Five subjects were selected—all women between twenty-six and sixty-one years old. Each patient suffered from sleeping disorders associated with other mental illness: two had depressive disorder, ...Hemi-Sync had a benign effect on sleep patterns. three suffered from anxiety, one had an eating disorder, and one had an obsessive disorder. They had been taking sleeping medica- tion (hypnotics) for between two and five years. Three women were also taking benzodiazepine and three others some type of antide- pressant. All patients agreed to the following regimen: to listen to the tape with Hemi-Syne frequencies (a tape custom-made in the lab with the sleep processor) at bedtime; to repeat the tape if they awakened during the night; and to complete a printed form noting --- PAGE 6 (OCR) --- HEMI-SYNC™ JOURNAL the time they went to bed and the time they got up, the duration of sleep, how many times they woke up during the night, and the quality of their sleep and that of the following day. Additional remarks were requested. The form was filled out before and during the period of tape use. The period of the study varied from three months to six months. Results Of the five subjects, four listened to the tape for more than three months and only two filled out the report form correctly. They were seen for examination at least once every two weeks. ‘Three phases were noticed for all the subjects: * During the first phase (one or two weeks) sleep became better
SOURCE CONTEXT
Hemi-Sync® Journal 1993-4 (Fall) · 1 Hemi-Sync Journal 1993-4 Fall.pdf
The selected passage is highlighted. Adjacent passages preserve the surrounding source text.
in the opinion of all five. They fell asleep quickly and woke up less during the night. Records showed that length of the sleeping peri- od itself did not change significantly compared to the period with- out the tape. * In the second phase, two to four weeks long, sleep was felt to be more restless and troubled. This was because the subjects were beginning to dream again, to remember those dreams, and to want to move during the night. It was explained to them that their sleep was returning to normal patterns, with a succession of deep sleep and dreams. * For the third phase, between one month and one-and-a-half months after beginning the study, sleep was felt to be unchanged. That is, they did not perceive further improvement. Actually, dur- ing the third month, their opinion of their sleep quality was good or rather good. Duration of sleep had increased to one hour more than at the beginning of the experiment. Everyone noticed fewer awakenings during the night. Two subjects who continued to listen to the tape for another three months did not have a dramatic change for the better. Of the five, one decreased her sleeping med- ication by fifty percent after three months, although none had been told that this tape practice could help them give up drugs. Discussion It is obvious in these five cases that Hemi-Sync had a benign effect on sleep patterns. All the subjects agreed that at the begin- ning they fell asleep faster and more easily, with fewer awakenings
during the night. However, a conflict soon appeared between the Hemi-Sync patterns, which led the patients into normal sleep, and the wish of those long-term addicted patients who know that a good night is “I take my medication and sleep like a stone until morning, and I do not want any activity during that sleeping time, especially any dream.” So, when the tape brings them back to the alternation of deep and light sleep, the patients begin to comment that the “gift-tape” is not so good. This phenomenon is not due to Hemi-Sync; after using sleeping medication for so long, one forgets what normal sleep is like. Although all five subjects found the tape “interesting,” only one succeeded in reducing her medication. The other four thought it was “not enough to stop the drug.” The comfort and ease of taking a pill and sleeping without any effort is a difficult addiction to fight. Although this patient group was not large enough to make any statistical conclusion, one can infer that Hemi-Sync seems useful for promoting improved sleep patterns in patients who take hyp- notics. A larger random study would provide more conclusive evi- dence. But however helpful it may be, wearing headphones each night is seen as more constraining than taking a pill. Nevertheless, it is evident that another choice is available, especially for those who habitually take sleeping medication. /Ed. note: A comfortable pillow with built-in, high-quality stereo speakers is available from