Do you have a secret addiction or perhaps an unhealthy habit that you’re looking to overcome? Well, people with either are potentially in serious danger of harming themselves whether its a choice or not. But before we get into how to overcome either, what is the difference between the two? Talking to professionals over at Brain Renewal, this is what we got:

People who have an addiction do not have control over what they are doing, taking, or using and it may even reach a point at which it is harmful. Addictions do not only include physical things such as alcohol or drugs, but can include virtually anything such as gambling to seemingly harmless products such as chocolate.

A habit is done out of choice, and a person can choose to stop if they wanted to. Simply put, you are in control of your choices, whereas with an addiction you are not.

But there’s a third aspect that heavily influences our modern day living, bleeding into society: Behavioural disorders. Common in children and adults, if left untreated, these disorders can negatively affect a person’s ability to function well, hold a job and maintain relationships.

Here area few:

• Anxiety disorders
• Disruptive behavioural disorders
• Dissociative disorders
• Emotional disorders
• Pervasive developmental disorders

The problem is that motivation and enthusiasm manifest as desire and interest, and as a driving force that pushes you to take action and pursue goals.

It often happens, however, that one has the desire and interest but lack motivation. This tends to cause frustration as you may want to do a certain thing but cannot get enough inner strength and motivation to act on it.

• Lack of faith in one’s abilities.
• Fear of failure, due to failure in the past.
• Fear of what others might say.
• The habit of procrastination.
• Laziness.
• The feeling or belief that there are other more important things to do.
• Being too stressed or nervous.
• Absence of enough stimuli or incentives.

Instead, undesirable behaviours can be successfully improved through many avenues for both adults and children:

There is a high success rate of treatment of these disorders with Neuro-Feedback sessions: 

On the day of your first Neuro-feedback session with the Brain Renewal technician, you will be asked to complete a brief assessment and questionnaire describing how you are feeling and include any concerns you may have that require attention. The tech will then take you through to the mapping room and have you sit in a comfortable chair facing a computer screen.

The technician then attaches tiny sensors (EEG/EKG) on your scalp and behind your ears to pick up the delicate electrical activity of your brain. Your technician will record a baseline reading of your brain in three states: Eyes closed, at rest and on task. This data is compiled and is used to generate your “MAP”. The MAP assessment takes between 1 to 2 hours.

• Neurofeedback is a way to quantify and train brain activity;
• It is brainwave biofeedback.
• The basic principles of how neurofeedback works are deceptively simple.
• Communication between groups of cells in the brain generates thoughts, sensations, actions and emotions.
• This activity is detectable in the form of brainwaves – electrical impulses generated by your brain activity.

Benefits:

Memory – The process of storing and recalling information. Our training will expand memory capacity and will increase the speed with which it is accessed. Imagine what this alone can do for you in every area of your life.

Flexibility – The ability to dynamically adjust to an immediate situation and present a favourable outcome in the moment as opposed to having to sink back to your desk wondering what else you should have done, only to come up with the perfect solution moments too late. Giving you the ability to look at a problem from different sides and have a real time solution like a master Chess player knowing every move and the next 20 moves to check mate.

Attention – The capacity to focus on something specific for as long as is needed with the ability to absorb what you are reading, watching or working with. Brain Training targets this area upfront to improve your long term attention as well as giving you the flexibility to quickly switch focus from one relevant task to another.

Problem Solving – The skills to solve complex challenges and reach a conclusion, usually under the stress of tight time constraints. Problem Solving is a combined result from the Brain Training as all areas in your brain begin to function as they should naturally your brain and mind work synergistically to present real time solutions that work for you.

• Get your brain faster
• Get your brain more flexible
• All this for a little investment of your time