Neurobalance – a review

Neurobalance – a review

“PTSD is a challenging beast. Emotional childhood trauma has a myriad of effects that flare up like malaria, you never know when it’ll hit you.

Living with PTSD’s physical, emotional and social reactions that are disproportionate to their trigger is a balancing act. One of my automatic responses is that, whenever something goes wrong, it must be my fault. If I lose a job or a relationship breaks down or the teenage daughter goes off the rails – all my fault. Which perversely suggests a solution – if only I improve, get better at this, or that, then life will be good. Once I’ve improved I can take this new opportunity, trust this new love, travel, move house or career, because I got better at this, and that, and all those other things over previous decades, life will be good. I’ll get it right this time.

Covid-19, lockdown and ensuing loss of income, travel, get-togethers with people from other parts of the world had an unexpected effect. I had to admit that this most recent loss has absolutely nothing to do with me. This time the disaster is not my responsibility. Nothing I could have done, prepared, foreseen, could have prepared me for this pandemic.

Which isn’t entirely true – always ready for disaster I’m better off than others, loss of job, income and social connection is nothing new. New is the realisation – it’s not me. Not my fault, and therefore nothing I can work on to make it better next time.

PTSD reared its ugly head with loss of focus, unexpected tears that wouldn’t stop, panic attacks and a sense of utter helplessness. I had no tools of getting out of this desperate state, I had tried them all. The counselling. The yoga. The healthy food. The anti-depressants. Some of those tools have become constant companions – appointments with the psychologist (now reduced due to loss of income…) the yoga, the healthy food – they are cornerstones of my life. To add more joy I acquired a young dog. A delightful creature Dylan brings joy, regular walks, oodles of love, affection and cuddles into my single life. Yet, the Covid-exaggerated stress levels are sky high; the release given through friends, hugs and massages not available. How to cease the flood of tears that springs up out of nowhere, runs for an indeterminate time, sufficient to embarrass me and friends and causing the loss of those who were probably not worth having anyway but left a gaping hole in my life. The Covid lockdown and its effects had the familiar trauma response – I’m fragile, stressed beyond reason, a trip to the supermarket can cause a panic attack as much as a conversation with a friend about her mother-in-law.

Books help. I read incessantly. Memoirs. Fiction. Non-fiction about trauma, communication, relationships. I write a lot too, processing what I’ve read, always searching for understanding, comprehension, a solution. Yet, none of those tools stopped the tears. No – I now know that my brain needs something that my tools don’t achieve, yet the side effects of the anti-depressants, the numbness, the flatness, the living in a fog or on a cloud – I’d rather live with tears.

Neurobalance. Reading the info on the website those pills sound too good to be true. I talked to Dr. Neil. He’s a brilliant listener, he didn’t say much, but what he said caused a profound shift in how I see myself. A small sentence, said at the right time, in the right context, can have magic power indeed.

I started taking two pills a day. Neurobalance stopped the flood of tears, as effectively as antidepressants, but without fog, without numbing. Those two little pills a day keep me alert, I see, I hear, I feel what’s going on. I observe my reactions that are still excessive to the events that trigger them, yet – I see the trigger, I acknowledge the trigger and the responses, I know the reaction is excessive and it’ll pass. Tomorrow is another day.

A scientist and always sceptical I asked a clinical psychologist friend. She looked at the ingredients as specified on the pill pottle and said ‘Yes. The combination of ingredients make sense, keep taking them if they help. No, there’s nothing  in there that will cause any negative side effects.’

That’s good enough for me. I ran out, wanted to wean myself, save some money, and noticed – I’m still wobbly. Happy to buy another pottle of pills, or two or twenty.  They are a lot cheaper than a session with my psychologist, and they help me. Every day. Highly recommended.”

B.H.

London

Neurobalance – 60 vegan capsules