, making a career change—try to find a therapist with expertise in that area. Many list their specialties or areas of focus on their websites. There are therapists who specialize in relationship issues, parenting issues, anger management, weight issues, or sexuality—pretty much any issue, goal, or situation you can imagine. If you’re not sure about someone’s expertise, just call them and ask. If they can’t be of assistance with your issue, they may be able to refer you to someone who can.

Q: What actually happens during a therapy session?
A: Each session is, essentially, a problem-solving session. You describe your current situation, and your feelings about it, and then the therapist uses their expertise to assist you in trying to resolve that problem so you can move closer to having the life you wish to have.
At the beginning of a session, the therapist typically invites you to share what’s been going on in your life, what’s on your mind, what’s bothering you, or whether there are any goals you’d like to discuss. You’ll be invited to speak openly. The therapist will listen and may take notes as you speak; some, like myself, take notes after a session. You won’t be criticized, interrupted or judged as you speak. Your conversation will be kept in the strictest confidentiality. This is a special, unique type of conversation in which you can say exactly what you feel—total honesty—without worrying that you’re going to hurt someone’s feelings, damage a relationship, or be penalized in any way. Anything you want—or need—to say is OK.
Some therapists (like myself) may give clients some homework to complete after a session. That homework might be to set up an online dating profile and reach out for a first date, or to exercise three times a week. It may be to spend some time each day pounding a pillow to safely release pent-up emotions, make a nightly journal entry, or any number of “steps” and “challenges” relevant to your goals. During your next session, you might share your progress and address any areas where you got frustrated, stuck, or off-track.
Of course, every therapist is different, every client is unique, and every therapist-client relationship is distinct as well—which means that there is no universal description of a therapy session. Some therapists employ dream interpretation in their work. Others bring music or art therapy into their work. Others incorporate hypnotherapy, life coaching, meditation, visualization, or role-playing exercises to “rehearse” challenging conversations. The list goes on and on. Ultimately, regardless of their approach, a therapist will listen without judgment and help clients try to find solutions to the challenges they face.

Q: Will I have to talk about my childhood?
A: Not necessarily. Many people think that visiting a therapist means digging up old skeletons from your childhood, or talking about how awful your mother was, etc. That is a myth. What you talk about during a therapy session will largely depend on your unique situation and goals. And depending on your goals, you may not actually talk about your past that much. The focus of your therapy is as likely to be your present-day reality and the future that you wish to create.
That being said, if you REALLY do NOT want to discuss your childhood, the intensity of your desire NOT to talk about it might suggest that you should! When people have strong negative emotions—about their childhood or any other topic—it’s typically worth doing some excavating to figure out why that is. Whatever is causing them to feel such strong emotions about the past is more than likely impacting their present-day life in some way, too.

Q: How long will I have to go to therapy?
A: This varies from person to person. I’ve had clients who booked one session, we worked out their issue(s), and they were all set: They marched out and didn’t need a follow-up session. Sometimes, one brave, honest conversation is really all you need.
Other clients have booked sessions with me over a period of several weeks or months, focusing on one issue, resolving that issue, then perhaps moving on to a different challenge. Then there are other clients who I’ve been working with for some time—they appreciate having a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly “check-in.” They may share their feelings, sharpen their life skills as needed, or perhaps enjoy a deeply nourishing guided meditation or hypnotherapy experience to de-stress. As one client put it, “Every two weeks when I meet with you, I leave your office feeling like you pressed my reset button.”
Therapy is really about whatever a client needs—a one-time conversation, a temporary source of support during a life transition, or an ongoing experience to optimize health physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Q: Is meeting with a therapist over the phone—or through video chat—just as effective as meeting in person?
A: That depends on your personality and preferences. In the state of Hawaii, where I live, at least one insurer that I know of covers doing therapy virtually via video chat (like Skype or Facetime). This makes it a convenient option for people. Many of my clients do enjoy having some, or all, of their sessions via video chat because it means they don’t have to take time out of their busy schedules to drive, park, and so on. They can just close their bedroom or office door, pick up the phone or log in, and away we go—very convenient.
Where feasible, I suggest trying out both ways—do a traditional, in-person therapy session and then try a video session—and see which format is the best fit for you.

Q: Why see a therapist? Why not just talk to a friend or someone in my family?
A: If you are blessed with caring, supportive family members and friends, by all means, share your feelings, goals, and dreams with those people. They are a big part of your support network, and their insights and encouragement can be very helpful. However, people who already know you might not always be completely objective when listening to you. For example, you may want to change your career, and you confess this dream to your wife. She may want to support you 100%, and try her very best to do so, but she may also be dealing with emotions of her own—such as anxiety about how a career shift will change your lives, not to mention your income. These emotions could make it difficult for her to listen and support you objectively.
This is why working with a therapist can be so valuable. It's a unique opportunity to share everything you’re feeling, and everything you want to create, without anyone interrupting you, imposing his or her own anxieties onto the conversation, or telling you that you’re “wrong” or that you “can’t.”
A therapy session is a space where you don’t have to worry about hurting anyone else’s feelings—you can be totally honest. It also means you have the potential to solve problems faster and with greater success. In the long run, that’s better for you and everyone else involved in your life, too.

To sum it up:
Therapy is a valuable tool that can help you to solve problems, set and achieve goals, improve your communication skills, or teach you new ways to track your emotions and keep your stress levels in check. It can help you to build the life, career, and relationship that you want. Does everybody need it? No. But if you are curious about working with a therapist, that curiosity is worth pursuing. Consider setting up one or two sessions, keep an open mind, and see how things unfold. You have very little to lose and, potentially, a lot of clarity, self-understanding, and long-lasting happiness to gain.


Source: Dr. Suzanne Gelb @ www.psychologytoday.com/

Traditionally, depression is suspected when symptoms that suggest impaired psychosocial functioning are present for more than two weeks. Symptoms of depression include an overwhelming feeling of sadness, difficulty to experience pleasure, sleep problems, and difficulties with engaging in everyday life.
This clinical presentation of depression guides physicians to make a diagnosis and to select antidepressant treatment such as drugs or psychotherapy.

Currently, at least 40 percent of depressed patients actually benefit from antidepressant treatment, whereas 20 to 30 percent of patients may suffer from chronic depression that negatively impacts their quality of life.
Emerging research addresses the neural bases of depression as well as how treatment can induce changes in the brain. Modern brain imaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are often used to view brain modulations.
This line of research expands the commonly accepted premise that depression is associated with dysfunction of specific brain regions involved in cognitive control and emotional response.
In order to improve the efficiency of treatment and reduce the burden of depressive disorders, depression clearly needs to be defined at the neurobiological level.
A recent fMRI study showed that depressed patients had an abnormal activation of the medial prefrontal cortex. During this study, subjects had to judge whether personality traits described them or not (i.e. ‘Am I selfish?’), or whether it described a generally desirable trait or not (i.e. ‘Is it good or bad to be greedy?’).
The dysfunction of the medial prefrontal region may explain specific complaints of depressed patients such as self-blame, rumination and feeling of guilt.
It was observed that this activation pattern was maintained over the course of depression after 8 weeks of antidepressant treatment. These results are difficult to interpret but suggest that, after remission of depression, some patients show persistent abnormalities of specific brain regions.
Such abnormalities may indicate the need for complementary treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy in order to reduce the risk of depressive recurrence.

Overall, these findings contribute to the argument that brain imaging studies could provide biomarkers of diagnosis and improve patients’ chances to responding to specific treatment modalities. Such neurobiological markers of depression may help psychiatrists to tailor antidepressant treatment to the brain and the biological needs of the patients. However, despite over a decade of such research, no such biomarkers have been found.
In the general population, depression is still frequently associated with or perceived as a bad lifestyle, impairment of judgment, bad choices, and ‘psychological weakness.’
However, the results of brain imaging studies demonstrate that depression impacts the brain, and is associated with dysfunction of specific brain regions involved in cognitive control and emotional response.


Source:
http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/09/02/br...sion/17541.html

Signs that you may be B12 deficient



Memory loss, impaired thinking and general cognitive difficulties.


If you have difficulty walking, tend to stagger, or have balance problems.


Various and “odd” sensations throughout your body, numbness, or tingling that occurs in your hands, legs or feet


Yellowish or jaundiced skin.


Anemia


A swollen tongue or if it’s inflamed.


General weakness and fatigue


If B12 levels drop to into the severely deficient range, it can lead to much worse conditions.

Deep states of depression, hallucinations and paranoia are all associated with extremely low levels. Losing the ability to taste and smell has even been linked to low B12.

And since it’s such an important part of brain health, it can lead to greatly diminished brain functioning, beyond what is mentioned above.



So what leads to low B12?



Here are some things to look out for, that can lead to or cause lower B12 levels.

A vegetarian or vegan diet (since plants don’t make B12, and you would need to supplement with B12 to keep your levels up).

Certain medications like PPI’s

Gut issues such as “leaky gut” or an inflamed gut.

Pernicious anemia

Low stomach acid or taking drugs to suppress acid production in the stomach.

Other things can include Metformin, a drug used for diabetes, people aged 60 and over and women who have had infertility issues in the past.



Source：
http://blogs.naturalnews.com/7-warning-sig...b12-deficiency/

Top Ten Psychosomatic Symptoms

The origin of a psychosomatic illness is within the brain. The illness is the brain’s attempt to throw a person’s consciousness off guard by inducing physical changes in the body, in order to prevent the person from consciously experiencing difficult emotions, such as rage, sadness, and emotional distress.

People with psychosomatic illnesses contribute millions if not billions of dollars to the medical industry in the form of various treatments, including operations, medications, physical therapy, etc. People can spend decades chasing down physical symptoms when the root causes of their problems are emotional.

The reality is that somatic symptoms are extremely common. Research has found that approximately one-third of all physical symptoms fall into this category. However, patients are not quick to accept or believe that their symptoms do not have an actual physical cause. Only about 15 to 20 percent of patients will accept such a diagnosis.

To be technical, the proper term for psychosomatic illness, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) is somatic symptom disorder. There is an overlap across the spectrum of somatoform disorders, and this designation helps reflect the complex interface between mental and physical health.

What follows is a list of the ten most frequent somatic illnesses:

Chronic Pain Syndrome
Fibromyalgia
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Gastrointestinal syndromes
Migraine headaches
Frequent need for urination
Tinnitus and Vertigo
Allergic phenomena
Skin rashes (Eczema, hives, acne, etc.)
Eating disorders

Source:
http://pro.psychcentral.com/recovery-exper...atic-symptoms/#

Brain Training for Anxiety, Depression and Other Mental Conditions
Neurofeedback uses real-time scans to teach patients to try to change how they think

A new treatment for psychiatric disorders like depression and anxiety uses real-time scans to show patients how their brains go awry—and how to fix the dysfunction.

The treatment is called neurofeedback.

There is an urgent need for new approaches for psychiatric disorders, particularly depression. Almost 17% of Americans will suffer from major depression during their lifetime, according to a 2012 study published in the International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research.

Not everyone responds to current treatments like antidepressant medication and talk therapy. In one study of almost 3,000 patients, only about 1/3 of them achieved remission from their depression after up to 14 weeks on the drug citalopram (brand name Celexa).


An fMRI scan from a participant in a study using neurofeedback for spider phobia. The study targeted activity in part of the insula, a brain region implicated in sustained anxiety. It is at the center of the white cross. PHOTO:ANNA ZILVERSTAND, ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI



Neurofeedback aims to be more precise than current therapies. It directly targets the brain dysfunctions and emotional and cognitive processes that are understood to underlie psychiatric disorders. Doctors hope that treatments could also be personalized to address the issues in each individual’s brain.

Besides depression, neurofeedback is being studied in phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, addiction, traumatic brain injury and chronic pain, among other illnesses.

With neurofeedback, “there’s no need to take medication and no need to talk about your mother to a stranger,” says Kymberly Young, a postdoctoral associate at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research in Tulsa, Okla.

In neurofeedback, patients lie in a functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner. In general, they are told to conjure memories or look at pictures while their brains are scanned. The activity of certain brain regions related to subjects’ illnesses is analyzed via computer. Patients see visual representations of their brain activity almost in real time—often presented in the form of a thermometer or colored bar.


Based on what their brains are doing, subjects are told to enhance or suppress that activity. Patients “need to train their brain like they train their muscles when they want to be fit,” says Anna Zilverstand, a postdoctoral researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and lead author of a 2015 study using neurofeedback to treat women with a phobia of spiders

The science on neurofeedback for psychiatric disorders is in its early days. So far, studies are very small and researchers are still figuring out which brain areas to target and how many sessions to try. Results are modest and it is unclear how long the effects of the treatment last. Also, fMRI scans are expensive, costing hundreds of dollars. Some researchers believe that neurofeedback will most likely be used in addition to current medications and talk therapies.

Dr. Young led a study of 23 depressed patients published in 2014 in the journal Plos One. In it, those who received one session of active neurofeedback for their illness saw their scores on a measure of happiness increase significantly more than those in a control group.

The happiness scores in the active group jumped 20%; the control group went up just 2%. Depression scores and an anxiety measure also dropped after treatment. But depression also dropped among those in the control group, and the difference in the drop between the groups wasn’t statistically significant.

In results from a more recent study, Dr. Young says that after two sessions of neurofeedback, depression scores dropped 50%. In the control group, they dropped 10%. These results are not yet published, but were presented at the Society of Biological Psychiatry annual meeting in 2015.

Neurofeedback didn’t work for everyone: About 10% of depressed participants had normal amygdala activity at the beginning of the studies. Another 10% of participants couldn’t learn how to regulate the amygdala.

While in the scanner, study subjects were told to recall positive autobiographical memories. At the same time, they were shown an image of a red bar, which coordinated with their own brain activity. Subjects in the active group received feedback from their left amygdala, a part of the brain that processes emotional memories.

The amygdala generally isn’t as active in depressed patients when they think of positive autobiographical events. The level of blunting correlates with the severity of symptoms. The control group also received feedback, but from a part of the brain involved in processing numbers and unrelated to depression. Subjects were then told to make the red bar rise.

Beyond recalling happy memories, subjects weren’t given specific strategies on what to do to boost activity. But Dr. Young says that for women, thinking about childbirth or playing with pets boosted amygdala activity the most. For men, pondering thrilling pursuits like sky diving and sex led to the biggest rises.

Zac Williams recently participated in two of the Tulsa neurofeedback studies for depression. “I was going through a tough time. My father had just died and my girlfriend broke up with me,” says the 26-year-old phone repair technician from Tulsa.

While he was in the scanner and trying to get the red bar to rise, researchers told him to pick several happy memories. He said he thought of getting his first car, a camping trip with friends and his first time riding a motorcycle. But those memories, he said, “weren’t necessarily making the bar go up.” So he tried thinking about funny movies. When he recalled scenes of “Dumb and Dumber,” he says the bar spiked. “It was kind of crazy to see something react based on your thoughts.”



Since the treatment, Mr. Williams says his mood has improved. He says he’s also using the skills he learned in the scanner when he feels down. “If there is something that bogs me down, I try to find a way to make myself laugh,” he says.

While fMRI neurofeedback is only a few years old, its principles have been around for decades. Doctors and researchers have long used electroencephalograms (EEG), tests that record electrical activity, to perform a version of neurofeedback. The approach is particularly popular as a treatment for ADHD in children.

But there are drawbacks with EEG. It is much less precise in targeting brain areas than fMRI, says David Linden, a psychiatrist and professor of translational neuroscience at Cardiff University in Wales who has studied the use of fMRI neurofeedback in depression. In a 2012 study of his, depressed patients saw their symptoms drop by 30% after four sessions of neurofeedback.

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin are trying a novel approach. Instead of displaying feedback as a chart or temperature gauge, they are using pictures that change based on subjects’ brain activity. Depressed patients tend to have what is known as a negative attention bias: They pay more attention to negative stimuli and have a harder time disengaging from it. The goal of the neurofeedback training is to get depressed patients to disengage from the negative.

In a small pilot study without a control group, depressed patients were shown a series of images while in the scanner. In each one, a sad face was superimposed on a neutral scene, of a living room, for example. Patients were told to focus on the scenes and ignore the faces.

Because emotional stimuli like faces activate certain parts of the brain, the fMRI scan could distinguish what the subjects paid attention to. The image was then changed based on the subjects’ brain activity: The more they paid attention to the scenes, the fainter the faces appeared. Seven depressed adults had three sessions of neurofeedback in a five-day period. Depression symptoms continued to improve during the following month.



Source: The wall street journal

http://www.wsj.com/articles/brain-training...=trending_now_2

This post has been edited by zeropoint9: Jan 25 2016, 10:42 PM

Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder that is characterized by motor and verbal tics. The symptoms first become apparent in early childhood. The first symptom is usually a facial tic such as eye blinking, grimacing, or nose twitching and these are soon replaced with other motor tics involving the neck, limbs, and trunk. These tics are involuntary and people with the disorder experience involuntary urges to perform motor or verbal activity. Hypnosis has been shown to improve the symptoms of Tourette Syndrome.

Symptoms of Tourette Syndrome range from mild to severe. Severe symptoms include verbal tics such as shouting, barking, grunting, and throat clearing. Verbal tics known as coprolalia consist of the involuntary use of obscene words. Copropraxia is the involuntary action of obscene gestures. Although Tourette's is known for these symptoms, they are severe symptoms and not common of the disorder.

The majority of people with Tourette Syndrome have mild symptoms. Also, people with Tourette Syndrome are more likely to also have Attentional Deficit Disorder, Attentional Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and learning disabilities.

Stressful situations can make symptoms of Tourette Syndrome worsen. Tension and anxiety can also be attributed to worsening the symptoms. Hypnotherapy has been found to improve the symptoms of Tourette Syndrome.

Hypnosis is a relaxed state of consciousness. This state allows people to be more open to suggestions. When these suggestions deal directly with their symptoms and anxiety, they are able to relax and make these suggestions a part of their life, thus reducing their symptoms. After a few sessions, people with Tourette Syndrome can dramatically improve their overall lifestyle.

A case study was conducted involving an adolescent male with Tourette Syndrome. He was referred to a hypnotherapist from his physician. The male had a total of 9 hypnosis sessions over a 6-month time period. The model used involved a 4-step treatment process including progressive relaxation, finger-tip temperature feedback using a biotic finger band, Spiegel's eye-roll procedure, and imagery.Immediately following treatment and at the 6-month follow-up, he reported minimal to non-existent symptoms. The hypnosis sessions had helped him reduce stress that triggered the symptoms and it helped him regain control of Tourette Syndrome. It was also reported that soon after treatment, the participant in the study applied for the Air Force and passed his entrance examination.

Research and studies have shown that hypnosis is helpful in reducing the symptoms of Tourette Syndrome. This will enable Tourette Syndrome sufferers to lead a more normal lifestyle with fewer tics and interruptions. Hypnosis also gives them more control.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/027559_Tourette...l#ixzz3ySCb8muB

Keeping Emotions in Check With Neurofeedback

Difficulty handling emotions and keeping them under control can cause various psychological issues, and may even lead to full-blown psychiatric problems. This is especially true in childhood. Trauma experienced in youth can contribute to later problems such as depression and anxiety. There are various techniques for helping people control their emotions. One of these is neurofeedback; a training method in which information about changes in an individual’s neural activity is provided to the individual in real-time. This enables the individual to self-regulate thier neural activity and produces changes in behaviour. While already in use as a treatment tool for adults, this method has not been used on young people until now. Researchers believe neurofeedback could help younger people by providing more efficient control of their emotions.

The new study used real time fMRI-based neurofeedback on a sample of kids. “We worked with subjects between the ages of 7 and 16,” explains SISSA researcher and one of the authors of the study, Moses Sokunbi. “They observed emotionally- charged images while we monitored their brain activity, before ‘returning’ it back to them.” The region of the brain studied was the insula, which is in the cerebral cortex.
The young participants could see the level of activation in the insula on a “thermometer” presented on the MRI projector screen. They were instructed to reduce or increase activation with cognitive strategies while verifying the effects on the thermometer. All of them learned how to increase insula activity, although decreasing was more difficult. Specific analysis techniques made it possible to reconstruct the complete network of the areas involved in regulating emotions (besides the insula) and the internal flow of activation. The researchers observed that the direction of flow when activity was increased reversed when decreased.
“These results show that the effect of neurofeedback went beyond the superficial- simple activation of the insula- by influencing the entire network that regulates emotions,” explains Kathrine Cohen Kadosh, Oxford University researcher and first author of the study. “They demonstrate that neurofeedback is a methodology that can be used successfully with young people.”

“Childhood and adolescence is an extremely important time for young people’s emotional development,” says Jennifer Lau, from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London, who has taken part in the study. “Therefore, the ability to shape brain networks associated with the regulation of emotions could be crucial for preventing future mental health problems, which are known to arise during this vital period when the brain’s emotional capacity is still developing.”

Source:
http://neurosciencenews.com/emotion-psycho...ofeedback-3201/

Tics disorder or Tourette syndrome
Tics — sudden, brief, intermittent movements or sounds — are the hallmark sign of Tourette syndrome. They can range from mild to severe. Severe symptoms might significantly interfere with communication, daily functioning and quality of life.
Tics are classified as:
Simple tics. These sudden, brief and repetitive tics involve a limited number of muscle groups.
Complex tics. These distinct, coordinated patterns of movements involve several muscle groups.
Tics also can involve movement (motor tics) or sounds (vocal tics). Motor tics usually begin before vocal tics do. But the spectrum of tics that people experience is diverse.
Treatment options for it: There's no cure for Tourette syndrome. Treatment is aimed at controlling tics that interfere with everyday activities and functioning.
1) Hypnotherapy-Researchers at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine enlisted 33 participants ages 6 to 19. After being taught self-hypnosis techniques aimed at reducing Tourette’s symptoms, nearly all of the patients experienced a dramatic increase in tic control after only a few sessions, researchers say. (Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20...rette-syndrome)
2) EEG Biofeedback--Recently, new insights into the neurological basis for this strange syndrome has illuminated the potential of EEG Biofeedback training for helping patients control their tics. EEG Biofeedback training for Tourette Syndrome may offer an exciting new way for a disorder that, historically, has been difficult to treat effectively. Researchers are already producing evidence that EEG Biofeedback focused on the SMR can help reduce tics. In one successful case study, a 17-year-old Tourette patient was given EEG Biofeedback training with protocols designed to increase SMR and reduce theta, although researchers found that SMR training alone was actually somewhat more effective. The patient experienced a reduction in tics, as well as improved cognitive functioning. It is completely noninvasive and is considered by the Food and Drug Administration to be safe. In fact the Food and Drug Administration recognizes that neurofeedback has NEVER produced a serious side effect since it was first discovered over 40 years ago.
3) Psychotherapy/Counseling- Cognitive Behavioral Interventions for Tics, including habit-reversal training, can help you monitor tics, identify premonitory urges and learn to voluntarily move in a way that's incompatible with the tic. In addition to helping you cope with Tourette syndrome, psychotherapy can help with accompanying problems, such as ADHD, obsessions, depression or anxiety.







Source:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditi...me/ovc-20163623
http://braincoretherapy.com/neurofeedback-...rette-syndrome/

You may consider clinical hypnotherapy to quit smoking.

Hypnosis is defined as an altered state of awareness in which you appear to be asleep or in a trance. Clinical hypnosis may be used to treat certain physical or psychological problems. For instance, it is frequently used to help patients control pain. It is also used in a wide range of other conditions such as weight issues, speech disorders, and addiction problems.

There is debate about how hypnosis works. Some people believe that when you are hypnotized, you relax and concentrate more, and are more willing to listen to suggestions -- such as giving up smoking, for example.

Even though you appear to be in a trance during hypnosis, you are not unconscious. You are still aware of your surroundings, and -- despite what many stage performers may claim during an entertaining show -- you cannot be made do to anything against your will. In fact, brain tests performed on patients during hypnotism sessions have shown a high level of neurological activity.

Hypnosis for Smokers
During hypnosis for smoking cessation, a patient is often asked to imagine unpleasant outcomes from smoking. For example, the hypnotherapist might suggest that cigarette smoke smells like truck exhaust, or that smoking will leave the patient's mouth feeling extremely parched.

Spiegel's method is one popular smoking cessation hypnosis technique that focuses on three main ideas:

-Smoking poisons the body
-You need your body to live
-You should respect your body and protect it (to the extent you'd like to live)

The licensed clinical hypnotherapist teaches the smoker self-hypnosis, and then asks him or her to repeat these affirmations anytime the desire to smoke occurs.


How to Find a Hypnotherapist
If you want to try hypnosis to help you quit smoking, ask your health care provider to recommend a good hypnotherapist.

Here are some tips when looking for a qualified hypnotherapist:
Make sure they are licensed, trained, and credentialed. Hypnosis for smoking cessation and other medical or behavioral reasons should only be done by someone who has a current license in a health care field, such as medicine, psychiatry, psychology, or nursing.
Ask some tough questions. Ask about their professional training.
*P/S:
Professional governing body for licensed hypnothrapist in Malaysia: The Association of Hypnotherapy Practitioners, Malaysia (AHPM)-
The Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act (Act 756) sets the minimum competence level for the credentialing of a professional Mind Body Soul Therapy practitioner in Malaysia. AHPM is a member of The Federation of Complementary and Natural Medical Associations, Malaysia (FCNMAM). FCNMAM is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, Ministry of Health (MOH), Malaysia.

Remember, it's never too late to quit smoking. Doing so has immediate health benefits. And, if you quit smoking before you turn 50, you'll cut the risk of dying in the next 15 years in half, compared to those who keep lighting up.

All retrieved from:
http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/hyp...uitting-smoking

I'm addicted to this - cant sleep without it how?