Case history by James V. Hardt, Ph.D.
This patient, P1, was a 35 year old Detective working in burglary. Several years earlier he had been shot in the leg while on duty. His original anxiety began shortly thereafter. Unaddressed or insufficiently treated, the anxiety and his increasing concern for his physical safety, built steadily over time, and finally erupted, several years later as full blown gastrointestinal symptoms. Had this officer been involved in an ongoing evaluation and treatment program, like that available through the Biocybernaut Institute, the problem would have been spotted and treated much earlier, before hospitalization. By the time the officer came for treatment, he already had excessive levels of physical and psychological tension, which were certainly pathologic for someone his age. He was a likely candidate for the disability pension process. He had severe gastritis, severe abdominal pain, and significant sleep difficulty. He had already been hospitalized, several times, for severe abdominal pain, which radiated up to his chest. His most recent hospitalization had led to his admission to a coronary care unit for an entire weekend, where expensive, highly sophisticated testing was done. The intent of this testing was to assess, or rule out, life threatening coronary heart disease. His discharge diagnosis was GASTRITIS from EXCESSIVE TENSION. Medical expenses for this evaluation were in the thousands of dollars, non of which was for treatment to help cure his illness, which in fact continued and got worse. Now another complication appeared in the form of acute anxiety attacks, which were a response to his attacks of physical pain. When his attacks of abdominal pain occurred, he would feel that his body was out of control. This loss of control would precipitate an anxiety attack, which then intensified the abdominal pain. This led to more anxiety and to more pain in a vicious circle of suffering.
When P1 came for treatment, he was having almost daily attacks. He had excessive levels of muscle tension, and he was taking Tagamet for stomach pain. Tagamet is a powerful ulcer medicine with strong side effects such as dizziness and transient confusion, neither of which are helpful for an officer who frequently encounters armed suspects. Over the last year, P1’s symptoms had increased in frequency and severity. The Disability Pension process was a very likely consideration for this young officer, who had been quite unable to obtain effective treatment from the traditional medical sources, even though he had been correctly diagnosed a suffering from a stress related disorder.
Not only was P1 suffering from his original stress that led to the abdominal pain, but he suffered even more with his anxiety REACTION to the abdominal pain. This anxiety reaction intensified the pain and led to hospitalization. His job performance was being impaired by his pain, his medication, and by his increasing concern over his deteriorating physical health. The officer was faced with loss of his job and self esteem. Traditional treatments had been unable to help him. His illness also disrupted his personal life with his wife and children. His inability to sleep created additional stresses which fed back into the job stress, making him less productive and effective as an officer, and also increasing the chances of his use of the disability pension process. Because he was so young, the total cost to the city would have been in the million dollar range. There would also have been the loss of his pride, and career, and all of his training.
Treatment for this officer began with 16 one hour sessions of muscle (EMG) and temperature biofeedback. He had Frontalis EMG and Trapezius EMG training, combined with temperature training. In the course of this treatment and training, P1 experienced significant reduction in the frequency of attacks of abdominal pain. In addition, the duration and intensity of the attacks also lessened. He was now able to effectively control the pain, and it would subside within an hour to less than 1/10th of the original pain levels. As a result of his new found control over his body, he now no longer had the exacerbating anxiety attacks. In addition, his sleep patterns improved so that he was falling asleep easier and sleeping through the night. As a result, he was more rested in the mornings and was better prepared for optimal performance on the job.
Prior to training, any excitement used to cause him instant gas pains. Whenever he had to answer a Code 3 (siren and lights), his stomach would tense up, and would remain tense and knotted long after the Code 3 had passed. His stomach tension would often last all night, even after he went off duty. After receiving treatment, he now reported a slight amount of stomach tension while actually responding to a Code 3, but afterwards, he felt fine. The stress response did not linger on, inappropriately, after the Code 3 was over, whereas prior to treatment his tension would persist, leaving him feeling terrible the next day at work, and feeling concerned about his health.
At this point, after 16 one hour sessions of EMG and temperature training, a switch was made to brain wave (EEG) training. This switch was made because of the greater insights available from working with the brain waves, which directly underlie the conscious processes. The intent was to help P1 to develop an awareness of the reasons behind his original tensions. P1 was given 8 sessions of EEG biofeedback training. During this phase of digging for the cause of the problem, a symptom substitution phenomenon appeared, during which pain appeared in the new areas of arm, chest, and head. These new pains were mild compared to the original pain, however, P1 began having anxiety attacks again in response to the reoccurrence of (new) pains. He like the EEG training best of all his biofeedback, and connected with it right away. The powerful insight function of the EEG opened up his mind, revealing that there were still underlying problems which had not been addressed by the muscle feedback (EMG) training. As these were revealed, and , as he was able to admit to and talk about his fears, he received counseling and continued to work on the EEG training to master the underlying anxiety and fear. After the 8 EEG sessions, P1 had 3 more EMG treatments, which were the best he had ever had. This reaffirmed his self confidence in his ability to control his body. P1 grew so fast through the training, that he was, for a while, disconcerted, and it took skillful counseling and time for him to adjust and integrate into his life his new perceptual style and his new way of coping with stress.