Some patients turn to medications to help them deal with stress and anxiety. Others attend support group sessions or seek professional therapists. Still others take an approach such as biofeedback, which requires active participation and helps some patients feel they have gained some control back in their lives. Biofeedback manipulates the bodies physiologic responses that are normally controlled by the autonomic nervous system. A biofeedback therapist, of which there are over 10,000 in the United States, can teach a patient how to control many of the body's involuntary functions.
Some patients learn to control their heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and emotions.
The therapist will place monitoring electrodes on the body or scalp. The electrodes will then be connected to a computer or polygraph. This will emit a noise or signal indicating the intensity or level of the process to be controlled. The patient is then instructed to concentrate on trying to influence to signal. Specific mental exercises will be performed under the direction of the therapist.