(2026 Exams) Drug Therapy & Biofeedback for Stress

Q: Budzynski et al (1973) — Biofeedback & Tension Headaches

**Budzynski et al (1973)** investigated if biofeedback is an effective way of treating tension headaches.

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Drug Therapy for Stress

The two main drugs used to help people cope with stress are benzodiazepines, which work on neurotransmitters in the brain, and beta blockers, which work on the sympathomedullary pathway.

Benzodiazepines

Benzodiazepines work to slow down the brain and nervous system by increasing the action of the anxiety-relieving neurotransmitter GABA.
Neuronal activity is slowed and the frequency with which action potentials fire is decreased. This decreases stress response symptoms.

Action of benzodiazepines

Benzodiazepines work by attaching to GABA neurotransmitters and binding to postsynaptic GABA-A receptors.
Voltage-dependent chloride ion channels then open in the postsynaptic neuron, and chloride ions diffuse down the concentration gradient into the neuron.
The negative charge inside the neuron increases and repolarisation becomes more difficult. So a resting potential is established.

Beta blockers

Beta blockers act on the sympathomedullary pathway, not just in the brain.
Blockers bind to postsynaptic beta-adrenergic receptors, preventing adrenaline and noradrenaline from binding and preventing the postsynaptic membrane from becoming depolarised.
This results in reduced impulse frequency in the motor neurons leading to muscles and glands.
Heart rate, blood pressure and cortisol levels are all reduced by this process.

Use of drug therapies

Drug therapies can only influence the symptoms of stress, such as anxiety, and do not target the main cause of these symptoms, being the activation of the stress response.
This means that they aren’t very useful for treatment of chronic stress, only short bursts of intense stress.

Dependence and side-effects

As with all drug therapies, there is a risk that patients may become dependent on them or the tolerant to them meaning they no longer work.
Side-effects are very common with these drugs, and can be made worse by increased doses due to tolerance.

Because people who perceive a lack of control are more susceptible to stressors, some methods for managing stress focus on giving individuals control over the biological and cognitive responses to stress.

Biofeedback

Biofeedback provides individuals with information about the biological changes that accompany stress that they would otherwise be unaware of. This is to give them more control and allow them to change these processes.
Individuals are linked up to machines that monitor internal processes, such as heart rate and muscle tension.
They are then shown methods to control these symptoms, such as through breathing control or muscle relaxation.

Biofeedback cont.

As individuals can see their physiological measures changing on machine monitors, they associate the feeling of relaxation that these control methods give with reward.
Individuals then repeat these measures and develop habits through operant conditioning so that they can use them in real-life situations.

Evaluation of biofeedback

Biofeedback has been shown to be very effective in many populations of people.
But like drugs, biofeedback only targets the symptoms of stress and not the root, although the effects can last longer that those of drugs.
Biofeedback doesn’t have any side effects but is more difficult to administer than drugs. This is because of the equipment and supervision needed.

Budzynski et al (1973) — Biofeedback & Tension Headaches

Budzynski et al (1973) investigated if biofeedback is an effective way of treating tension headaches.

Procedure

Laboratory experiment.
18 volunteers split into 3 groups:
- Group A and B – given 16 sessions of biofeedback training.
- Group A – taught relaxation techniques and told the ‘clicks’ on machine would reflect their muscle tension.
- Group B – told to concentrate on varying clicks and given pseudo-feedback.
- Group C – control group = no training, told it would begin in 2 months.
For 2 weeks, patients kept a record of their tension headaches.

Results & conclusion

Results
- Group A reported the largest decrease in tension headaches and their drug use had significantly decreased.
Conclusion
- Biofeedback seems to be an effective treatment for tension headaches.

Evaluation

Strengths
- Practical applications.
- Controlled experiment.
- Attansio et al (1985) found that biofeedback was particularly effective with children and adolescents.
Limitations
- Small sample.
- Demand characteristics.
- Individual, social and cultural.
- Can be expensive.