Hypnotherapy for depression
Depression – also known as clinical depression, dysthymic disorder, major depressive disorder, unipolar depression – is more than just the common experience of feeling fed up and miserable.
In depression you will often experience extreme and persistent sadness. If you are depressed you often lose interest in things that you used to enjoy. Depression commonly interferes with your work, social and family life. In addition, there are many other symptoms, which can be psychological, physical and social.
Psychological symptoms of depression:
- Consistent feelings of sadness, loneliness and worthlessness
- Loss of interest or pleasure in activities you used to enjoy
- Difficulty in sleeping
- Thoughts of death or suicide
- Feelings of anxiety and worry
- Low self-esteem
- Tearfulness
- Irritability and intolerance of others
- Lack of motivation
- Feelings of guilt and shame
- Reduced sex drive
- Lack of enjoyment
- Restlessness
- Pessimistic thoughts
Physical symptoms of depression:
- Unexplained aches and pains
- Change in weight / appetite
- Lack of energy
- Slowed movement / speech
- Changes to the menstrual cycle (women)
Social symptoms of depression:
- Avoidance of social situations
- Lack of motivation at work
- Reduced interest in hobbies
- Difficulties with home life
Those suffering with depression often feel they are on their own, but in fact it is estimated that around 15% of people will experience a major bout of depression at some point in their life, and it is the fourth most common cause of disability worldwide.
Anyone can get depression. It can affect people of any age or background. Women seem to be twice as likely to get depression than men, although this may be because men are less likely to seek help.
Types of depression
Bi-polar disorder / manic depression
This form of depression is characterised by tremendous changes in mood; sufferers often experience extreme elation followed by low mood.
Post-natal depression / Postpartum depression
Unlike the ‘baby blues’, postpartum depression can carry more serious risks. It can cause new mums to feel restless, anxious and worthless. Some mothers stop eating, have difficulty sleeping and become paranoid.
Seasonal affective disorder / SAD / seasonal depression
Sufferers experience a serious mood change during the change in seasons. This can affect sleeping pattern, appetite and energy.
Reactive depression
This type of depression can be triggered by an upsetting, traumatic or stressful situation; such as bereavement, redundancy, divorce and money worries.
How can you manage your depression?
The simple answer is, not very well. Trying to put a stop to depression is like trying to stop blinking. You can try, but eventually the unthinking, subconscious part of the mind will override your attempts and that emotional and physiological response will take over automatically once again. Some people will try medication and/or counselling. Some attempt to avoid certain “triggers” to prevent the depression occurring. Others may use direct hypnosis suggestion to suppress it. The chances are if you’re reading this then you will have already tried one or more of these methods. But unfortunately, none of these can resolve what caused it in the first place, and so eventually the depression will just keep on coming back.
Why, Why, Why?
The most effective way to cure your depression completely and permanently, is to resolve what’s causing it; if there is no longer any cause, there can be no effect.
So why do you have depression? You have probably puzzled over this many times before. Looked for reasons, triggers behind it. Perhaps you know why; your mum, sister, or other family member has it too. Or maybe it was triggered by a traumatic or upsetting event. But knowing this doesn’t make the problem go away. Or maybe you can’t think of any reasons to explain it. But that doesn’t mean there is no cause, because for something to exist it has to have been created. It has to have come from somewhere. And there has to be something maintaining it.
Beneath all the triggers and confirmation there is a single, root cause stored away in the subconscious mind. It’s something you can’t think of. Something small, easily forgotten, easily overlooked. It’s like that bit of grit in your eye. Once you find it, it can be hard to believe that something so small could have caused so much trouble.
It can take years for our problems, conditions and symptoms to get a good hold over us. Something that starts out as a minor irritation gets worse and worse until it causes us so much suffering that we eventually seek help to put it right.
How can I cure my depression?
The only way to cure depression is to find - and then correct - the cause
Curative hypnotherapy is distinguished from all other forms of hypnotherapy primarily by its use of logic. The therapist approaches each person without theories or preconceptions – except for one – that the answer to your depression lies only within your own subconscious mind. With Curative Hypnotherapy there is no need to suppress or manage your depression. By resolving and correcting the root cause, your depression and all related symptoms will automatically fade away, until eventually your condition is nothing but a vague and distant memory.
With curative hypnotherapy you will not be required to relive any traumatic or upsetting event. All you will feel is beautifully relaxed.