Dr. Raymond Boehm has advanced degrees in both finance and computing. He was trained to trade by the Online Trading Academy. He has worked as a college professor, software developer, management consultant and trader.
Experience with tDCS
Just prior to the pandemic, I started to experience arthritis problems with my hip. I reconciled myself to getting the hip replacement. People encouraged me to stay out of the hospital for awhile. In order to continue to move without excruciating pain, I had to work out every day. This was in addition to the trading and programming that I was normally involved with. I came upon some stories about tDCS. College students were making tDCS devices and using them. There were many stories about military use. I found the LIFTiD device on AMAZON. I experimented with using it once a day before I started my physical and mental workouts. I feel it helped. It is certainly not scientific proof, but to me it was encouraging anecdotal evidence.
Experience with Scuba Diving
How is this relevant? Bear with me. About 40 years ago, I decided to try my hand at scuba diving. It was a well established sport with a Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI). They had decompression tables that told sport divers how long they could stay submerged at a particular depth and if they would have to make decompression stops while ascending to the surface. I got the training from my uncle. He had started diving when the sport was brand new. PADI did not exist. They used the decompression tables that were developed for military divers. There was a problem. Military divers where usually men in their early twenties who were in excellent physical shape. Sport divers were often men and women in their thirties and forties who were not in excellent shape. They absorb nitrogen at different rates. Using the military tables was dangerous for sports divers. Hence, the PADI tables were created.
I thought about this while I was reviewing the military literature regarding tDCS. They all agree that any side effects are minimal. However, the very fact that these subjects are working in this military environment may be pre-selecting them as people who can tolerate some level of discomfort. Things like skin irritation or headaches that are minor to them might be more of an issue in the trading community.
Experience with neurological conditions
Years ago, I had a family member that was diagnosed with autism and then later with epilepsy. I became obsessed with curing these conditions. I looked at several alternative therapies and become convinced that neurofeedback was the answer. I had practitioners promise me that they could easily cure the seizures and that they would eventually alleviate the symptoms of autism. I spent hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars working with several practitioners. The net result is that one practitioner seemed to introduce a gastrointestinal problem and the rest simply effected no improvement whatsoever. What does this have to do with tDCS?
Like every new technology that emerges, some practitioners are proposing tDCS as a treatment for neurological conditions like autism and epilepsy. I believe that most are simply snake oil salesmen preying on desperate parents. SOFTCOMPTECH does not have the psychologists or medical personnel necessary to recommend or refute these claims. We could not support anyone attempting to use a tDCS device for that purpose. Therefore, if you are attempting to treat one of these conditions we beg you NOT to buy a device through us. However, I would love to hear about any experiences that you have in this area.