I wish I had known years ago what hypnotherapy can do to calm anxiety. I have had times in my life when I have woken up in the morning dreading what the day was going to bring without realising that there is a solution. Thankfully for me, those times are long gone and I now wake up looking forward to each day ahead.
I see clients each week who tell me that they have chosen to come to me because they don’t want to get onto the treadmill of taking pills to keep their anxiety under control. Other clients come to me who have been on medication for so long that they don’t really remember what they are taking it for.
Now, I am not scorning anti-anxiety medication. If it helps you, then you should definitely take it. For many people taking pills is the best way to keep the anxiety at bay. However, if your anxiety disrupts your life too much and don’t want to take the medication route, then you need to look for something else.
Prescribed Anti-Anxiety Medication
Doctors will normally prescribe one of the following as a medication for anxiety:
- Antidepressants (SSRIs or SRNIs) – antidepressants are long-term drugs used for helping relieve the symptoms of both anxiety and depression
- Anti-epilepsy drugs – Pregabalin is an anti-epilepsy drug that also helps with anxiety
- Sedatives – Benzodiazepines are sedatives that can be used over short periods in times of high anxiety
- Beta-blockers – more commonly used for heart problems, but can also stem the amount of adrenaline that is produced in high stress conditions
Non-Prescription Anti-Anxiety Medication
If you Google “Anti-anxiety medication”, you will be offered a whole host of over-the-counter remedies. I have no idea if any of them work – but if you find one that works for you, then go with it.
You may also find that you are offered psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms), sometimes called “micro-dosing”. In the UK these are illegal, being classified as a class A drug.
Hypnotherapy as an Alternative
If you don’t want to take medication or you cannot cope with the side-effects, you can choose a form of therapy to help not only relieve the symptoms, but also get rid of the underlying causes. Hypnotherapy is highly effective at getting anxiety under control and allowing you to get your life back together again.
Note that it is not a case of Either Hypnotherapy or Medication – it is quite safe to have hypnotherapy session while taking the medication at the same time.
Warning – if you are on prescribed medication for anxiety, do not stop taking them without consulting your doctor first. Some anti-anxiety medication can have serious side-effects if you come off them suddenly.
Case Study: Hypnotherapy versus Anxiety
John ran a small building company. He took on small building projects with a handful of employees helping him do the work. John came to see me because he would wake up in the mornings dreading the day ahead. He couldn’t sleep well, waking up in the middle of the night and worrying about whether he had done anything wrong on the building site – so he couldn’t get back to sleep again.
In his first session, John started to explain to me what he thought had brought about the anxiety (a recent bereavement of a close friend). Although I listened carefully to his ideas, I did not ask him to tell me any more. I am not interested in where the problem came from, I am only interested in how he wanted to change.
We started exploring how his life could be without the anxiety, along with regular hypnosis to reinforce the changes that his subconscious mind was making. After eight sessions, he was waking up after a good night’s sleep and eager to start the day.
At our last session, he asked me if he could come back if the symptoms returned, and of course I agreed. That was three years ago, and I haven’t heard from him since.
(Of course, names and other details of this case study have been changed to ensure anonymity.)
And Finally
If you think you might like to explore hypnotherapy as an alternative or to run alongside your anti-anxiety medication, you can contact me and I will be happy to have a chat. I run my hypnotherapy clinic in Fleet, Hampshire, and also work online.
References
Anti-anxiety medications
https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/generalised-anxiety-disorder/treatment/
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