Anxiety is a normal response to threatening situations; however, it can escalate out of control.
It is different from fear; a person is fearful of something specific but anxiety is vague and diffused.
An anxiety disorder is a manifested feeling of apprehension, which increases disproportionately to the situation.
And one way to relieve anxiety disorders is with the use of a well-known trick in magic shows, which is hypnotherapy, but this time it is called an anxiety hypnotherapy.
This type of therapy has been a common modality in bringing relief to persons who are suffering different forms of anxieties, such as in these cases: - Mild Anxiety - a helpful form of anxiety and often serves as a motivator.
This form is common on students who are about to take an examination.
- Moderate Anxiety - this is the level when perceptions starts to escalate, however the person has still focus on the situation he or she is in, excluding other issues.
This is common among people who will undergo an operation or other invasive treatments.
- Severe Anxiety - the person starts to experience perception inaccuracies, and his problem solving capabilities is drastically reduced.
The client.
Therefore, needs assistance.
This form is commonly seen on people who have witnessed a traumatic event that shocked their lives.
- Panic Anxiety - the person has a distorted perception, and the client must have immediate intervention.
This is common on rape victims, abused, or battered individuals.
Although the role of anxiety hypnotherapy is to bring a about relief from one's abnormal condition through passive psychoanalysis, its effectiveness however is comparable to active therapies, such as group therapy, individual therapy and milieu therapy.
There are two types of anxiety therapy according to how it is being administered to the patient.
It can either be REGRESSION HYPNOTHERAPY or BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION HYPNOTHERAPY.
Here is a brief description for each type: REGRESSION HYPNOTHERAPY - The hypnotherapist would usually use an autogenic training - The client is asked to close his eyes and feel the warm from his lower extremities going up to his upper extremities - Next stage is to regulate the heart rate and respiratory rate by relaxation of thoughts, feelings, and body movements - Then, the client will proceed to the relaxation of the abdominal muscles, where most tensions were composed.
- Then through direct suggestion technique, the patient will be asked to think of the past events that caused his or her anxiety.
- After which, the client will be guided to forget about that certain point of his life that became traumatic, and expunge all of the emotions that goes with it.
BEHOVIORAL MODIFICATION HYPNOTHERAPY - Meditative training, biofeedback, and pure imagery are some of the hypnotically induced relaxation techniques that can be utilized in this type of anxiety hypnotherapy.
- The client in the clinic is asked to relax his or her self before the procedure starts.
- He or she then asked to select the behaviors that are thought to be the causes of his or her anxiety attacks.
- Then, these behaviors are carefully examined both by the hypnotherapist and the client himself.
- The client is then guided to change these negative behaviors to more productive ones.
- Patient is directed in building trust on his self Anxiety hypnotherapy may also be indicated in other psychiatric disorders, such as phobias, post-traumatic stress disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and adjustment disorders.
Once the person starts to panic, hypnotherapy should be stopped at once.
Persisting to continue with the treatment will only make the client's condition worse, therefore the therapy will not be effective.