Reactivity

How can NeurOptimal® help with reactivity and anger?

Adults and children report that after a series of NeurOptimal® sessions, they don’t get frustrated, upset or angry as often, they are able to calm down faster and they are able to use tools such as mindfulness, meditation or exercise more often to keep themselves in balance.

What happens in the body when we are reactive or angry?  

ADHD Reactivity Neurofeedback SessionsWhen we feel ourselves getting angry, often we feel our heart rate and breathing speed up and we have a lot of difficulty problem solving or talking through the issue.  This is because our sympathetic nervous system has gone into a fight, flight, freeze response and the amygdala at the back of the brain (where the emotions live) takes over and the frontal cortex of the brain (the thinking and problem-solving area) basically turns off.

Sometimes when we’re angry, the “trigger” for the anger is actually related to events that happened when we were young and are activated by current interactions, and the fight response takes over automatically.

These days, many people have a CNS that is in a more activated state much of the time and it takes very little stimulus from the environment (a pencil tapping, a sideways glance, a poorly worded email or a stubbed toe) to put us over the edge into reactivity.

Whether the response is new or old, the main thing to remember is that our central nervous system (CNS) becomes over-aroused and our immediate response is to fight or flee from the person or become frozen in our response.

How can NeurOptimal® help?

NeurOptimal® can help to calm the central nervous system (CNS) that is stuck in the fight, fight, freeze response.  Through training, the brain learns each time the CNS is in or going into this state and the CNS then calms or resets because during a training session there isn’t anything happening that it needs to be in an over-aroused state about.  Over time, the overall alertness in the CNS decreases and clients report that things that used to bother them either don’t anymore or they are bothered much less, they are able to tolerate more stressful situations without becoming reactive and they are able to calm themselves much faster when they do get angry.

If you would like to learn more about how NeurOptimal® and how it may assist you or your child, book a consultation