Photostimulation for Stress Management

by C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D.

In 1973 when I met Jack Schwartz, one of the best known intuitives of that time, he introduced me to his I.S.I.S, a pair of half egg-shaped eye cups with blinking lights, alternating left to right. Jack assured me that using these flashing light goggles regularly would enhance one's ability to see the human "aura." He had arranged frequencies in the beta, alpha, theta and delta range. I bought a dozen devices and had an electronic expert convert them to simultaneous flashing for both eyes, as I recognized the potential benefit for deep relaxation in my chronic pain and very stressed patients.

Over the next few years I explored a wide variety of methods of applying the photostimulator and in 1975 I encountered the Schneider Brain Wave Synchronizer (BWS), introduced in the early 50's. There were half a dozen articles from that decade on the benefits of BWS on labor, decreased need for anesthesia in surgery, and even on lowering blood pressure. Nothing had been published since those days, as tranquilizers had taken over! Incidentally, the BWS was developed to assist hypnotherapists induce a trance.

Since that time I have worked with over 30,000 patients, most with chronic pain and depression and all at least with depression which had failed to respond to one to seven antidepressant drugs. I learned that:

• Ninety percent of people go into deep relaxation within five to ten minutes
• The frequency preferred by almost all patients is 2 to 3 Hz
• Adding music or Hemi-Sync® did not allow them to go into deeper levels of relaxation
• Given a choice of colors, most preferred violet
• Twenty to thirty minutes of using the preferred rhythm for relaxation increased beta endorphins by 50 to 100%
• Using nothing but photostimulation for hour daily over a month relieved depression in 56% of patients
• During the day it is best to use photostimulation for only 20 minutes, as longer usage may lead to such deep relaxation/sleep that it takes them an hour to wake up!
• Use of photostimulation as they fall asleep at night leads to much deeper sleep and increased dreaming
• Patients who are depressed initially have an inability to "follow" the frequency chosen. For instance, at 10 HZ they may elicit on computerized brain mapping either much slower or faster EEG changes
• Depressed patients at rest have almost invariable a focus of abnormal fast or slow frequency, unilaterally. Sixty percent of the time, that focus is in the right frontal area but may be in any lobe
• After three months of daily use, depressed patients have total EEG symmetry in the two hemispheres at rest and follow the appropriate frequency of the photostimulator
• Photostimulation is strikingly more effective than either antidepressants or tranquilizers, with no significant "side effects"

Approximately one person in 10,000 has photo-induced epilepsy. The FDA requires that photostimulators state that they should be used in epileptics only with permission of a physician. I have found no article reporting a seizure from photostimulation at less than 8 Hz. The most common photoinduced seizure is at 15 Hz. I have personally used photostimulation in over 300 epileptics and I have never had one of them have a seizure while using the device. I have not seen a photo-induced seizure in over 30,000 patients. Of course our current device, the Shealy RelaxMate II, uses frequencies of only zero to 7.5 Hz. When I started with development of our device, there were no violet LED's, so I have used a combination of blue and red to give the visual effect of violet. Interestingly most people prefer the blue light alone.

One of my doctoral students used the Shealy RelaxMate Ii with a group of fibromyalgia patients for one month and reported significant reduction in pain and anxiety. Another doctoral student used the RelaxMate II in caregivers of invalid relatives and reported significant reductions in anxiety. In significantly depressed patients, I use both the Liss Cranial Electrical Stimulator and the RelaxMate with an 84% success rate and no complications! In summary, photostimulation is one of the most effective tools for stress reduction and relaxation.

References: Shealy, C.N. (1997). Electromagnetic dysthymia. The Journal of Neurological and Orthopaedic Medicine and Surgery, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 193-195.

Shealy, C.N., Cady, R.K., Veehoff, D.C., Burnetti-Atwell, M., Houston, R. and Cox, R.H. (1996). Effects of color photostimulation upon neurochemicals and neurohormones. The Journal of Neurological and Orthopaedic Medicine and Surgery, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 95-96.

Shealy, C.N. (1997). Electromagnetic dysthymia. The Journal of Neurological and Orthopaedic Medicine and Surgery, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 193-195.

Shealy, C.N. (2008). Safe Effective Nondrug Treatment of Chronic Depression: A Review of Research on Low-Voltage Cranial Electrical Stimulation and Other Adjunctive Therapies, Complimentary Health Practice Review, Vol. 13, Issue 2.

This article is copyright 2009, C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D., Used with Permission.

For more information visit: www.NormShealy.com