IED and EEG Feedback Training and Brain Injuries Ultimate Guide to Understanding IED Cases

Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) is a relatively common and often undiagnosed condition primarily affecting the human brain, primarily in younger male combat veterans. It is a traumatic or mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and can also include CTE head injuries.

IED remains characterized by frequent bouts of mounting tension followed by a sudden and often violent rage response. Anger issues, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder are a big part of this diagnosis. I am familiar with exposure to explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And yes, an accident can trigger this as part of a brain injury complication. People with IEDs are subject to these anger outbreaks despite a lack of apparent provocation. Another psychologist from a mental health crisis center referred to a young man reportedly suffering from IED.

Brain Activity Thought Patterns

As often is the case with IED sufferers, his situation had reached a crisis point after a violent incident with his girlfriend, and he had threatened suicide. Even though he appeared somewhat guarded during the initial interview, he expressed a desire to control his violent outburst.

During that interview, he described directing his violent temper toward his girlfriend on more than one occasion. His alcoholic father raised him after his mother abandoned the family when he was a child. His father was at times abusive with his son, and for the most part, his manner was ill-tempered throughout the young man’s childhood and teenage years, likely dealing with emotional pain management issues.

The father’s drinking worsened after he took early retirement from the utility company where he worked. The patient reported that now that he had reached adulthood, his explosive behavior seemed to worsen and increase in frequency. He said he felt powerless once he began feeling tense, and the result was inevitably him violently lashing out either verbally or sometimes physically toward his girlfriend.

On a few occasions, he had also displayed his violent temper at his job as a delivery driver for a local retail store. He related that his aggression episodes always followed an intense sensation of tension or arousal.

Immediately after the outbursts, he immediately felt a sense of relief. Afterward, the patient would experience remorse and embarrassment due to his demonstrations of anger. Once physicians confirmed the patient’s IED diagnosis, introduced to electrical activity concepts involving their brain waves occurred.

Medical studies show Electroencephalography (EEG) treatments help with slow brain wave amplitude (Alpha and Theta) by enhancing a person’s ability to relax. At his first EEG training session, researchers taped several sensors on their patients’ necks at C-7, ear lobe, and scalp’s surface.

Doctors instructed him to close his eyes and relax. He listened to tones that represented his surpassing the Alpha and Theta EEG amplitude thresholds set during the initial training session. Researchers explained hearing the sounds meant their patient had produced a “calm state” of brain wave activity conditions.

Memorizing Calmness After a Traumatic Brain Injury

By memorizing the sensation of achieving this state, the patient would be better able to control his rage episodes. The program also consisted of daily 20 to 30-minute home training sessions in which the patient attempted to produce the same sensations he had experienced during the office sessions. Through frequent repetition, the patient learned how to consciously change his EEG activity after suffering postconcussion syndrome and brain function loss from shellshock.

Emotional Triggers

Another aspect of his treatment involved identifying his feelings and the situations that triggered an internal emotional conflict that increased his physical tension. He quickly developed the ability to increase his Alpha and Theta amplitudes. By his third session, he reported feeling generally calmer and more in control than previously. During his fifth office session, he described calmly walking away from situations that would have typically caused him physical tension and possibly led to an anger incident.

After week six, he was able to start decreasing the frequency of his office training sessions. He had learned the process of influencing his brain wave activity and was well on his way to controlling his violent temper. This case is purely anecdotal and does not represent a peer-reviewed study. However, it does demonstrate the efficiency of treating individuals with IEDs with EEG Biofeedback training.

I have represented at least a half dozen other patients who obtained similar results after treatment. It appears that this treatment, free of any drug therapy components, is a way to help patients quickly control their aggressive anger issues. EEG Biofeedback may significantly promise to reduce spousal/partner and child abuse and build better social and family relationships.

Discover More About IED Brain Injuries From a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Attorney Today

Are you a combat veteran, or did you work around explosives or small arms? If you suffered a relationship-crushing injury after a bad mishap, a brain injury lawyer is waiting for your call at (213) 596-9642. We can answer commonly asked questions about negligence claims. We do this by offering a confidential case review. Call a top United States advocate now at Ehline Law Firm Personal Injury Attorneys, APLC, to discuss more your blast injury.

Citations:

• Michael Thompson, Lynda Thompson, Andrea Reid-Chung; Treating Postconcussion Syndrome with LORETA Z -Score Neurofeedback and Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback: Neuroanatomical/Neurophysiological Rationale, Methods, and Case Examples. Biofeedback 1 May 2015; 43 (1): 15–26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5298/1081-5937-43.1.07