Understanding Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia, also called fibromyalgia syndrome, is a long-term condition which causes pain all over the body.

Fibromyalgia causes widespread pain and extreme tiredness. People with fibromyalgia may also have:

• difficulty sleeping
• headaches 
• irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
• muscle stiffness 

Read more information about the symptoms of fibromyalgia.

 

 What causes fibromyalgia?

 

The exact causes are not known, but there are certain changes in the way the body functions which have been noticed in people with fibromyalgia, including:

• disturbed pain messages
• low levels of hormones
• sleep problems

However, it is not clear what causes these changes in the first place and how they lead to fibromyalgia.

Read more about the causes of fibromyalgia. 

Who is affected?

It is estimated that fibromyalgia affects nearly 1 in 20 people worldwide. In England and Wales, there could be up to 1.76 million adults with the condition.

Anyone can develop fibromyalgia, although it affects more women than men. In most cases, fibromyalgia develops between 30 and 60 years of age, but it can occur in people of any age, including children and the elderly.

Fibromyalgia can be a difficult condition to diagnose because there is no specific test and the symptoms can be similar to those of other conditions. Diagnosis is usually based on your symptoms and tests to rule out other conditions.

Read more information about diagnosing fibromyalgia.

 

How is fibromyalgia treated?

 

There is currently no cure for fibromyalgia. Symptoms are usually permanent, although they can vary in severity. However, there are a number of treatments that may ease symptoms and make the condition easier to live with. Treatment tends to be a combination of:

• medicines – such as antidepressants and painkillers
• talking therapies – such as counselling
• lifestyle changes – such as better sleeping habits and relaxation

In particular, exercise has been found to have a number of important benefits for people with fibromyalgia, including helping to reduce pain. 

Read more information about treating fibromyalgia and advice on self-help for fibromyalgia.

Treatment

The goal of treatment is to help relieve pain and other symptoms, and to help a person cope with the symptoms.

The first type of treatment may involve:

• Physical therapy
• Exercise and fitness program
• Stress-relief methods, including light massage and relaxation techniques
• swimming, sitting or exercising in a heated pool or warm water
• an individually tailored exercise programme (see Fibromyalgia - self-help for more information)
• relaxation techniques (see Fibromyalgia - self-help for more information)  

If these treatments do not work, your doctor may prescribe an antidepressant or muscle relaxant. The goal of medication is to improve sleep and pain tolerance. Medicine should be used along with exercise and behavior therapy. Duloxetine (Cymbalta), pregabalin (Lyrica), and milnacipran (Savella) are medications that are approved specifically for treating fibromyalgia.

However, many other drugs are also used to treat the condition, including:

• Anti-seizure drugs
• Other antidepressants
• Muscle relaxants
• Pain relievers
• Sleeping aids

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is an important part of treatment. This therapy helps you learn how to:

• Deal with negative thoughts
• Keep a diary of pain and symptoms
• Recognize what makes your symptoms worse
• Seek out enjoyable activities
• Set limits 

Psychotherapy - a talking therapy that helps you understand and deal with your thoughts   
 and feelings 

Hypnotherapy - Suggestions of pain relief given under hypnosis were even more effective at decreasing pain sensation and the amount of stimulation of pain areas in the brain. All this goes to show that your ability to affect the outcome of your illness should not be underrated. In fact, a large part of the Art of Medicine is working with you to mobilize your own internal healing abilities.

That medicine has derisively called your ability to affect healing the "placebo effect," suggesting that only the doctor has the power to help you—and that anything you do on your own shows you are crazy—shows how aggressively the medical establishment works to disempower you. But you do have the ability to often heal yourself given good information. As it is said "Knowledge is Power!" 

Physiotherapy - techniques such as massage are used to improve physical problems,    
                          such as muscle stiffness or weakness 

Psychological support - any kind of counselling or support group that helps you deal with the issues caused by fibromyalgia  

Support groups may also be helpful.

Other recommendations include:

• Eat a well-balanced diet
• Avoid caffeine
• Practice good sleep routines to improve quality of sleep (See: Sleeping difficulty)
• Acupressure and acunpuncture

Severe cases of fibromyalgia may require a referral to a pain clinic.

Expectations (prognosis)

Fibromyalgia is a long-term disorder. Sometimes, the symptoms improve. Other times, the pain may get worse and continue for months or years.

Calling your health care provider Call your health-care provider if you have symptoms of fibromyalgia.

Myofascial Release Therapy is a treatment option that many people are not aware of. It is a hands-on type of therapy that is particularly effective for fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome, and can be quite helpful for many other types of chronic pain as well.

What It Is
 
To understand what Myofascial Release Therapy is, it's important to know what fascia is.  Fascia is the connective tissue that surrounds, supports and stabilizes every muscle, bone, organ, nerve, blood vessel and cell in the body.  It forms a continuous web from head to toe.  Think of a piece of raw chicken.  Between the skin and the meat you'll find a layer of thin white tissue – that is the fascia.  

The fascia is normally fluid and moves easily, but when there is an injury, the fascia constricts to protect the injured area.  Usually when the injury heals, the fascia relaxes and goes back to its normal state.  However, sometimes it can get bound up and create a three-dimensional pull or drag throughout the whole body.  

Therefore, a fascial strain in one area of the body can cause pain in multiple other areas.  This often happens with a chronic pain disorder like fibromyalgia.  Although the original restriction may have begun in one part of the body, the pull from that one restriction can cause connected tissues to become constricted, eventually spreading throughout the body.  



How It Works

Myofascial Release Therapy applies very gentle sustained pressure to various parts of the body in order  to release the fascia so it can once again move fluidly.  A Myofascial Release Therapy session will often begin with what is called tractioning.   The therapist may lift your legs slightly by your heels, holding them with a sustained gentle pull for several minutes.  This is generally felt into the low back, and when held long enough, will cause the fascia to  begin to release all the way into the shoulders and neck.  A similar type of traction may then be applied to your neck and shoulders as well.  Because fascia is three-dimensional, the effects of Myofascial Release Therapy techniques will usually be felt wherever the fascia is most constricted.  

Following the tractioning, the therapist will begin gently moving the skin back and forth on various parts of the body (i.e., back, shoulders, hips) to identify the fascial restrictions.  When a restriction is located, a cross-hand technique of gentle manipulation is applied to release it.  Since fascia is layered and must be released in layers, this cross-hand release technique is used to release restrictions in progressive layers.  

When the fascia has been restricted for a long time, as is usually the case with fibromyalgia patients, it may take several weekly therapy sessions before the fascia holds the release long term.  

Source:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/complementary-medicine/200810/hypnosis-and-fibromyalgia

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Fibromyalgia/Pages/Introduction.aspx

http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/fibromyalgia-8169-1.html?ic=506048

http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/fibromyalgia-285944-5.html 

Prescription: two doses of affirmation per day..

Let's prepare ourselves for the weekend, shall we? Take two doses of 'affirmation' per day and see the results... that's right, let's bring that stress all the way down... and in order to help you, I put something together for you.

Repeat the affirmation below as you start to fall asleep and as soon as you wake up in the morning... the more you repeat it the more it will become 'engraved' in your subconscious. Try it and see it working after a week or so:

"Everyday in every way I am becoming happier, healthier and wealthier… I am feeling freer… lighter… more confidence in myself… CALM … and as I say this I notice myself becoming happier … calmer… more relaxed… the more I say the word CALM the more my subconscious mind will associate this word with those positive feelings I am feeling now… happiness… health… wealth… peace…relaxed body…relaxed mind… the more I repeat the word CALM the more my subconscious mind will begin to treat this new habit as a reality … time and time again… during day and night… as a result I will be able to attract and encounter circumstances that would make me calm and healthy… CALM…CALM…that is all it takes to change my life…"

Hope you enjoy it!

Best Wishes

Costa

What is Hypnotherapy?

You have the power to change your life for the better. We all live in a reality that lacks the right ‘tools’ to deal with the unknown.

The unknown is part of life. Many don't understand that life is a journey that never ends. It transcends our current reality. The more you live the more you notice you know what you don’t know...

The aim of MetaMind Therapies is to help you find the answer beyond your existing reality, starting within yourself...

MetaMinds Therapies UK is based in Buxton one of the most beautiful spots of Derbyshire. In order to help you relax and find the right balance that you need, other than Hypnotherapy, we also offer a range of Holistic Therapies such as Reiki, Swedish Massage, Aromatherapy and Crystal Therapy. By combining all these elements Meta Mind Therapies can help you to relax, empower you to grow and achieve your personal goals.

I frequently ask my clients: "If you could change anything about yourself tomorrow whilst you sleep tonight, what would it be? What would it look like? How would it feel?" 

Most of the times they are not sure. Do you know you have the power within yourself to change anything you wish – behaviours, habits, circumstances? And do you know that these changes can be achieved in an amazingly short time? Yes, the power of your subconscious mind is truly amazing! Through hypnotherapy dramatic lasting results have been achieved in amazingly brief periods. 

Hypnotherapy is literally "therapy which is undertaken while you are in a state of hypnosis". Hypnosis is a totally natural, deeply relaxed state of heightened awareness a bit like a "daydream")- known as a "trance".

During hypnotherapy, suggestions can be made to your unconscious mind- these suggestions may help to bring about the changes you are looking for. When under hypnosis you will feel very relaxed, just like that wonderful feeling when you are tired lying in your bed and you are so overcome with comfort that you wish the moment could last forever. 

The aim of hypnotherapy is to enable you to gain control over your emotions, aspects of your behaviour, or physiological processes.

 For further information go to   http://www.metamindtherapies.co.uk/hypnotherapyinbuxtonderbyshire.html

The Record: Woman challenges film’s — and society’s — attitude toward obesity

When she was 12 years old, Amy Kerr was a competitive swimmer. She got injured and had to stop. But her appetite was as hearty as ever, and she started gaining weight.
She was bullied mercilessly by the other girls in her Grade 7 class, who called her names... Then she started starving herself. By Grade 11, she was in hospital with depression. Since then, she has struggled to accept her own body.

A few days ago, Kerr, now a 23-year-old student at Conestoga College, went onto her Facebook account. An ad popped up for the new movie, Pitch Perfect. She looked at it. And something snapped inside her.

The ad showed pictures of four young women who are characters in the movie, which is about competitive singing, à la the popular TV show Glee. The pictures introduce the actors by the names of their characters: Beca, Aubrey, Chloe. And “Fat Amy.”

Kerr was in different kinds of therapy for years and only learned to accept her body this year, after undergoing hypnotherapy. She got “really angry” to see the one heavier woman in the movie singled out that way.

It gives the message that “it’s OK to put a label on bigger people — because they’re not really people,” she said. She wrote to Universal Pictures and asked them to change their promotional material.

“Please, please do it for all the men and women in hospitals, at home, at work who are starving themselves and puking their guts out so that the world will think that they too, are beautiful people. Please, please do it for them,” she wrote.

Kerr says she hasn’t had an answer from Universal yet. She read the information about the movie, which explains that the character calls herself “Fat Amy” so that the others won’t say it behind her back. But that didn’t make her feel better.

Kerr’s eloquent plea to Universal contains a kernel of truth about how our affluent, educated society — so open and generous to other minorities like gay and transgendered people, aboriginals and atheists and people of all colours — still judges fat people in a harsh and arbitrary manner. It is, perhaps, the last remaining socially acceptable form of discrimination.
People who are about to go out on a blind date, who would never in a million years dream of asking about the colour of their date’s skin, will still say: “Does she take care of herself?” Which is, of course, code for: “Is she fat?”

It’s a cruel irony that in our culture, where food is plentiful and cheap, slenderness is prized. Overweight people are viewed as not having discipline or willpower. They’re cruelly punished by being shunted off to the sidelines — socially, at work, and even in the classroom. A 2008 report by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University pointed out that teachers consistently hold lower expectations of overweight children. No wonder so many young women and men resort to dangerous, and sometimes deadly, eating disorders.

Wealthy, successful people in North America are almost always slim, which perpetuates the stereotype that fat people are fat because they’re weak. But more and more research is being done that shows this theory to be grossly simplistic. Overweight and obesity have complex, tangled roots in the human psyche.

It’s not just that people can’t be bothered to burn the calories they eat. Sexual abuse and lack of sleep can be contributing factors, to name just two. One study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics shows that sexually abused children are more than twice as likely to be obese by their early 20s as their unmolested counterparts. One possible explanation is the idea that victims unconsciously build a protective wall of fat around them, in order to ward off further sexual advances.

Meanwhile, numerous studies on sleep deprivation — one of which tested 65,000 adults across Europe — show that if you don’t sleep enough, you are more likely to overeat and to gain weight. Given the shifting nature of work, the decline of the full-time nine-to-five job, and the more demanding pace of life for so many of us, this country’s rising obesity rate takes on a whole new dimension. One that the “Fat Amy” character does absolutely nothing to illuminate.

Source: therecord

Perfectionism: a Self-Defeating Mechanism

Perfectionism

• Do you feel like what you accomplish is never quite good enough?
• Do you often put off turning in papers or projects, waiting to get them just right?
• Do you feel you must give more than 100 percent on everything you do or else you will be mediocre or even a failure?

If so, rather than simply working toward success, you may in fact be trying to be perfect. Perfectionism refers to a set of self-defeating thoughts and behaviors aimed at reaching excessively high unrealistic goals. Perfectionism is often mistakenly seen in our society as desirable or even necessary for success. However, recent studies have shown that perfectionistic attitudes actually interfere with success. The desire to be perfect can both rob you of a sense of personal satisfaction and cause you to fail to achieve as much as people who have more realistic strivings.

Causes of Perfectionism

If you are a perfectionist, it is likely that you learned early in life that other people valued you because of how much you accomplished or achieved. As a result you may have learned to value yourself only on the basis of other people’s approval. Thus your self-esteem may have come to be based primarily on external standards. This can leave you vulnerable and excessively sensitive to the opinions and criticism of others. In attempting to protect yourself from such criticism, you may decide that being perfect is your only defense.

A number of the following negative feelings, thoughts, and beliefs may be associated with perfectionism:

• Fear of failure. Perfectionists often equate failure to achieve their goals with a lack of personal worth or value.
• Fear of making mistakes. Perfectionists often equate mistakes with failure. In orienting their lives around avoiding mistakes, perfectionists miss opportunities to learn and grow.
• Fear of disapproval. If they let others see their flaws, perfectionists often fear that they will no longer be accepted. Trying to be perfect is a way of trying to protect themselves from criticism, rejection, and disapproval.
• All-or-none thinking. Perfectionists frequently believe that they are worthless if their accomplishments are not perfect. Perfectionists have difficulty seeing situations in perspective. For example, a straight “A” student who receives a “B” might believe, “I am a total failure.”
• Overemphasis on “shoulds.” Perfectionists’ lives are often structured by an endless list of “shoulds” that serve as rigid rules for how their lives must be led. With such an overemphasis on shoulds, perfectionists rarely take into account their own wants and desires.
• Believing that others are easily successful. Perfectionists tend to perceive others as achieving success with a minimum of effort, few errors, emotional stress, and maximum self-confidence. At the same time, perfectionists view their own efforts as unending and forever inadequate.

The Vicious Cycle of Perfectionism

Perfectionistic attitudes set in motion a vicious cycle. First, perfectionists set unreachable goals. Second, they fail to meet these goals because the goals were impossible to begin with. Failure to reach them was thus inevitable. Third, the constant pressure to achieve perfection and the inevitable chronic failure reduce productivity and effectiveness. Fourth, this cycle leads perfectionists to be self-critical and self-blaming which results in lower self-esteem. It may also lead to anxiety and depression.

At this point perfectionists may give up completely on their goals and set different goals thinking, “This time if only I try harder I will succeed.” Such thinking sets the entire cycle in motion again. This vicious cycle can be illustrated by looking at a way in which perfectionists often deal with interpersonal relationships. Perfectionists tend to anticipate or fear disapproval and rejection from those around them. Given such fear, perfectionists may react defensively to criticism and in doing so frustrate and alienate others.

 Without realizing it, perfectionists may also apply their unrealistically high standards to others, becoming critical and demanding of them. Furthermore, perfectionists may avoid letting others see their mistakes, not realizing that self-disclosure allows others to perceive them as more human and thus more likeable. Because of this vicious cycle perfectionists often have difficulty being close to people and therefore have less than satisfactory interpersonal relationships.

Healthy Striving

Healthy goal setting and striving are quite different from the self-defeating process of perfectionism. Healthy strivers tend to set goals based on their own wants and desires rather than primarily in response to external expectations. Their goals are usually just one step beyond what they have already accomplished. In other words, their goals are realistic, internal, and potentially attainable. Healthy strivers take pleasure in the process of pursuing the task at hand rather than focusing only on the end result. When they experience disapproval or failure, their reactions are generally limited to specific situations rather than generalized to their entire self-worth.

What to do About Perfectionism

The first step in changing from perfectionistic attitudes to healthy striving is to realize that perfectionism is undesirable. Perfection is an illusion that is unattainable. The next step is to challenge the self-defeating thoughts and behaviors that fuel perfectionism. Some of the following strategies may help:

• Set realistic and reachable goals based on your own wants and needs and what you have accomplished in the past. This will enable you to achieve and also will lead to a greater sense of self-esteem.
• Set subsequent goals in a sequential manner. As you reach a goal, set your next goal one level beyond your present level of accomplishment.
• Experiment with your standards for success. Choose any activity and instead of aiming for 100 percent, try for 90 percent, 80 percent, or even 60 percent success. This will help you to realize that the world does not end when you are not perfect.
• Focus on the process of doing an activity not just on the end result. Evaluate your success not only in terms of what you accomplished but also in terms of how much you enjoyed the task. Recognize that there can be value in the process of pursuing a goal.
• Use feelings of anxiety and depression as opportunities to ask yourself, “Have I set up impossible expectations for myself in this situation?”
• Confront the fears that may be behind your perfectionism by asking yourself, “What am I afraid of? What is the worst thing that could happen?”
• Recognize that many positive things can only be learned by making mistakes. When you make a mistake ask,
• “What can I learn from this experience?” More specifically, think of a recent mistake you have made and list all the things you can learn from it.
• Avoid all-or-none thinking in relation to your goals. Learn to discriminate the tasks you want to give high priority to from those tasks that are less important to you. On less important tasks, choose to put forth less effort. Once you have tried these suggestions, you are likely to realize that perfectionism is not a helpful or necessary influence in your life. There are alternative ways to think that are more beneficial. Not only are you likely to achieve more without your perfectionism, but you will feel better about yourself in the process.

Defence mechanisms

In Freud’s model of personality, the EGO is the aspect of personality that deals with reality whilst having to cope with the conflicting demands of the ID and the SUPEREGO and when the EGO cannot cope with the demands of our desires, the constraints of reality and our own moral standards generates anxiety and stress.

In order to cope with the negative elements of anxiety and stress, the EGO develops ‘defence mechanisms’, which help us to repress or conceal this anxious libido. These ‘defence mechanisms’ can be healthy or adaptive, that is, allowing us to function normally. For instance, by trying to rid all the stress from work by doing a dangerous sport such as rock climbing for instance, which is called Sublimation where a person transforms an unacceptable impulse into a socially acceptable one. On the other hand, a ‘defence’ can be unhealthy by interfering with our day-to-day lives.

In the film Sucker Punch, Baby Doll chose to Suppress (not Repress) her memories. Because Baby Doll was under such enormous amounts of stress, she created the "fantasy world" as a way to cope with the harshness of her traumatic reality: her stepfather killed her little brother (there are also elements of sexual abuse towards Baby Doll). 

As a result of this highly stressful and emotionally impactful situation her psyche uses another defence mechanism: she dissociates herself from the horrible realities of her life and toggles between reality and fantasy world where she creates this “James Bond” world where the “Wise Man” supports her with his advice. Essentially, she used fantasies to cope with the horrible things that she was experiencing whilst inside the mental asylum.

Madam Vera Gorski uses Hypnotherapy techniques such as Visualisation as a possible therapeutic cure for her depression and help her learn new behaviours where she is given positive advices and coping tools “weapons” which come from the “Wise Man”, an archetype (please see my previous blog for a full explanation) who helps her to boost her self-esteem and overcome the “monsters” of her life. 

Another interesting way of depicting her coping mechanisms is the fact the she sacrificed herself at the end. This parallels her being lobotomized in the real world upon which she had no control whatsoever. 

Of course, every story has always two sides... let us play the devil's advocate now... maybe she suffered from Schizophrenia... because of this, she was delusional and as a result she actually killed her little brother... her stepfather found the asylum to be the best place for her to be...

Now the question remains… was she trying to cope with reality… or was she Schizophrenic?

What do you think?

Multiple Personality Disorder & "The Ward"

I was speaking to another colleague about Multiple Personality Disorder when he mentioned the film "The Ward" which I had watched years ago, however as I couldn't recall it properly. So I decided to watch it again as well as state my point of view.

It goes like this...

Alice Hudson was abducted when she was only 11 years from home address on 03rd September 1958 and was left chained up in an abandoned farmhouse for nearly 2 months.

Trapped in the darkness under horrid conditions she starved, was sick and sexually abused hence her only escape was into delusion. In order to survive after that, her psyche “fractured” hence developing Multiple Personality Disorder and creating different personalities which were represented in the film by: 

Emily – The Id;

Iris – The Artist;

Sarah – The Seductress;

Tammy – The Aggressor;

Zoey – The Infant and the last one…

Kristen – The Protector, the survivor, the intelligent.

Each personality (including her own) took a piece of her nightmare and repressed them by locking them away from her, for her own protection. However as they became more dominant, they completely overwhelmed Alice’s own personality making her stressed, confused and suffocated (that’s how Alice’s own personality died).

Alice (represented by Kristen) managed to escape and burn down the farmhouse where she was kept, after which being taken to North Bend Psychiatric Hospital.

Looking from a different perspective, in this case, through C. Jung’s view point, we can clearly see the different archetypes which are the contents of her collective unconscious (it connects people of different cultures at the deeper level of dreams, ritual, religion and mythology). A kind of knowledge we are all born with, a reservoir of our past experiences from which everything is drawn and made

The archetypes, which have no form of its own, but organizes our existence functioning like a psychological DNA of the mind. It allow us to express certain types of characters, patterns that are common, myths containing same stories and dreams which Jung felt were all common to all cultures as he concluded when setting out travelling in search of other psychological discoveries within other cultures such as in Africa, New Mexico, England and Switzerland where archetypes such as mythology and ritual defined the role of the individual’s lives. For instance, by using symbolism or archetypes to represent their collective unconscious, the Navarro people use archetype in their artefacts as well as in rituals to cure their patients, where they choose the most suitable archetype, which will pass on the power to him or her. Similarly, in Jungian therapy the client has to produce the symbolism if there are no dreams for instance.

Now going back to the film…

Through experimental techniques, Dr. Stringer explains that up to 1966, the treatments were working until "Kristen" turned up as he had been successful in unlocking her repressed memories and isolating her different identities by singling them out one by one, by the usage of hypnotherapy, and eliminating one by one through hypnotherapy itself, ECT and medication. 

Explanation: Over time, Alice's own personality became so overwhelmed by that of the others that she became lost… As the other personalities become dominant and ended up killing Alice (personality), then the ghost “appears” to stop them from rebelling… the ghost image represents the treatment…

 As the first personality, Tammy, is killed, her subconscious realises that it is starting to loose the “battle” as it is loosing the defences, at which point it fabricates Kristen in order to protect Alice (the person) from the previous trauma and the other personalities (and possibly to replace Tammy too), as they were being killed one by one as a result of the treatment which was represented by Alice’s ghost, as mentioned previously (another archetype – possibly The Shadow), a type of disfigured zombie.

When all the personalities had been exterminated, Dr Stringer confronts Kristen during a psychotherapy session (the last personality to be eliminated) and explains who she truly is after which there is a fight between Alice’s ghost and Kristen (in her psyche). As a symbol of success of the therapy, the ghost throws herself and "Kristen" out of the window, reawakening Alice to her real “Self”.

Alice's parents then collect her from the hospital to take her home. As Alice is gathering her belongings, Alice takes one last look around her room. However when she opens the cabinet, Kristen suddenly jumps out of it and attacks her…

British Women Urged To Steer Clear Of "cut-price" Gastric Bands

British surgeons have urged women in the UK not to be tempted by the "cut-price" gastric band surgery available overseas.

According to Independent.co.uk, the surgeons performing these operations may not be properly qualified or trained. As such, this could lead to potential complications for the patient.
A surgical registrar from the Bath's Royal United Hospital, Simon Monkhouse, also revealed: "Post-operative care [for operations performed abroad] is often patchy or non-existent, which increases the risk of complications." What's more, some of the weight loss surgeries being promoted overseas aren't even offered in the UK; implying they may not be 100 per cent safe.

Reports have speculated that the rise in British ladies hoping to undergo gastric band surgery may have been prompted by celebrities like Fern Britton or Vanessa Feltz, who have both lost weight after having said operation. With the average NHS waiting time for weight-loss surgery standing at 18 months, heading abroad may seem enticing for those hoping to shed several pounds.

However there are alternatives to surgery which both genders can consider - and they should, given the potential to become "malnourished" or "deficient in vitamins" after going overseas for weight-loss operations.

Hypnotherapy is one of these, helping to change the relationship a person has with food; in addition to eating well and exercising regularly. These can prove much safer than going under the knife, if undertaken sensibly and may be much cheaper, too.

In fact, the difference in cost could reach thousands of pounds, as Aol.co.uk confirmed that weight-loss operations in the UK can reach up to £6,500. Although admittedly cheaper overseas (in Syria, for example, the cost can be £2,000), weight-loss surgery may still not be worth the time or effort involved; particularly if the patient's operation is botched by an inexperienced surgeon.
                   

  source: http://www.nationalhypnotherapysociety.org

The power of your subconscious mind speaks "dreams"

In order to understand the psychological and physical aspects of hypnosis the relationship between the conscious and subconscious minds and their roles in the process will be explained.  The conscious and subconscious minds could be compared to an iceberg. What you see above the water, which is the conscious, is only a small chunk of what actually exists. The portion you cannot see which is the subconscious (underneath the water), is the larger of the two. So, whenever we meet someone, we only see the "tip of the iceberg", however, what lies below the water” is another part of the individual.

Hypnosis becomes the vehicle that allows you to bypass or submerge below the conscious mind and explore the subconscious existence (8). It is suggested that hypnosis helps you gain more control over undesired emotions or behaviours or to help you cope better with a wide range of medical conditions.

Once the subconscious mind accepts an idea, it begins to execute it. Evidence suggests that the subconscious mind contains all your memories, emotions, imaginations, intelligence and controls the autonomic nervous system, which regulates breathing, blood circulation, heartbeat etc. A good example of this is riding a bike or driving a car.  When we are learning to ride or drive, we hit many obstacles.  Loosing balance, crunching gears and lack of confidence. However, as we practice and become familiar with the skills, they automatically become habit and are stored away in the subconscious mind to use at any time in the future.  When we become an expert driver or rider, we don’t have to think about how to do it, we just do it automatically. Hence, anything that has ever happened to you and everything you have imagined is stored away in the subconscious mind which acts just like a computer.  All the information is stored away and is available to be pulled back at any time.

The conscious mind helps us with daily decision-making and thinks out new situations where we have to decide what to do and how to do it.  It can hold only a limited number of thoughts and ideas at any one time, which is why we often memorise numbers in small chunks. This is because the conscious mind can hold only between five and nine units of information at any one time. (19)

It is believed that the conscious mind has an automatic resistance to situations.  It reasons and rejects and filters certain situations and acts as our defence mechanism and a safety device, as if it were a “Watchman at the gate”. (The Power of your subconscious mind, page 20)

There are four main types of brain wave. The fastest of the four being beta waves and the slowest being delta waves:

• Beta Waves (15 to 40 cycles per second): These are characteristic of an engaged and focused mind, for instance, a person engaged in a conversation
• Alpha Waves (9 to 14 cycles per second): Present at lighter hypnosis and guided meditation.
• Theta Waves (4 to 8 cycles per second): Present during dreaming and some meditative states
• Delta Waves (1 to 4 cycles per second): These are produced in our subconscious mind and when we are in our slowest deepest state of rest and there are no other waves active

In order to access the subconscious mind, the conscious mind needs to be bypassed through an induction process- known as PMR Progressive Muscle Relaxation - in order to establish the right brain-wave pattern so suggestions can be acted upon. Evidence shows that the role of relaxation (which is caused by induction) is very important, which combined with the element of suggestion, will result in the relaxation of body and mind, narrowed focus of attention, reduced awareness of external environment and everyday concerns, greater internal awareness of sensation and finally the trance state.

So, let's consider the film Inception, a cinematic blockbuster from writer/director Christopher Nolan about the power of dream states. Essentially, the movie is a psychological thriller about the intricacies of the psyche, especially the brain waves of the subconscious mind.

The only language our subconscious understands is: iamgination. So the way our subconscious manifest to us, is via our dreams which are represented via symbols. All products of the unconscious that come to awareness do so as symbolic messages. Archetypes are the birthing agents for symbols. The most common symbols occur as dreams. Dreams are the avenue of egress for the unconscious to gain awareness and, as such, are the axis on which therapy revolves.

The movie's star, Leonardo DiCaprio, said he prepared for the role by reading Sigmund Freud's "Interpretation of Dreams". Jungian dream interpretation differs from Freudian dream analysis. Freudian dream analysis is based on repression; that is, dreams are viewed as the emergence of repressed material from the unconscious. Jungians take the phenomenological view that the drama of the dream represents the unconscious message to the dreamer expressed in symbolic terms (Jung, 1964b).

Right, in treatment, how can we use dreams as a tool to interpret our subconscious mind? I will leave this one for the next post...

References

1   Alder, H Dr. (1994). NLP, The Art and Science of getting what you want, Piatkus

2   Allen, R P. (2009) Scripts Strategies in Hypnotherapy – The Complete Works, Athenaeum   

     Press  

3   Cherry K, What is Hypnosis? Hypnosis Applications, Effects and Myths

     Found online at  http://psychology.about.com/od/statesofconsciousness/a/hypnosis.htm

4   Goodman K. Hypnosis explained

     Found online at http://www.kengoodmantherapy.com/Hypnosis_Explained.html

5   Hadley, J & Staudacher, C (1996) Hypnosis for Change, New Harbinger Publications

6   Heap M & Dryden W.  (1991) Hypnotherapy, A Handbook. Open University Press,

     page 25  

7   Hilgard ER. Hypnotic Susceptibility. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1965.

8   Hilgard, E. R. (1986). Divided consciousness: Multiple controls in human thought and action.   

     New York: Wiley.

9  JNCI J Natl Cancer Inst (2007) Hypnosis intervention effects on institutional costs*

     Found online at http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/99/17/1304.full

10 Kilhstrom, J. F. (2001). Hypnosis and the psychological unconscious. In Howard S. Friedman (Ed.), Assessment and therapy: Specialty articles from the Encyclopedia of Mental Health. San Diego, CA: Academic Press 

11 Kirsch, I. (1996). Hypnotic enhancement of cognitive-behavioral weight loss treatments: 

     Another meta-reanalysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64, 517-519

13 Mayo Clinic. Hypnosis: Another way to manage pain, kick bad habits.

     Found online at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hypnosis/SA00084

14 Murphy, J Dr (2006) The Power of your subconscious mind, Pocket Books

15 Waterfield, R (2004) Hidden Depths: The Story of Hypnosis, MacMillan

16 What is the difference between the conscious and subconscious mind?

     Found online at http://www.manifestyourheartsdesire.com/hypnosis

17 The transparency template

     Found online at http://transparencytemplate.wordpress.com/

18 Voit R Dr. Will I Cluck Like a Chicken?: Myths and Misconceptions About Clinical 

      Hypnosis -  Found online at http://www.ofspirit.com/rickvoit1.htm 

Stress is a Health and Safety Issue

Stress affects your profits. Stressed staff take more time off sick, are irritable, struggling to cope, and unhappy. Relaxed staff are healthier, calmer, more efficient and more effective.
Which do you think is best for your business?


In 2003, The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) introduced work-related stress audits into its routine health and safety inspections. Despite this:
 

• Stress remains the number one ranked reason for long-term absence for non-manual employees (Source: www.hse.gov.uk)
• In 2009/10 an estimated 435 000 people in Great Britain suffered from stress caused/made worse by their current/past work. (Source: www.hse.gov.uk)
• In 2009/10, an estimated 9.8 million working days were lost through work-related stress (Source: www.hse.gov.uk)
• The 2009 Psychosocial Working Conditions survey indicated that around 16.7% of all working individuals thought their job was very or extremely stressful
• THOR surveillance data from General Practitioners indicates that 30.9% of all diagnoses of work-related ill-health are cases of mental ill-health, with an average length of sickness absence per certified case of 26.8 working days (Source: www.hse.gov.uk)
• The 2009 Psychosocial Working Conditions (PWC) survey indicated that around 16.7% of all working individuals thought their job was very or extremely stressful.
• THOR surveillance data from General Practitioners indicates that 30.9% of all diagnoses of work-related ill-health are cases of mental ill-health, with an average length of sickness absence per certified case of 26.8 working days
  (Source: www.hse.gov.uk)