Biofeedback vs. Neurofeedback Treatment: Which Is More Effective for Co-Occurring Disorders?

Understanding Neurofeedback Treatment

Neurofeedback treatment is a form of biofeedback treatment with a specific focus on the brain’s electrical activity, or brain waves, as monitored by electroencephalography (EEG) sensors. Biofeedback is a therapeutic technique used to share information about a range of physiological functions in your body. Monitors display your current heart rate, muscle tension, and skin temperature to train you to better regulate your physical state. Technology is used to train you to regulate your brain wave patterns to promote behavioral changes and improve neuro-regulation. You are provided with immediate feedback through sounds or video images that indicate whether or not your desired brain activity is achieved. 

People with conditions including depression, ADHD, anxiety, and addiction can learn to regulate their brain function through this feedback. Benefits may include:

• Increased awareness of physical and emotional symptoms
• Empowerment and confidence in managing symptoms
• Increased focus and attention 
• Decreased reliance on or avoidance of medication 
• Enhanced memory and problem-solving abilities
• Treatment personalized to your needs
• Sustained improvement in cognitive functioning
• Higher sense of well-being
• Empowerment and confidence in managing your symptoms
• Better sleep
• Improved mood
• Stress reduction
• Sustained resolution of mental health symptoms

While biofeedback treatment has been used for years to address a variety of conditions, neurofeedback has more recently been integrated into mental health treatment. The information neurofeedback offers is unique and groundbreaking in its ability to indicate exactly which brainwave frequencies have been impacted by your co-occurring disorders, and therefore where to target treatment. Each brainwave frequency relates to certain activities and states of consciousness.

Brainwave frequencies

• Delta: Deep unconsciousness, sleep, repair, unawareness, complex problem-solving
• Theta: Unconsciousness, insight, deep states, optimal meditative state, depression, anxiety, distraction
• Alpha: Deep relaxation, peacefulness, alertness, readiness, meditation
• Lower alpha: Recalling
• Upper alpha: Optimal cognitive performance
• SMR (sensorimotor rhythm): Physical relaxation, mental alertness
• Beta: Focusing, thinking, tension, sustained attention, alertness, excitement
• High beta: Anxiety, intensity, hyper-alertness
• Gamma: Cognitive processing, learning, problem-solving, mental sharpness, brain activity, and organization

Neurofeedback treatment involves training for your brain based on operant conditioning, in which you are rewarded for increasing certain brain waves and decreasing others. The audio or visual stimulus reinforces your thoughts and behaviors during a session, which gradually changes your neural pathways associated with your co-occurring conditions. For example, if you are managing anxiety or hyperactivity, brainwaves associated with over-arousal can be targeted to decrease their activity. If you struggle with poor focus, you may need to stimulate other areas to increase brainwave activity and concentration.

Comparing Biofeedback and Neurofeedback Treatment

Both biofeedback without EEG and neurofeedback treatments can be valuable in treating co-occurring disorders, depending on a person’s symptoms and treatment goals. Past research focused solely on biofeedback, the practice of influencing the body to affect its own various processes. Scientists found that taking action on one part of the body could impact another, including the use of food, warmth, cold, sensation, and stimulation.

Biofeedback most effectively helps those who experience physical symptoms as a result of their mental health condition, such as high blood pressure that results from anxiety. Learning to notice and self-regulate symptoms such as muscle tension as soon as they arise benefits many people whose symptoms might otherwise go unaddressed and potentially worsen. As biofeedback researchers began to focus specifically on the brain, the practice of neurofeedback, or neurotherapy, evolved.

Adding neurofeedback treatment helps people specifically manage neurological and psychological conditions including anxiety, PTSD, depression, and ADHD. It typically involves these steps:

1. The placement of sensors on your scalp to measure your brain’s electrical activity.
2. The activity is recorded and categorized into frequencies including delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma that relate to your specific mental health condition.
3. A neurofeedback provider analyzes the brain wave patterns that are produced.
4. Imbalances related to your symptoms are targeted.
5. You connect with a biofeedback system that provides visual or audio cues that change based on your brainwave patterns
6. As your brainwave activity becomes more regulated, a sound or image positively reinforces your action.
7. You continue to practice activities and thought patterns that reward you outside of the treatment session.
8. Over time, the new habits and neural pathways you form result in a better-regulated brain.

Pros and Cons: Making an Informed Decision

There aren’t typically side effects of either biofeedback or neurofeedback, so they can be an appealing option for those concerned about the risks of certain medications or treatments. Both may offer a long-term resolution of symptoms, depending on how well a person applies what they learn after treatment ends. 

Pros of both biofeedback and neurofeedback include:

• Benefits for a variety of co-occurring disorders
• Immediate feedback that promotes self-regulation
• Opportunity to practice coping skills and discover their objective effectiveness
• Non-invasive treatment

While neurofeedback may be more effective than biofeedback in providing information and feedback about mental health-related symptoms in particular, they are both most effective when combined with psychotherapy and/or medication. Neurofeedback specifically offers:

• The targeting of neurological issues relating to mood and behavior
• An opportunity for a person to learn specific skills to regulate their brain function

There aren’t known cons of trying neurofeedback or biofeedback due to their non-invasive nature and lack of side effects. Neurofeedback is a newer treatment, and therefore there is less data about its long-term effectiveness while biofeedback outcomes have been studied for decades. There are factors that may prevent some people from being able to access or benefit from these treatments, including they:

• Lack of availability in some areas
• Require many sessions over a long period of time
• Maybe prohibitively expensive without insurance coverage

WhiteSands’ Stance on Biofeedback and Neurofeedback

Biofeedback and neurofeedback are non-invasive, medication-free treatments that are proven to help resolve structural changes in your brain resulting in symptoms associated with co-occurring disorders. There is hope for these treatments to improve the challenges you experience with Substance Use Disorder, anxiety, insomnia, PTSD, depression, anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, and other mental health and physical conditions. Depending on the co-occurring disorders being treated and the specific symptoms being targeted, WhiteSands utilizes biofeedback and neurofeedback treatments to help you understand how your brain and the rest of your body work together. With the help of a professional and technology that shows your brain structure and brainwave patterns, you gain insight into how your actions and thoughts can impact change. 

Neurofeedback in particular can offer useful information about which neurological pathways have become dysregulated by mental health or physical conditions and caused structural changes in the brain. While these conditions may feel permanent, the good news is that there are many ways to heal them to increase your stability and functioning. The professionals at WhiteSands teach you how to target each area of functioning to create lasting structural changes, which increases the likelihood of full recovery from your co-occurring disorders. 

There is hope for your healing, and you can take the first step toward your recovery by calling WhiteSands at 877.855.3470 to find out which treatment option is best for you. 

If you or a loved one needs help with abuse and/or treatment, please call the WhiteSands Treatment at (877) 855-3470. Our addiction specialists can assess your recovery needs and help you get the addiction treatment that provides the best chance for your long-term recovery.