Stress, everyone knows of it and has encountered it at least once in their lifetime. The feeling of stress can be caused when a person is under pressure or when they think they cannot cope with an obstacle. Common causes can be big changes, not having control over a situation, too much responsibilities etc. Symptoms of stress can be blood pressure rising, muscles tension, lack of sleep etc. People have their own simple ways to deal with stress like deep breathing or counting backwards to calm down, but for others these simple methods don’t cut it. So, they resort to hypnosis to treat their stress. Hypnosis is the least understood way of therapeutic tools due to its “reputation”. Hypnosis helps a person relax, which leads one to relieve stress.
Hypnosis can be used in two ways to relieve stress. First of all, hypnosis can be used to put a person into a deeply relaxed state. This throws off tension on your body which takes off some of the stress. Treatment by hypnosis is called hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy starts with putting the patient in a trance by making them lay down with their arms right next to their body. Then asking them to relax their body and clear their mind. This is a step by step process starting with the tip of their toes and slowly moving up towards the head. During this time the patient will be taking slow and deep breathes to further relax their body. After the body is deeply relaxed, they could get asked to imagine themselves in a calming setting. For example, if they pictured themselves on a beach, the therapist might ask them to start visualizing the waves, the feel of the warm sand between their toes, the smell of the ocean and to lose themselves within the sound of the waves splashing against the shore. This will continue until the patient has completely hit the stage of full relaxation. Since the mind is at ease during this time, the stress level has already decreased. It lets your body and mind recover from constantly being alert. Hypnosis directly targets the mind because our mind is the reason we feel stressed. It’s the way we react to certain situations that makes us feel like this. The goal of hypnosis is to “hypnotize” someone to feel relax during a situation that would of usually have made them stressed. With a couple of sessions one will be in more control of their stress level. The second way hypnosis can relieve stressed is by hypnotizing yourself to make healthy life changes. This is a more indirect way because it does not directly relax the brain. An example of this method would be if someone were to hypnotize themselves to stick to an exercise plan. Exercising is one of the many methods people use to cope with their stress. When doing this method, it may take longer for one to feel a difference because it is a longer process due to the fact that first one will have to set their mind to believe exercising is relaxing and then for that relaxation to actually start decreasing the stress. Whether the first or the second method get chosen both have good results. It just depends on the state of mind of the person.
Hypnotherapy does have its pros and cons though. First of many people do not believe in the whole idea of hypnotizing or say they cannot get hypnotized, but on the contrary hypnosis is not about making someone bark when they hear fingers snap. It goes deeper than that. Using hypnotherapy has many benefits compared to other methods. Some are afraid to start using medication because they fear they will start being dependent on them or they have tried and no medication seems to help. In addition, some are not capable to exercise to cope with their stress like others can. Hypnotism is very simple that one can even do it themselves at home. Unlike some methods, it does not limit does who are physically incapable to do like for example yoga. Also, it is very inexpensive and will help save so much more money than buying medication. This method does not have any side effects and most of the time it has good results. After the stress levels have reduced, the effects on the body from stress also reduce which improves your health. So not only does hypnosis help reduce stress it can also make you much healthier and give you the ability to live longer. On the contrary though, many cannot overcome the idea of hypnosis to actually be able to focus long enough for any affect to happen. Many do not believe in this method to open their minds and be able to relax. Others just have a difficult time trying to find the time to go to a therapist or do it themselves. If people were really determined, this could be done in within ten minutes at most. People could be less stressed if they stopped for just a moment, take a deep breath and relax for five minutes.
Aside from all the magic tricks and rumors about hypnosis, it is a method that has the ability to help a multiple amount of people cope with their stress. It is a simple process of laying down and giving the body and mind the chance to relax and recuperate from always being alert. Not only is it simple, fast and easy, it truly has lasting results. In addition to helping people coping with stress hypnosis can also help with weight loss, anxiety, depression, phobias and many more psychological or non-psychological disorders. One has to be willing enough to have an open mind to be able to open their mind to finally let themselves be less stressed.
Works Cited
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“HYPNOSIS IN PAIN MANAGEMENT.” HYPNOSIS IN STRESS MANAGEMENT – Dave Wong Hong Meng – Student Publications, Research, Projects, Investigation and Academic Work Presented by Atlantic International University Students, Faculty and Other Contributors. Bachelor, Master, Doctoral Degree Programs by Distan. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.
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“Stress.” Hypnotherapy for Stress – Hypnotherapy Directory. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.