Chances are, you know someone who struggles with mental illness, or perhaps you battle with one yourself. Mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety, affect a staggering number of people worldwide. In Canada, 8% of all adults will experience a major depressive episode in their life, with a similar amount dealing with anxiety.
The field of mental health research is rapidly expanding, and our understanding of these serious mental conditions is improving all the time. So much so, in fact, that new avenues of treatment have begun to emerge. There are many options available, whether it’s medication, counselling, behavioural therapy, or several other treatment options. However, another treatment is beginning to gain traction amongst experts in the field, as well as people struggling with mental illness themselves: PEMF therapy.
The Evidence of PEMF Therapy’s Benefits for Mood Disorders
A study conducted at Harvard Medical School in 2014 showed that electromagnetic fields could be used to immediately boost the mood of patients suffering from depression by up to 10%, after only a 20 minute session. This is an extremely promising finding, and shows us that the power of PEMF therapy for treating mood disorders should not be dismissed.
Electromagnetic fields are not a man-made phenomenon. The planet itself has an electromagnetic field of its own, and our bodies similarly send signals to and from our brain via electric signals. It stands to reason that an external electromagnetic field, controlled in its pulse frequency and power, can be used to greatly impact our emotional and mental state.
How PEMF Therapy Can be Used to Help Our Mental Health
For decades, PEMF therapy has been a popular method of treating physical ailments. It was initially approved by the FDA to treat bone fractures, but as research has carried on, more and more benefits have emerged. Nowadays, PEMF therapy is used to treat inflammation in the body, chronic pain, arthritis, and even more serious conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis. Beyond this, people have begun to turn to PEMF to help treat mood disorders like depression and anxiety.
With a few sessions, and sometimes even during the initial one, patients can experience significant relief from depression symptoms, an effect which can be prolonged with regular treatment. This is because the stimulation of PEMF directly affects the brain’s electrical activity. Since mood disorders are caused by irregular brain activity, as well as chemical and hormonal imbalances, the introduction of an external electromagnetic field can have profound effects on the severity of symptoms.
A simple and tangible way that PEMF therapy can help those dealing with mental conditions is through sleep. Both depression and anxiety can negatively affect the quality and duration of sleep, which in turn can make the state of one’s mental health even more severe. This is a vicious cycle that can thankfully be interrupted by PEMF therapy. Pulsed electromagnetic fields can help the brain enter delta rhythms, which are the behaviours associated with restful sleep. This benefit to the sleep cycle has incredible implications to helping restore a patient’s mental balance.
Working PEMF Therapy into the Mental Health Care Plan
As you can see, there’s mounting evidence suggesting PEMF therapy as an effective treatment for mood disorders like anxiety and depression. It’s not necessarily a replacement for more standard avenues of treatment, such as counselling or medication, but when used as a supplement to your existing mental health treatment plan, the benefits can be incredible.
PEMF therapy has the distinct benefit of being non-invasive, side-effect free, and often downright relaxing. At the very least, you’ll likely feel more calm and emotionally centred after the therapeutic and relaxing process of receiving PEMF therapy. The odds of experiencing relief after treatment means that this can be a valuable option for those looking for alternatives to standard mental healthcare.
If you’re still curious about how PEMF therapy can be used to treat mental health and mood disorders, or if you’re ready to give PEMF therapy a try, please don’t hesitate to contact Best Life Holistic Services today!
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