CES to relieve anxiety / stress

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CES improves both state and trait anxiety:

•   State anxiety is situational.   E.g. stress from undergoing a dental procedure.

•   Trait anxiety is more engrained in the personality.   Many drugs only work while they are  being taken, but CES has demonstrated excellent long-term effects on trait anxiety.

CES has consistently demonstrated reductions in anxiety.   In studies that have used 27 different psychometric (pencil and paper) tests including the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and the State/Trait Anxiety Inventory.

Slowing of brain waves and respiration rate, as well as reduction in blood pressure.   These are all physical signs of stress reduction that have been documented with CES treatment in studies that have measured the physiological manifestations of anxiety before and after CES treatment.

Chronic Stress Symptoms.    One placebo-controlled studyevaluated the effects of CES treatment in 20 individuals with chronic stress symptoms of at least a year's duration. All of them had failed to respond to medication. Muscle tension, heart rate and finger temperature were measured BEFORE, IMMEDIATELY AFTER, and 1 WEEK FOLLOWING a single 20 minute CES treatment    (Heffernan, 1995) :

• Immediately after treatment.    Muscle tension and heart rate decreased and finger temperature increased in those receiving active CES treatment but not in the placebo (sham CES) group.

• One week after treatment.    Those who had received active CES treatment still had significantly reduced muscle tension and heart rate! This is one of the many advantages of CES over medications. Medications only work as long as they are taken, whereas the effects of CES are cumulative and lasting.

The long-term benefits of CES were demonstrated in another study.    Study examined the effects of CES on individuals with stress related attention deficit disorder (8 out of 23 subjects had a primary diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder). CES treatments of 45 minutes duration were given daily for 3 weeks. The treatments resulted in reductions in anxiety and depression and improvement in IQ. 18 to 20 months after treatment, CES benefits were still retained, as demonstrated by maintenance or improvement of IQ scores! (Ray, 1999 )

Graphic representation of studies showing effects of CES on anxiety

References

Heffernan, Michael. (1995) The Effect of a Single Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation on Multiple Stress Measures. The Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, 147:60-64. Presented at the Eighth International Montreux Congress on Stress, Montreux Switzerland, February 1996 and Patients. pdf

Smith, Ray B. (1999) Cranial electrotherapy stimulation in the treatment of stress related cognitive dysfunction, with an eighteen month follow up. Journal of Cognitive Rehabilitation, 17(6):14-18. pdf