Written by: The Meadows Adolescent Center By Bobby Shriver Have you struggled with anxiety this week? Perhaps you’re even feeling anxious right now about some extenuating circumstance as you read this. For many, dealing with anxiety or mood disorders like depression can become common, everyday experiences, especially among young people. If that’s you, you’re not alone. According to federal data analyzed by KFF, half of American adults aged 18 to 24 reported anxiety and depression symptoms in 2023, compared to one-third of adults overall. With so many struggling, the question surrounding the best methods for healing anxiety only gets louder and louder. For many, dealing with anxiety or mood disorders like depression can become common, everyday experiences, especially among young people. So what are people doing to overcome their anxiety? Traditional approaches to healing anxiety include psychotherapy (also known as talk therapy or counseling) and medications. Others may prefer natural or self-care approaches, such as practicing mindfulness, incorporating breathing techniques, or getting quality sleep. Yet the important connection between anxiety and the brain has led some to pursue a cutting-edge therapy called neurofeedback. As a result, neurofeedback patients are not only mitigating their anxiety symptoms and recovering from mood disorders; they’re achieving greater overall long-term wellness. Anxiety and Mood Disorders Defined As we explore neurofeedback’s impact on achieving long-term recovery from anxiety and mood disorders, it’s important to understand these struggles within the brain more clearly. For starters, anxiety is a natural response that occurs within the rhythms of life’s varying circumstances. Yet when anxiety continues on and intensifies further, it becomes an anxiety disorder. According to the Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA), nearly one in five people will develop an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. If you’re struggling with an anxiety disorder, that means you often experience prolonged, intense anxiety even in situations that wouldn’t normally cause it. Symptoms of the most common form of anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), include being irritable, feeling on-edge, excessively worrying, and having difficulty maintaining concentration, shares the National Institute of Mental Health. While these symptoms can range from mild to severe, if left untreated, an anxiety disorder can make a debilitating impact on your life. On the other hand, Johns Hopkins Medicine defines a mood disorder as a mental health condition that creates a disconnect between your actual life circumstances and your state of mind or feelings. Mood disorders can negatively affect your ability to live a normal life, impacting your relationships, school, work, and daily responsibilities. Common mood disorders include depression, dysthymia, and bipolar disorder. Of the common mood disorders, depression is often most widespread. In fact, among adolescents aged 12 to 17 in 2021, about 20% had a major depressive episode at some point that year, reports the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). If you’re struggling with depression, you may be dealing with persistent unhappiness and hopelessness, as well as fatigue and a loss of interest in enjoyable activities. Without professional treatment, depression can often get worse. What Causes Anxiety in the Brain? With these struggles becoming a more common issue in our lives, especially among young people, it’s fair to wonder what causes anxiety in the brain as well as mood disorders. The amygdala, a region of the brain that helps form and recall emotional and fear-based memories, has often been thought of as the source of our anxiety. However, experts now believe anxiety is rooted in the consistent interactions between the cognitive brain within the frontal lobe and emotional brain regions within the amygdala, says BrainFacts.org. In contrast, the exact cause of mood disorders is currently unknown, according to Yale Medicine. With that said, there are a number of factors that could potentially lead to the development of mood disorders, including: Imbalanced brain chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine Brain changes Genetics (i.e., having regions of the brain that are larger than normal) Psychoactive substances Specific medical conditions like brain tumors, syphilis, and heart disease The Dysregulated Brain and Other Effects of Anxiety If you or a loved one experiences anxiety or mood disorders long-term, how do these conditions impact your brain? Mood disorders can negatively affect your mental health resulting in low-esteem, impulsive behavior, and even suicidal ideation if left untreated. Prolonged anxiety, however, can cause your brain’s amygdala to enlarge, leading to more intense reactions to fearful or difficult situations. People who experience severe anxiety symptoms with their emotions can also become dysregulated, shares Frontiers in Psychology. When the brain gets dysregulated, you’re no longer able to control your emotional responses, leading to mood swings and significant mood changes, according to VerywellMind.com. Healing Anxiety With Neurofeedback Therapy This connection between anxiety and the brain allows neurofeedback therapy to be remarkably effective at reducing anxiety’s impact. A 2017 study published by CADTH (Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health) determined that neurofeedback generated significant improvement of symptoms among patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and GAD. Only a few years later, a 2021 study by Frontiers in Neuroscience demonstrated that anxiety and depression symptoms — as well as their clinical severity — were greatly reduced within eight weeks of neurofeedback therapy. Neurofeedback at Our Brain Center: How It Works At our Brain Center, we use a combination of real-time brain activity monitoring and neurofeedback to put our adolescent patients in a better position to achieve long-term recovery from anxiety and mood disorders. So how does this work? Placing small sensors on the patient’s head, our therapists can analyze the brain’s electrical impulses as they’re happening and generate a visual brain map of these patterns. This allows the patient to see how their brain responds to various situations (especially those that generate anxiety) so they can learn to adjust their thoughts and feelings in the moment. Over the course of multiple neurofeedback sessions, patients will repeat tasks that promote healthy brain activity. This ultimately enables them to retrain their brains — a process called neuroplasticity — to improve function and overall well-being. And because the brain goes through immense change in our younger years, this retraining of the brain can make an especially profound positive impact on the minds of young people. Because the brain goes through immense change in our younger years, this retraining of the brain can make an especially profound positive impact on the minds of young people. These new, healthier pathways created in the brain help patients directly address the anxiety and mood disorders that cause brain dysregulation. As a result, adolescents participating in neurofeedback can achieve healthier emotional regulation in their minds. This means patients can finally control their emotions on their own, giving them the ability to cope with challenging situations while keeping the feelings associated with anxiety and mood disorders in check. Rather than going down the path of anxious thoughts in the future, our patients are empowered with techniques they can use to support the healthier brain pathways they’ve established, leading to calmer minds and long-term mental health resilience. Overcome Anxiety and Mood Disorders at The Meadows Adolescent Center Struggling with anxiety and mood disorders can be especially difficult for teenagers, but with the right therapy, your loved one can find genuine healing. At The Meadows Adolescent Center, we provide innovative, compassionate mental health treatment designed specifically for teenage boys to achieve healthier, more fulfilling lives. To learn more about our science-based therapy options — including neurofeedback — contact our team today.
