"Are you ready to start taking BrainPrime again?" Regina asks.

Almost med-free. No one counts BrainPrime anyway. You pop two of the chewable orange-flavored tablets in your mouth. Your biomonitor wrist strap registers that you've taken the pills, and the program resumes. The pills always make your brain tingle the first couple of days back on the program. The compound is chemically related to caffeine. It primes the pump for enhanced neuroplasticity. Initially over-the-counter, the FDA had to start regulating these supplements after their combination with alcohol consumption lead to toxicity in adolescents. Your subscription with Myndbot includes a monthly supply of BrainPrime, as long as Regina approves the prescription.

You hit "Skip Instructions" and begin the opening exercises. Most of these you will never have seen before, as they are constantly revised and refreshed. Regina will have retained some of your favorites for continuity. As a series of differently colored shapes appear for sorting, KTkat997 messages you in the corner of the screen with a ping.

You go invisible so you can finish the exercise, then check out KT's stats. Her depression scores are down several months in a row. You post an encouraging message on her wall. It took a while before you felt comfortable sharing your own data with others, but now everyone does it. Plus the more interactive you are, the more discounts you get on your monthly fees.

The bulk of the session is devoted to simulations: Kiddo712 in a virtual reality that closely resembles your non-virtual reality, negotiating all the situations that typically get you down or anxious, including novel scenarios formulated to address your most current stresses. You see your girlfriend, for example, and discuss getting back together. After rationally outlining pros and cons, and then reality-testing each item, you mutually concur that, while you have strong feelings for each other and parting will bring you sadness, it is truly in your best interest. The downside of virtual partners, you have learned, is that they can unreasonably raise your expectations of real ones.

For the final stage, Regina prompts you to put on your NeuroCap, a lightweight mesh EEG hat that fits snugly along your temples and the base of your neck. This is the neurofeedback portion. For many years, the technique had FDA approval for relaxation purposes only. But with the boom in commercial EEG devices like Neuroscan, Neurovigil, and NeuroAmp, and their increasingly common off-label use for anxiety and depression, the agency eventually followed suit.

Your cap in place, you watch as Regina displays a series of images that she knows will provoke anxiety or depressive feelings. At the base of the screen, an EEG strip shows your brain waves as your respond. In real time, you observe, spike by spike, your own freak out: a full auditorium -- public speaking! Ahhhh! Mouth. No. Work. Your brain waves mount a BMX course. With each spike, Regina cues you to contextualize. These are two-dimensional images, she reminds you. You tell your brain to chill out, and eventually, it starts to listen. Your waves relax into a less erratic ebb and flow.