Hypnotherapy Information Exchange

If life is dom­inated by worry, anxiety, sadness and exhaustion, and if pleasure, fun, laughter and hope are just a memory, the problem is much more than just ‘stress’. Causes of really severe symptoms include: major depression, panic attacks, various phobias, obsessions, com­pulsions, post-​​traumatic stress — or a com­bination of such ‘mood disorders’.

These con­ditions cause sig­ni­ficant dis­ability and unhap­piness for both suf­ferers and families, but the good news is that there is very effective treatment. After accurate dia­gnosis, which may require assessment by a psy­chi­atrist or psy­cho­logist, man­agement should include:

• Med­ication. Because the symptoms have a physical basis, anti­de­pressant, anti-​​anxiety and mood sta­bilizing drugs are the mainstay of initial treatment and are sometimes needed indefinitely.
• Therapy — and personal devel­opment make us stronger and more equal to the stresses of life and may reduce the need for med­ic­ations. Cognitive-​​behavioural therapy is very effective. It chal­lenges negative, inac­curate thoughts such as “I’m worthless”, Everything is against me” and changes them to more accurate ones: “I have many abilities” and “Some things are against me”. Dis­torted thinking creates a nasty cycle of sadness, neg­ativity and hope­lessness whereas describing situ­ations accurately enables us to take positive action. Therapy helps you learn to relax, to worry effectively, to find solutions to problems and learn skills such as relaxation and effective com­mu­nication. If you’ve been abused or hurt badly, simply telling your story to a skilled therapist can produce dramatic results. Buried, unex­pressed emotions such as anger or guilt may create much anxiety and depression, and low self-​​esteem makes it hard to feel com­petent and strong.
• Attitudes. To reduce excessive anxiety and depression, select mental attitudes such as: Optimism — looking for the positive aspects of situ­ations; Flex­ibility — the will­ingness to change; Altruism — because doing good deeds improves mood and health; Humour — laughter is the best anti­de­pressant, so find the funny side of all situ­ations and reg­ularly smile and laugh — even if you don’t feel like it! For­giveness of those who have hurt you lightens your load.
• Taking action. A life filled with meaning and pur­poseful activity leaves less room for crippling depression or anxiety. Becoming more spiritual — finding support from some kind of ‘higher power’ reduces anxiety and improves con­fidence. Nurture an intimate rela­tionship — people in love are usually happy! Mood dis­orders may reduce sexual desire, but simply kissing and cuddling is therapy in itself.
• Exercise lightens depression, reduces anger and anxiety and improves self esteem. Run about and tidy the house or get outside, in touch with nature — and feel your mood improve. A hot bath with aromatic oils and soothing music relaxes, but playing an instrument (no matter how badly!) or joining a choir is even better!
• Other Therapies with evidence of effect­iveness include: some herbal medicines, acu­puncture, med­itation and hypnosis, Tay Chi and martial arts, aro­ma­therapy, light therapy, trans-​​cranial magnetic stim­u­lation and newer elec­tronic nerve stim­u­lation technologies.
• Mood dis­orders are very real, very serious chronic medical problems. Learn all you can about your con­dition, never judge yourself as weak or ‘inferior’ for having it — and never give up hope! Deep depression or crippling anxiety can make life unbearable — but in working to overcome them we open the door to eventual inner peace and lasting happiness.

This article was ori­ginally pub­lished on www.HypnotherapyClinic.info by Con­sultant Clinical Hyp­no­therapist & Pys­cho­therapist Noel Bradford –

As a pro­fes­sional therapist Noel help people with everything that you would expect including giving up smoking, con­trolling their weight, dealing with fears and phobias. However his services go far beyond this and encompass things that affect everyone at some time in their life, such as depression, anxiety, panic attacks, stress, and low self esteem.

He  also has detailed spe­cialist training in several areas including but not limitted to Irrittable Bowel Syndrome and Pyscho­sexual matters that affect men such as Errectile Dys­function and Pre­mature Ejac­u­lation as well as those affecting women such as Hyper Desire Disorder, Vaginisums, and Dys­pareunia.

Ori­ginally posted 2010-​​03-​​13 16:49:00.