Insomnia: The Modern Epidemic

In today’s busy world filled with countless distractions and omnipresent technology, insomnia has become a widespread issue. Phrases like "Sleep is overrated" have become common, and many view sleep as a break from productivity. However, the truth is far from this misperception. Good sleep is essential for mental and physical health, productivity, and longevity. Sleep fuels the brain, and without restorative sleep, you are essentially running on empty.

Unfortunately, for those who struggle with poor sleep, restoring a healthy sleep pattern is challenging. Sleep hygiene, which involves making lifestyle changes and establishing a regular sleep schedule, is often the first step. Despite these efforts, many still find quality sleep elusive. Many mental health professionals observe that a significant number of adults seeking assessments for psychiatric or ADHD issues actually suffer from chronic, unresolved poor sleep, which then begins to impact mood or attention.

The Vicious Cycle of Unhealthy Sleep Solutions

People with sleep issues often turn to unhealthy solutions, such as alcohol, cannabis, or sleeping pills. While these substances may help with sleep onset in the short term, they complicate things in the long term. Many have far-reaching effects on our physical health and brain physiology, and once started, they are extremely difficult to stop due to severe withdrawal symptoms. Currently, there are no medications specifically for managing chronic insomnia.

Individuals with psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, or ADHD commonly experience comorbid sleep issues. Some psychiatric medications can either trigger or worsen existing insomnia. This is especially true for stimulants, the most common medications for ADHD, which cause sleep onset delay in almost 80-90% of individuals. Poor sleep often leads to discontinuation of ADHD medication, while others endure bad sleep, thinking it’s a necessary trade-off for better focus.

Similar issues arise with other psychiatric medications, particularly antidepressants. When insomnia becomes more pronounced, additional sedatives are often prescribed to clients, setting a vicious cycle in motion with further cognitive problems, tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms.

Technology, such as streaming and social media, also contributes to poor sleep. Revenge bedtime procrastination is a well-known phenomenon, particularly in ADHD, where individuals delay sleep in favour of screen time. Medications can potentially worsen this phenomenon by increasing focus while decreasing the sleep drive.

QEEG Patterns in Insomnia

Alpha rhythm is the rhythm of relaxation and is considered to be the gateway to sleep, while excessive amounts of faster Beta rhythm can impede sleep maintenance. Quantitative EEG (QEEG) Brain mapping measures amount of these different brain rhythms and compares them with normative sample to help us identify variables affecting sleep quality.

Insomnia sufferers often struggle with either sleep onset (difficulty falling asleep) or sleep maintenance (difficulty staying asleep). Sleep onset insomnia is marked by an inability to generate adequate Alpha rhythm when closing their eyes and suggests difficulty winding down.  Sleep maintenance insomnia is linked to presence of excessive Beta rhythm especially in the frontal and central brain regions suggesting difficulty reaching and maintaining deep stages of sleep. Many use substances such as alcohol, cannabis, and benzodiazepines which promote short-term relaxation, but cause long-term problems like rebound insomnia and cognitive dulling. Neurofeedback, on the other hand, provides lasting improvements in sleep onset and maintenance as well as better focus and clarity by normalizing brain circuitry.

The Science Behind Neurofeedback

Neurofeedback is a type of biofeedback that trains the brain’s electrical activity or EEG by using different protocols and placements. For example, rewarding a brain rhythm called the sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) has been shown to improve sleep maintenance in chronic insomnia. Research has demonstrated positive effects of neurofeedback on sleep. Schaus et al. (2014) found decreased nighttime awakenings and improved subjective sleep quality with SMR training, while Hoedlmoser (2008) demonstrated improved declarative learning and decreased sleep latency with same training. Vafaei et al. (2016) found significant improvement in sleep onset with Alpha-Theta protocol training. Also, Cortoos (2010) while comparing general biofeedback with neurofeedback, found improved total sleep time after neurofeedback sessions but not with biofeedback.

A Drug-Free Solution

Neurofeedback is an evidence-backed, side-effect-free option for insomnia with long-term benefits. It offers a promising alternative to traditional treatments, focusing on brain training rather than chemicals for lasting improvements in sleep patterns and overall well-being. Changes in sleep architecture with neurofeedback are more natural and stable over time, without side effects like grogginess or a hangover.

How Neurofeedback Works

Neurofeedback measures brain activity in real-time using scalp sensors. This data is linked with audiovisual media, which becomes clear when desirable frequencies are produced and cloudy when they are not. Through this real-time feedback, the brain learns to produce more of the desired frequencies, leading to better sleep quality. By optimizing Alpha activity, individuals fall asleep quicker and are more relaxed. By optimizing Beta activity, they achieve deeper, longer sleep and have less anxiety.  Although, the actual protocols differ based on QEEG data, neurofeedback provides numerous benefits without needing multiple medications or strategies.

Real-Life Success Stories

Many individuals have experienced significant improvements in sleep and mental health through ZenWaves neurofeedback. Below is a story of one of our clients.

Meet Joseph, a 50-year-old man who had been living with ADHD for many years. Despite being on medication, he faced several challenges in his daily life. One of Joseph's main problems was poor sleep, characterized by difficulty falling asleep and frequent awakenings at night. Additionally, he experienced anxiety at work and found it challenging to handle his demanding manager. Joseph had tried various approaches to improve his sleep, including mindfulness techniques, but none brought significant relief. He struggled to organize his thoughts during staff meetings and often made errors at work. Feeling frustrated and desperate for a solution, he turned to neurofeedback therapy on the recommendation of a friend.

After just one session of neurofeedback, he felt noticeably calmer for a couple of days, which encouraged him to continue with the therapy. By the third session, Joseph experienced a significant breakthrough—six hours of uninterrupted sleep compared to his previous three-hour stretches. He also noticed a reduction in anxiety and an increase in confidence. These improvements positively impacted his relationship with his manager, resulting in positive feedback from colleagues. These positive changes allowed Joseph to reduce his medication by 50%, further improving his anxiety and mood. By the tenth session, he was sleeping 6-7 hours consistently, something he had never thought possible. This newfound mental stability enabled him to make positive lifestyle changes, such as going to the gym and adopting a healthier diet—activities he had previously struggled with due to disorganization and lack of persistence.

After the fifteenth session, Joseph surprised himself by asserting his needs in front of his manager. He attributed this assertiveness to the calm, collected, and confident mental state he had gained through neurofeedback therapy. By the twentieth session, he only needed to take ADHD medication intermittently on days with excessive work demands, but not regularly. Even on these days, his sleep onset was delayed, but his overall sleep remained consistently sound.

Integrating Neurofeedback into Your Routine

If you are considering neurofeedback for insomnia, seek a certified professional. At ZenWaves, our providers have medical backgrounds and are Board Certified in Neurofeedback and QEEG. By analysing your unique brain patterns with QEEG we devise customised neurofeedback protocols, which provide substantial and lasting results.

Conclusion

Neurofeedback offers a promising solution for those struggling with insomnia. By training the brain to generate optimal wave patterns, individuals can achieve lasting improvements in sleep quality. If you are tired of relying on chemicals and seeking a side-effect-free alternative, consider neurofeedback. Take the first step towards better sleep and improved well-being by exploring neurofeedback options with a certified practitioner.

References

Cortoos, A., De Valck, E., Arns, M., Breteler, M. H., & Cluydts, R. (2010). An exploratory study on the effects of tele-neurofeedback and tele-biofeedback on objective and subjective sleep in patients with primary insomnia. Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback, 35(2), 125-134.​

Hoedlmoser, K., Pecherstorfer, T., Gruber, G., Anderer, P., Doppelmayr, M., Klimesch, W., & Schabus, M. (2008). Instrumental conditioning of human sensorimotor rhythm (12-15 Hz) and its impact on sleep as well as declarative learning. Sleep, 31(10), 1401-1408.

Schabus, M., Heib, D. P., Lechinger, J., Griessenberger, H., Klimesch, W., Pawlizki, A., ... & Hoedlmoser, K. (2014). Enhancing sleep quality and memory in insomnia using instrumental sensorimotor rhythm conditioning. Biological psychology, 95, 126-134.

Vafaei, E., Hosseini, M., & Shushtarian, S. (2016). Developing a fuzzy theta alpha neurofeedback for treatment of pre-sleep disorders. In 2015 22nd Iranian Conference on Biomedical Engineering (ICBME) (pp. 30-33). IEEE.