At the Emotional Health Centre, 6 Tuckey Street in Cork city, Ireland we treat a whole host of emotional problems. One in five people suffer from an emotional problem and the types of problems are as numerous as the clients suffering them.
The term ‘mental health’ conjures up all types of stereotypes of mental illness including psychosis (madness), schizophrenia, delusions etc. While there is nothing wrong (or necessarily even permanent) about suffering from a serious mental health problem, this ‘tarring with the same brush’ can be quite stigmatising for people with less severe mental health challenges. This in turn may discourage them from seeking help from qualified Hypnopsychotherapists such as at the ICHP.
Most if not all clients consulting with anxiety or panic attacks will say “I think I am going mad or crazy” and they present with these persistent symptoms in the hope of getting relief from them. Alternatively some find relief from panic attacks and anxiety in the from of self medication such as alcohol, drugs, medications etc which have severe side effects and offer only temporary resolution.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
In accordance with WHO guidelines regarding mental well being the term ’emotional health’ is more appropriate to describe the less severe (but no less pressing for the world economy in terms of lost productivity) forms of mental health symptomology. Emotional health is about having control over ones emotions good, bad or indifferent. It enables one to navigate through both the stormy and calm seas of life with awareness and equanimity.
The cycle of emotions
1. Joy/Appreciation/Empowerment/Freedom
2. Passion
3. Enthusiasm/Eagerness/Happiness
4. Positive Expectation/Belief
5. Optimism
6. Hopefulness
7. Contentment
8. Boredom
9. Pessimism
10. Frustration/Irritation/Impatience
11. Overwhelm
12. Disappointment
13. Doubt
14. Worry
15. Blame
16. Discouragement
17. Anger
18. Revenge
19. Hatred/Rage
20. Jealousy
21. Insecurity/Guilt/Unworthiness
22. Fear/Grief/Depression/Despair/Powerlessness
Symptoms of emotional problems include:
• Panic attacks
• Anxiety
• Stress
• Irritability
• Mood swings
• Sleep disorder
• Sadness
• Nightmares
• Excessive crying
• Dissociation
• Shame
• Hostility
• Loneliness
• Binge eating
• Restlessness
• Depression
• Burnout
• Procrastination
Breaking the cycle of negative emotions
Negative emotions can be like a ball we keep pushing under the water. It takes a lot of energy and time to keep the ball in place here and eventually we will lose grip and it will spring up to the surface with dire consequences. The last creatures to realise that they are in water are fish and we are the last ones to realise we are in oxygen yet if we lack it for even a few minutes we expire. The same logical principles apply to emotional avoidance and expression. What we resist persists. Our natural instincts are to avoid pain and push it under the surface which creates more problems and a cycle of negative emotions. Hypnopsychotherapy has a proven strategy to eliminate these negative cycles.
A. One needs to quieten the mind and body and look at the situation objectively.
B. Recognise the negative cycles of emotions.
C. Stop and replace the negative cycles by expressing your emotions in a positive way.
D. Rehearse appropriate responses in your imagination.
E. Rehearse cues and anchors for positive outcomes.
F. Find the triggers in the present time.
G. Find the root causes in the past.
H. Awareness of bodily feelings and emotions is paramount. Recording for playing at home to reinforce the clinical work. Remember that every time you become aware of your emotion give yourself a ‘star’ (or a mental facebook ‘like’!!) – this is the first step to improved emotional health.
Snapshot of Irish Emotional Health Symptomology
• Anxiety and depression comprises over 80% of all mental or addictive disorders
• One in every four adults suffer from anxiety or depression
• Less than 30% of those with anxiety disorders receive professional help
• Only 50% of those experiencing major depressive disorders receive help
• Only 40% of those with depression receive help
• 12.3% of men and 19.5% of women have neurotic disorders
• Depression – 10%
• IBS – 20%
• Stress – 35%
• Anxiety disorders – 15%
• Cancer – 25% (lifetime)
• Obesity – 39%
• Asthma – 25%
• Sexual abuse – 40% women, 25% men
• 62% of Irish prisoners have an addiction
• 52% of Irish prisoners have used or will use heroine
• Pain – 80% of people will suffer back pain
• 5% of people suffer migraines
• 5% insomnia/sleep difficulties
• 25% of women experience violence
• 50% of workers bullied
• 20% high blood pressure
• 50% of the population binge drinking
• 30% smoking
• 50% of students have/do take drugs, 19% will take drugs
• Medical junkies – 2 million prescriptions issued each year
• 700,000 effected by mental disorders in Ireland
• 62% – Burnout
• 60% of patients who suffer depressive disorders also suffer from anxiety, i.e., social phobia, simple phobia, PTSD, agoraphobia, panic
• 13 unwed dads committed suicide over a three month period
• Problem children fail to get psychological support in schools
• Workplace stress doubles the likelihood of fatal heart attack
• 75% of students dropped out of a course because it was too difficult
• 90% of 15 and 16 year olds have taken alcohol (69% have been drunk)
• 32% of children have used cannabis
• Smokers start in their teens – pressure to fit in, be independent etc
• Suicides and Para suicides numbers are growing each year
• One in every 140 had deliberately self-harmed. In Cork it is more, 1 in 8.
• One fifth of adults suffer from mental disorders (half of which are undiagnosed)
• 10,000 people attempted suicide in 2002
• Medical errors kill 2,000 people each year in Ireland
What are the main types of mental health problems?
• Mixed anxiety & depression is the most common mental disorder in Britain, with almost 9 percent of people meeting criteria for diagnosis.
– The Office for National Statistics Psychiatric Morbidity report (2001)
• Between 8 – 12% of the population experience depression in any year.
– The Office for National Statistics Psychiatric Morbidity report (2001)
• About half of people with common mental health problems are no longer affected after 18 months, but poorer people, the long-term sick and unemployed people are more likely to be still affected than the general population.
– Better or Worse: A Longitudinal Study of the Mental Health of Adults in Great Britain, National Statistics (2003)
Statistics on mental health
• 1 in 4 people will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year.
• Mixed anxiety & depression is the most common mental disorder in Britain.
• Women are more likely to have been treated for a mental health problem than men.
• About 10% of children have a mental health problem at any one time.
• Depression affects 1 in 5 older people living in the community and 2 in 5 living in care homes.
• British men are three times as likely as British women to die by suicide.
• The UK has one of the highest rates of self harm in Europe, at 400 per 100,000 population.
• Only 1 in 10 prisoners has no mental disorder.
Treatment at the Emotional Health Centre
Bereavement, Loss, Grief, Anger & Jealousy
Emotions are part of the very fabric of life. They’re what separates us from machines, plants and pet rocks and add an important dimension f meaning to human existence. Because they are a contributing factor to a variety of physical and psychological ills, it is vitally important that the therapist be able to help their client successfully address and resolve the conflicts engendered by so-called ‘negative’ emotions.
We work with the six emotions that contribute most to human misery – anger, grief, jealousy, bereavement, loss and guilt. You’ll gain a remarkable insight and some startling new perspectives as you learn why you feel the way they do and how we, as therapists, can help you to change. Some of the techniques you’ll learn are tried and true while others are positively ground-breaking. Once mastered, these techniques can be applied to a whole host of other emotions.
Stress, Anxiety & Worry
Stress and it’s related anxiety and chronic worry has been described as the plague of the 21st century and it is estimated that over 80% of physical & emotional symptoms presented to therapists are psychosomatic and directly caused by distress. The havoc that these three emotions (stress, worry, anxiety) exhort in terms of human misery, suffering and health is virtually incalculable. They have been strongly linked to such physical ailments as hypertension, ulcers, heart disease, colitis, IBS, cancer, virus reactions and even the common cold. Stress is fast becoming recognised as a problem in the workplace and businesses lose billions of euros each year because of stress related problems.
Emotional Health Centre Cork
Changing Minds – Transforming Lives
List of symptoms treated by Hypnopsychotherapy Evidence-Based
It has become increasingly evident that bidirectional (“top-down and bottom-up”) interactions between the brain and peripheral tissues, including the cardiovascular and immune systems, contribute to both mental and physical health. Therapies directed toward addressing functional links between mind/brain and body may be particularly effective in treating the range of symptoms associated with many chronic diseases. In this paper, we describe the basic components of an integrative psychophysiological framework for research aimed at elucidating the underlying substrates of mind-body therapies. This framework recognizes the multiple levels of the neuraxis at which mind-body interactions occur. We emphasize the role of specific fronto-temporal cortical regions in the representation and control of adverse symptoms, which interact reciprocally with subcortical structures involved in bodily homeostasis and responses to stress. Bidirectional autonomic and neuroendocrine pathways transmit information between the central nervous system (CNS) and the periphery and facilitate the expression of affective, autonomic, hormonal, and immune responses. We propose that heart rate variability (HRV) and markers of inflammation are important currently available indices of central-peripheral integration and homeostasis within this homeostatic network. Finally, we review current neuroimaging and psychophysiological research from diverse areas of mind-body medicine that supports the framework as a basis for future research on the specific biobehavioral mechanisms of mind-body therapies.
A
Abandonment Aches and pains Acne
Addictions Age regression Ageusis
Aggression Agitation Agoraphobia
Air hunger Alcoholism Allergies
Amenorrhea Anaesthesia Anger
Anxiety Racing thoughts Apathy
Aphonia Asthma Assertiveness
Assist healing Arithmomania Attitude adjustment
B
Bed wetting Being overcritical Better exam results
Blood pressure Blurred vision Blushing
Breathing Bulimia Bullying
Bereavement
C
Career success Car sickness Change habits
Chest pain Childbirth Hypnosis for children
Chronic pain Cigarettes Co-dependency
Colitis Communication Compulsions
Compulsive stealing Compulsive washing Concentration
Confidence Constant worrying Constipation
Control Cramps Cravings
Creativity
D
Death or loss Decision making Dental procedures
Depression Developing skills Diarrhoea or constipation
Dissociation Discouragement Dizziness
Double vision Doubt Dreams
Driving fear Drug addiction Dyslexia
Dysmenorrhea Dyspepsia
E
Eating disorders Eating more or less Eczema
Emotional pain Enuresis Envy
Eyelid droop Eye-strain Exam nerves
Excessive blinking Exercise motivation
F
Fainting Fears Fear of flying
Feeling vulnerable Fibrositis Forgiveness
Fibromyalgia Frigidity Frustration
G
Gagging Gambling Goal setting
Guilt
Fears & Phobias
Animals Being alone Being touched
Change Clowns Commitment
Crowd Darkness Death
Dentists Doctors Dogs
Dirt Driving Engulfment
Falling Failure Flying
Germs God Heights
Injections Intimacy Long words
Loss of control Loud noise Open spaces
Public speaking Rejection School
Snakes Social situations Spiders
Success Surgery Thunder and lightning
Water Wasps
H
Habits Hair twisting Hair pulling
Hallucinations Hay fever Headaches
Helplessness Hoarding Hopelessness
Hypochondria Hostility Hypertension
Hypnosis for teenagers
I
Immune system Impotency Improve health
Improve sales Inability to concentrate Inability to relax
Indecision Independence Indigestion
Inferiority complex Infertility Inhibition
Inner child Insecure feelings Insomnia
Irrational Irrational thoughts Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Irritability Isolation Itching
J
Jealousy
K
Kleptomania
L
Lack of ambition Lack of confidence Lack of direction
Lack of enthusiasm Lack of initiative Lip biting
Loneliness Lower blood pressure Lying
M
Meanness Medical procedures Medication side effects
Melancholia Memory Memory problems
Migraines Mind/body healing Misogamy
Misogyny Misanthropy Mistrust
Moodiness Morbid thoughts Motivation
N
Nail biting Nausea Negativism
Nervousness Nervous habits Neuralgia
Neurosis Nightmares Night terrors
Nymphomania
O
Obesity Obsessions Obsessive tidying
OCD Orgasmic dysfunction Over dependency
Over eating Over critical Overwhelming feeling
P
Pain management Palpitations Panic attacks
Paranoia Passive aggressive Perfectionism
Performance anxiety Pessimism Phobias
Picking nails or fingers Poor communication skills Poor judgement
Post surgical Premature ejaculation Presurgical
Problem solving Procrastination Public speaking
R
Reach goals Regression Rejection
Relationship Enhancement Relaxation
Resentment Resistance Resistance to change
Responsibility Restlessness Revulsion
S
Sadness Sciatica Sea-sickness
Seeing only the negative Self awareness Self blame
Self confidence Self consciousness Self control
Self criticism Self defeating behaviours Self esteem
Self expression Self forgiveness Self hypnosis
Self image Self improvement Self mastery
Self pity Sexual problems Shame
Shaking Shingles Shivering
Shoplifting Short temper Shyness
Skin problems Skin disorders Sleep disorders
Sleeping too much Sleeping too little Sleep talking
Smoking cessation Snoring Social phobia
Speech disorders Spiritual development Sports hypnosis
Stage fright Stammering Stop smoking
Study habits Substance abuse Surgical recovery
Suicidal thoughts
Stress
Stress Anxiety Sterility
Stress causes Stress effects Stress headache
Stress management Reduce stress Stress relief
Stress treatment
T
Teeth-grinding Tension headaches Thumb sucking
Torticollis Tiredness Trauma
Tics Tinnitus Trembling
Trust issues Twitching
U
Ulcers
V
Vaginismus Victimization Visualization
Vomiting
W
Warts Wasps Water
Weight management Work stress Worry
Writers block
Weight loss
Gastric band hypnosis Fast weight loss How to lose weight
Lose weight fast Rapid weight loss Weight loss diet
Weight loss plans
Suicide, unemployment and the effect of economic recession
WHO recently estimated that 804,000 people worldwide died by suicide during 2012. Suicide prevention experts have historically focused their attention on elevated risk during times of economic downturn. For instance, Stack and Haas estimated that more than 900 suicides in the USA were attributable to the sharp rise in redundancies that occurred in 1981-82 during the early years of the Reagan administration, and which pushed the national unemployment rate up to its highest level since the interwar Great Depression era