biofeedback

Does stress have a physiological response in the body

Yes

What happens to the brain when we are stressed

Headaches, feelings of despair, lack of energy, sadness, nervousness, anger, irritability, increased or decreased eating, trouble concentrating, memory problems

What happens to our skin when we are stressed

Acne and other skin problems

What happens to your muscles and joint when are your are stressed

Muscle aches and tension, increased risk of reduced bone density

What happens to your heart when your stressed

Faster heartbeat, rise in blood pressure, increased risk of high cholesterol and heart attack

What happens to your stomach wen your stressed

Nausea, stomach pain, weight gain

What happens to your pancreas when your stressed

Increased risk of diabetes

What happens to your intestines when you are stressed

Diarrhea, constipation and other digestive problems

What happens to your reproductive system when your stressed

Women= more painful periods, reduced sexual desire. Men= lower sperm production, relaxed sexual desire

What happens to your immune system when your stressed

Lowered ability to fight or recover from illness

Biofeedback

Treatment that works on the assumption that we cannot control how we respond to stress because we cannot see when our body is responding in order to reduce the effect

What is the aim of biofeedback

To enable us to take contorl of there automatic and unconscious processes by presenting them to us in a form that’s obvious

What does biofeedback use

Technology to let us hear our physiological functioning

Biofeedback equipment

Heart monitors (electrocardiograms), electromyograms (show tension in the muscles) and skin conduct and response (SRC)

What does the equipment do

Makes the processes visible to the client through the use of technology

How many Stages are there in biofeedback

3

What are the 3 stages of biofeedback

Awareness and physiological feedback, relaxation training and control, transfer

Stage 1 awareness and physiological feedback

Client becomes aware of physiological repsonses and how they can be adjusted e.g. reducing the heart rate

Stage 2 relaxation training and control

The client learns technuiqes to control their physiological responses e.g. abdominal breathing, muscle relaxation. The client is positively reinforced when they see it working

Stage 3 transfer

The client learns to use these techniques in their everyday life especially in stressful situations. Sessions are usually an hour long, most people will start to see positive results after 10 sessions. However, some patients may need many more sessions

Why can the relaxation strategies be taken into real world situations

Because its a long term solution

Limitation of biofeedback

Can be expensive due to the use of specialist machinery and professionals. Meaning it isn’t accessible to everyone

What treatment method is biofeedback better than

Drug therapy

Is biofeedback more expensive

Yes because of the use of specialist technology and professionals

Does biofeedback have any side effects

No

Is biofeedback invasive

No