Jen burst into uncontrollable sobs. She had had enough. Forty-two years of age, Jen looked much older. Her hair was messy, her eyes had deep shadows underneath them and her shoelaces were undone. She noticed me looking and said "I know I look pathetic. I never used to let myself go. I used to look a million dollars."What’s the use of living when I feel this bad? I used to be happy and excited about life. Where did the old me go? I just want her back.
It all started for Jen four years ago when she began to suffer from panic attacks She described her job then as a Secretary in a busy law firm as being usually satisfying. She thrived on her ability to cope with multiple demands from many people. Then she suddenly began experiencing panic symptoms such as heart racing, sweating and a feeling of losing control. Initially they happened mostly during meetings where she was expected to take notes. Her symptoms overwhelmed her, she went blank and eventually had to leave the room to recover. Later she felt humiliated.
Jen decided that she needed a change to a less stressful job. She started to help a friend who ran a small florist shop. The panic attacks continued, and after a month, Jen found that she was dreading leaving the house. In fact, she dreaded waking up in the morning. She became deeply depressed. Thus started a four year search for help. By the time she consulted with me, she had been on antidepressants and had weekly sessions with a psychiatrist for two years with no improvement. She said “I can’t even bother to have a shower”.
For the first session, Jen cried and cried and cried as she described her depressed and helpless feelings. I decided that she needed a gentle treatment that compassionately helped her to boost her self-esteem, ability to cope and gave her some expectations of enjoying life again. I explained the treatment process of hypnosis to her as ‘a natural antidepressant’. Treatment of depression can be a long process. In fact, the slow progress can be depressing! Wouldn’t you be interested in a gentle way of enhancing your good mood and revving yourself up to achieve what you are capable of? Hypnosis could help!
So What Happened with Jen?
You know, it’s such a marvellous feeling to see someone overcome a problem that was making their life miserable! Over the next six months Jen had hypnotherapy in session and practiced at home with her personalised self-hypnosis audio.
Positive changes were very gradual. At first she started to take care of her appearance. She cut her hair, put the track-suit in the cupboard and found her lipstick. She said the hardest part was getting into the shower in the morning but once in there she would repeat her hypnotic suggestions to herself over and over again to get herself ready for the day.
Jen started walking in the evenings after dinner. She said “At first I walked to get out into the fresh air but then I found I lost some weight and that was a great bonus!”
She started back at work with her friend, the florist, but only part-time. Jen was determined that she was never going to push herself to be ’superwoman’ again.
So What Are the Benefits of Hypnosis for Depression?
1. Hypnosis is a natural antidepressant! You can be drug-free.
2. You are the initiator of change and it proceeds at your own pace.
3. It is gradual and boosts your self-esteem from the inside.
4. Hypnosis helps enhance the positive expectations of the future.
5. You can relax and use self-hypnosis in the privacy of your own home and in your own time.
