Anxiety and Depression
Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy
Depression, stress and anxiety are not merely responses to things which happen, but depend on your view of the world and your beliefs about your future. Hypnotherapy cannot of course change the events which happen to you, but it is very successful in re-shaping your views and beliefs, which in turn will enable you to change how you feel about and react to those events. Once a full history has been taken and the most appropriate techniques within Cognitive Behavioural Therapy identified, going into hypnosis will help you easily, and with minimum effort, replace your old negative, pessimistic, guilty patterns of thinking with more positive, appropriate and rational thoughts. Whilst in hypnosis you will imagine yourself in those situations which you have found very stressful or which trigger your feelings of anxiety and depression, whilst at the same time practising relaxation and breathing techniques. During hypnotherapy you will also imagine responding in new and different ways to situations which have previously troubled you, and by doing so, overcoming anxiety. You will be encouraged to practice new, positive ways of thinking using self hypnosis in order to combat depressed mood, stress and anxiety.
Anxiety and stress have no value
There are very few people who have never felt anxiety or stress. So many life events can cause anxiety – fear of loss (of a job, a house, a loved one, a pet), fear of embarassment, fear of being physically or emotionally hurt, fear of flying or of public speaking – there are too many variations to set out. We learnt to feel fear for evolutionary reasons – our predecessors feared predators and situations which were potentially dangerous. The physical sensations which accompany fear are unpleasant, and taught our predecessors to avoid the feared situation or thing, or to challenge it – the “fight or flight response”. By fleeing or fighting they were more likely to survive and therefore to reproduce, which is why the trait still exists and is so prevalent. However, modern day anxiety and stress serve no purpose – we cannot choose to avoid – to flee from – living our daily lives. Anxiety and stress simply makes life less pleasant, sometimes significantly so. Anxiety is a learnt response. As the only effect of anxiety is a negative one – of experiencing unpleasant thoughts or physical sensations – then it makes perfect sense to unlearn it. The thing which provokes the anxiety is a stimulus, but YOU can choose how to respond to it. Hypnotherapy and relaxation techniques are straightforward, commonsense ways of overcoming anxiety, and there is a wealth of clinical evidence for their effectiveness.
Anxiety Symptoms and Panic Attacks
A list of anxiety symptoms is set out under the heading “Physical effects of stress” in the “Work Related Stress” section. Sufferers of panic attacks experience symptoms including, dizziness, shortness of breath, nausea, palpitations, sweating and dry mouth coupled with severe feelings of fear and anxiety. Any or all of these anxiety symptoms may be experienced during a panic attack and sufferers often interpret these very unpleasant sensations as being indicative of physical illness, particularly heart attack. This in turn worsens the anxiety, making a vicious circle. The symptoms of panic attacks, like all other forms of anxiety, are significantly improved by hypnotherapy and relaxation.
Depression
It is thought that 20% of individuals – one in five – will suffer from depression at some point in their lives. Depression is not just feeling down, or sad, but is a persistent state of mind with many associated physical and mental difficulties. You may feel hopeless, or that the depression will never stop, or that you have never been happy nor have anything to look forward to; perhaps you can no longer enjoy activities which you used to find very pleasant. It is not something from which you can simply “pull yourself together”. The causes are not fully understood but are believed to be a combination of genetics, social factors (such as formative experiences) and reaction to life events such as bereavement, redundancy, or divorce.
Whilst feelings of sadness in response to life events is something we all experience, no-one needs to suffer from feeling depressed.
Symptoms of Depressed Mood
These include fatigue, difficulty sleeping (most typically, waking early and being unable to get back to sleep), loss of interest in food (although some sufferers overeat or resort to binge eating instead), feelings of lethargy, preoccupation with your own behaviour and excessive guilt, low self esteem, self-consciousness distorted and pessimistic patterns of thinking, inability to make decisions, and loss of libido.
Why can’t I just take a tablet?
Antidepressant medication has never been conclusively shown to be more effective than a placebo in the treatment of anxiety, stress and depression. Whilst modern day antidepressants have fewer side effects than older generation drugs, side effects do remain; also, antidepressants may need to be taken indefinitely. Medications for anxiety have many unpleasant side effects, may effect your ability to concentrate and function normally, and need to be taken indefinitely. It is far preferable to use natural methods which have been shown to continue to work even after treatment has stopped; Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is the most studied form of therapy for both anxiety and depression and has repeatedly been shown to be effective in their treatment.
