How can hypnosis cheer me up?
Table of Contents
Depression has many causes and many avenues of treatment. It can affect you physically, causing problems such as eating disorders, insomnia, lethargy, fatigue and anxiety.
The ‘black dog’ of depression is part of life for many of us, particularly in times of crisis, personal upheaval or change. There is a long list of common triggers for low mood, ranging from bereavement and illness to divorce and unemployment. Sometimes our coping skills are simply not enough and often medical intervention is more than is necessary to deal with these challenging phases in our lives.
There are degrees of depression, ranging from a clinical condition which requires controlling with ongoing medication to the episodic kind which can afflict the most balanced of us when circumstances become overwhelming.
Evidence
A recent ‘Clinical Review’ of hypnosis and relaxation therapies published in the BMJ looked at the existing research on hypnosis and concluded that hypnosis was proven to be effective for treating insomnia.
(Vickers and Zollman, ‘Hypnosis and relaxation therapies,’ BMJ 1999;319: 1346-1349)
The Depressing Truth
Depression has many causes and many avenues of treatment. It can affect you physically, causing problems such as eating disorders, insomnia, lethargy, fatigue and anxiety. Depression can affect your ability to think clearly, making it difficult to concentrate or make decisions. Poor memory and bad judgement are other symptoms.
Day to day living has become more stressful for some people. Changes in society, a higher divorce rate, job insecurity, or even being too fat or too thin are all common factors. There are a growing number of issues which can lead to despair, frustration, anxiety, helplessness or hopelessness. Of course, not everyone who experiences these problems or stresses becomes depressed. However, there are many who go untreated because either they don’t know they are depressed or a doctor fails to diagnose it.
Despite many side effects, medication can provide relief and, in some instances, is definitely required. So if you think you are suffering from depression, remember there are many treatment options to explore. Underlying medical and psychological disorders that create depression may need a full investigation before you seek hypnotherapy.
Whatever type of depression you have, it is possible to break the pattern if you want to. Firstly, it is important to recognise depression and get help specific to your individual needs.
What is happiness?
What makes you happy is only relevant to you. A loving partnership and strong friendships are more highly prized than material things by most of us. It’s a given that happiness is not necessarily about millions in the bank, a yacht on the Med or any of those affluent trappings. Many are the tales of how lottery winners lose their friends, community, identity and even their loved ones over arguments about new found loot.
There’s no question, cash equals freedom of choice. More to the point, earning it equals a healthy sense of self worth which no trust fund kid will ever know (hence the less than life-enhancing addictions that often fill the gaps in their lives).
In a wealthy western culture, few of us go hungry or lack material goods. The poorest and most disadvantaged have access to housing, healthcare, education, the welfare state, iPods, mobiles and flat screen TV’s.
What makes the starving happy is a good meal. It takes more than that to sate an emotionally starved but nutritionally nourished appetite. Whilst not life-threatening, such a condition undermines energy, motivation and focus, impairing the ability to set and achieve goals. High flyers in both primitive and technological societies often start out the hungriest and succeed simply because they try harder.
So it seems that the old fashioned Protestant principle of good old hard graft leads to a very secular kind of satisfaction. And being a bit peckish is no bad thing. It makes those little snacks in life so much more tasty. In this indulgent era of comfort and excess, those who make an effort and choose energy over inertia, those who curb their appetite enough to truly savour all that is plentiful and those who take the time to nurture their loved ones are the winners in the happiness stakes.
The Future’s Bright
A depressed person does the same old things, day in and day out, more than likely ruminating over the same old negative thoughts and problems. When you do something differently, you may get a different and much better result. Through hypnotherapy you can find out what to do differently, managing your depression and providing a better future for yourself.
