A Shout Out to Airline Pilots, Police, Soldiers, etc: WHAT ABOUT PREVENTATIVE MENTAL HEALTH CARE -- MANDATORY NEUROFEEDBACK

In this economy and job market, what person in their right mind is going to go to his or her boss and say, "I'm so agitated, I feel like I might go postal!"???

Recent news items have provoked citizens and the media to ask, "Why don't we screen pilots, soldiers, police and hired security guards for mental health?  Why didn't we know in advance that the soldier who gunned down the 16 civilians in Afghanistan had PTSD?  Why didn't we know that the Jet Blue pilot had mental health issues?"

Maybe these guys were very agitated, but didn't want to lose their jobs.  For certain jobs, there is still a stigma attached to seeking help with our mental health.  And most stress is dealt with via medication, which might leave someone too drowsy to do their job.  Other mental health treatments are seen as red flags, used to prevent people from assuming certain jobs.

If anyone remembers Thomas Eagleton, he was forced to step down as the vice presidential candidate in the 1972 Presidential Elections -- solely because he had been treated by a psychiatrist for depression.

Recently, I have witnessed the results of neurofeedback.  CLICK HERE to WATCH THIS VIDEO about neurofeedback.  Most of the "customer testimonials" are from soldiers and military pilots, who have found neurofeedback more than helpful in treating PTSD, ADHD, ADD, anxiety, and anger management. 

While nothing in life is guaranteed, I would strongly recommend that all people in stressful jobs where public safety is at stake, get regular neurofeedback sessions.  Don't wait until something bad happpens. Use it as a preventative measure. 

HOW DOES IT WORK?  Neurofeedback -- or "brain coaching" -- allows the individual to see, and change, how his brain is functioning.  Current software programs provide real-time graphs of one's different brain waves: High Beta, Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta and Gamma. [CLICK HERE.]  If one's brain is not agitated, the waves will fall in a certain order.  If one's brain is agitated, neurofeedback actually provokes and/or encourages the individual to "retrain" his or her brain.  The result is not unlike meditation or Yoga.  However, anyone who is in a stressful job, and is close to snapping, may not have the time, or be able to seek or learn meditation.

Rather than tackling this problem AFTER a crisis has occurred, why not offer -- or insist --on regular neurofeedback sessions for those people who are in high stress jobs?  Unlike medication or talk therapy, benign and passive neurofeedback allows the individual to maintain privacy, and could possibly prevent someone from going postal.   

Click HERE to read or listen to an NPR interview with psychologist Jerome Kagan.  Here is an excerpt: "Kagan also explained how psychology and psychiatry need to incorporate more neuroscience. “Every physician will order an x-ray, a blood and a urine test to make sure that the diagnosis is accurate. Contemporary psychiatry isn’t doing that,” he said."