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Have you ever experienced a negative life-altering incident before (e.g. drowning, being trapped in the elevator, getting shot by a pistol, or falling from a cliff)? If the answer is yes, chances are you’re currently experiencing the psychological aftermath of these incidents such as irrational fear, impairment of daily tasks, and other behavioral problems.
PTSD is a condition that you might experience after traumatic events like the ones above. Read further to know what it is and how Hypnosis for PTSD can help.
What Is PTSD?
PTSD is a short word for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which is a pyschological condition common to those who underwent highly painful emotional or physical experiences. Age isn’t important in figuring who suffer or will not suffer from this condition.PTSD has been observed in individuals as young as 2 to 5 years old.
What matters is that the experience should be very traumatic that it leaves a permanent scar on the persons’ mind and heart without treatment.
Some also call PTSD as complex trauma disorder. However. this is a term that’s losing popularity for academics at present.
A total of 8 million people may have PTSD annually, wherein the prevalence is higher for women compared to men. The most common causes are sexual assault, physical assault, sexual abuse, combat exposure, long-term bullying, peer pressure, and profession.
Early symptoms of PTSD can last for 6 months. However, when not managed, it can become chronic and affect the person suffering from it for life. The following are symptoms of PTSD:
- development of phobia
- sudden sweating or shaking
- sudden irascible mood
- capricious mindset
- lack of focus, motivation, and outlook in life
How PTSD affects the persons’ quality of life depends on its severity. For example, some individuals suddenly faint upon getting exposed to a situation that resembles the event that haunts them. Seizures and panic attacks are other probable effects.
Studies have already shown the correlation of PTSD with it. Though they don’t denote that PTSD is a cause, it can, however, increase the chances of a person thinking of killing himself or herself.
If you have PTSD, don’t ever think that you’re becoming crazy. Also, don’t be depressed because having PTSD doesn’t mean that you’re weak. PTSD is a condition that happens if you experienced a traumatic event. It’s as normal as crying or shouting after getting hurt. Nevertheless, PTSD has to be treated for you to live to the fullest.
Is Hypnosis For PTSD Effective?
A cost-effective treatment for PTSD that doesn’t require medicinal intakes or hospital admission is hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is a type of treatment for PTSD that puts you in heightened awareness to relax the mind and body.
Visualization is the most common way that hypnotherapy helps people with PTSD. With this method, hypnosis encourages you to think about things that you find pleasant to overcome the trauma. Others also utilize visualization to revisit the traumatic event and find a resolution for it.
The process is gradual, and you have to do several sessions to feel the effects. So does it work? The summary of a case study in the next section provides evidence.
Summary of A Case Study on Hypnosis for PTSD
Disclaimer: This summary comes from research published in the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis titled
Hypnosis for Complex Trauma Survivors (2009)
by researcher Maggie Wai Ling Poon. This website is merely presenting the content from the research and doesn’t take credit for it.
The Hypnosis Treatment of Miss A.
Overview Of The Cause
Miss A is a victim of sexual abuse wherein her very own father is the abuser. Sexual abuse includes the fondling of breasts, touching of genitals, and an attempt for sexual intercourse. Her father did the sexual abuse when she was 15, and it lasted for 1 year.
Nature of PTSD
PTSD gave Miss frequent mood swings characterized by episodes of rage, grief, and loneliness. She also resorted to using alcohol to prevent herself from remembering what happened, thus becoming an alcoholic. Random sex was used to feel loved and cared for. Finally, she thought about attempting suicide but wasn’t able to carry on with it.
The most concerning problem for Miss A was that she can’t maintain a regular job due to PTSD.
Treatment of PTSD
Treatment started by making Miss A recognize what happened to her while being sexually abused. She was also asked to acknowledge the feelings that the sexual abuse provided such as shame, regret, anger, etc. This stabilized her mindset as she was reluctant to get a hypnosis.
Miss A’s hypnosis was for her to remember the sexual abuse in full detail while in trance. Four hypnosis sessions were conducted wherein Miss A managed to overcome a specific trauma with each.
Result of Treatment for PTSD
After the treatment, Miss A got a better bearing of her mood swings. She had a more consistent mindset which resulted in better relationships with others. Her performance at work also improved. Her highly sexual relationships with men also receded. And she managed to work full time for about a year
How Does Hypnotherapy Help With PTSD?
Hypnotherapy helps the person suffering from PTSD by letting him or her revisit and overcome a traumatic experience in clear detail. The case of Miss A shows that several sessions had to be done to see results. Resolution and acceptance is the main benefit of hypnotherapy for PTSD.
Contrary to the popular belief, hypnotism doesn’t make a person forget the traumatic experience. Instead, it only acts as a portal that allows the person to revisit his or her painful past for treatment.
Other methods had to be applied if the person refuses to get hypnotized. These might come as a dialogue between the person and the person(s) involved with the traumatic experience.
PTSD Hypnosis FAQ’s
Is Self Hypnosis Possible?
You can do self-hypnosis for PTSD. However, be sure to visit a psychologist, psychotherapist, or psychiatrist if you haven’t had a check-up ever since.
Where To Get The Materials for Self Hypnosis?
You can get hypnosis materials such as guidebooks and Mp3s online. There are even websites where you can download these for free. One that I recommend is HypnosisDownloads.
How Long Does It Take To Enter Trance?
Entering trance depends on your focus. You might get into this state in 10 minutes, 15 minutes, or even longer. Before attempting to hypnotize yourself, be sure that the environment is free from noise, blinking lights, and other obstructions. If you can’t enter trance at all, consider stopping and try next time.
