Help Over Skype for Mental Illness When You Need It

Today is #WorldMentalHealthDay

These are not statistics; they are young people whose lives are blighted at the time when they should be full of hope. Support services in the UK are woefully inadequate and waiting lists of 3-4 months are totally unacceptable. Anti-depressants take six weeks to have any effect and are often not the answer. Worse still, many become addicted to the anti-depressants or tranquilizers and need treatment to deal with the addiction!  People need people to listen to them and teach coping strategies, not just send them away with a pill.

Depression, anxiety or any of the many diagnozable disorders overtake every aspect of life, far more than many physical ailments which are treated much more quickly. It is time that our government realised that ignoring the mentally ill is inhumane and harsh but also economically stupid as these people may cause more of a burden to the state in benefits, possible unemployment, long term health and care costs when immediate treatment could have prevented this.

Hypnotherapists can often help people with depression, anxiety, eating disorders,  alcohol or other substance abuse and help quickly without dependence on medication.  Learning to relax, changing perspective, encouraging engagement in eg exercise and healthy eating, mindfulness - all of this is much more positive then sending someone away with a piece of paper for a pill that won't have any effect for weeks and the prospect of facing the problem alone for months until an assessment can be made, then another referral.

Antonia Harrison is the English Skype Hypnotist based in Portsmouth, England offering Hypnotherapy over Skype for addictions, behavioural and psychological problems, anxiety and fears/phobias.

I Can Take Your Fear of the Dentist Away

Hands up who likes going to the dentist? Not that many of you huh?

Many people are downright scared of going to the dentist, to the point where it be could be called a fear, or even a phobia which is an irrational fear. Having dental treatment can be unpleasant but it is unlikely to be dangerous or kill us so it is irrational to fear the man or woman looming over us in a mask.

No one is born being afraid of dental visits. So everyone who is afraid has learned somewhere that dental treatment is something to fear. Some people learn this because they have had previous bad dental experiences. The sense of loss of control in the dental environment may be enough to avoid dental treatment forever while others may be afraid due to stories they have heard, movies they have seen or other indirect experiences. The message conveyed to a child from a scared parent might be that going to see a dentist is something to be afraid of. Such messages may cause individuals to avoid treatment and not have any opportunity to learn that things can be different.

Some people fear going to the dentist so much that they just don't go, for years, sometimes 10 or 20 years and then they may well need some treatment reinforcing their negative expectation. The fact is that a routine check-up and good oral health will keep the cavities away and improve our chance of long-term trouble-free teeth and gums.

Did you know that safe and relaxing hypnosis can rid you of the fear, whether you are an adult or a child? Children love hypnosis and they are very good subjects because they enjoy sitting in the "magic chair" and going on a "journey of fantasy". A negative association with the dentist can easily be replaced with a positive reinforcement of looking after our dental health.

As the English Skype Hypnotist, I help clients all over the world from the comfort of their own home using the wonderful free technology of Skype hypnosis. I also see clients face to face on the South coast of England. Let me help you and trips to the dentist will be short and trouble free. There is nothing to fear, only fear itself.

Antonia Harrison is the English Skype Hypnotist

I Don't Want To Be The Fat Bridesmaid

Sally came to me three months before her best friend's wedding. She had been invited to be a bridesmaid, as had two other friends. One of the friends was very overweight, at least five stones or 70 pounds on the heavy side. Sally wanted to lose two stones or 28 pounds to look her best for the big day. She did not want to be the "fat bridesmaid" in her best friend's wedding photos.

Both girls met me when I had an exhibition stand about Gastric Band Hypnosis, or Virtual Gastric Band. I explained that this is safe and relaxing. We pretend that the person is having an operation to fit a gastric band at the opening of their stomach to restrict the amount of food they will eat and the power of their subconscious mind makes the experience real, giving all the benefits without any of the pain, discomfort, time off work and large investment of money.

Gastric band operations are quite common procedures now but there are always risks of undergoing general anaesthetic and ensuing stitches, scar tissue, even burst bands can pose problems. The operation's true cost is around £10,000 but available free on the NHS within the UK providing the patient qualifies by being sufficiently overweight with a high enough BMI. Sally was only two stones overweight so would not have qualified. The average cost in the USA is currently $25,000.

Gastric Band Hypnosis is completely safe, deeply relaxing and available in the comfort of your own home via the technology of hypnosis over Skype. Wherever you are in the world, I can help you. My current fee for the programme is £500, considerably cheaper than £10,000 or $25,000 for an operation which will cause discomfort and time off work at the very least.

Sally's friend chose not to book this programme. She muttered something about the price as she fiddled with her BMW key fob.

Sally did book the programme. From the first session, she noticed the difference in her eating patterns, as did her family and colleagues. She wasn't hungry and she found it easy to lose the weight - all two stones in time for the wedding. She wasn't the "fat bridesmaid" but we know who was.

Antonia Harrison is the English Skype Hypnotist,

You Can Increase Muscle Strength with a Hypnosis MP3

As incredible as it might seem, just imagining exercise can increase muscle strength almost as much as physically doing exercise.

A 2007 study from the North American Journal of Psychology found that a group of people who repeatedly visualized exercising a certain muscle actually saw their strength rise by 24%, compared with an only slightly higher 28% increase in those who just used physical training.

So, when added to your regular workout routine, or even used by itself, an Increase Muscle Strength hypnosis download MP3 will help you become stronger and perform at your physical best.

This phenomenon has been known for some time and sports psychologists have used the power of hypnosis in sport training.

Hypnosis Helped Me Overcome My Fear of MRI Scans

I last had an MRI ten years ago simply because I suffered an extreme claustrophobic reaction and started shouting for the process to stop. Problem is, after two brain tumours and ongoing “electrical activity on the scar tissue”, I need an annual brain scan. CT scans offer far less detail but with substantially high radiation; the effective radiation dose of a CT scan is about the same as the average person receives background radiation in 3 to 5 years whilst MRI scans do not emit ionizing radiation. I have always said, “I might have had benign brain tumours but the radiation of CT scans could kill me.”

Both types of scanner look similar but the “tunnel” of a MRI scanner is narrower so closer to the body. My head has to be kept absolutely still in a cradle and I panic when I look out and only see the white wall of the tunnel in front of me. Yes I know, the answer is not to look but like all fears or phobias, we don’t behave rationally. A spider phobic will keep looking at a spider in the corner of the room rather than ignore it or a needle phobic will look while a blood test is being taken.

There are some coping mechanisms for MRI anxiety, called “Scanxiety” by someone I know.

A doctor may prescribe Xanax or Valium to be taken 30-40 minutes before the scan to calm the nerves. It may be a temporary solution but you will need someone to drive you back from the hospital.

If you prefer natural herbal remedies to drugs, you can try passionflower used by North American natives as a sedative or kava, a pepper native to the islands of the South Pacific. Just a moment…..pepper for claustrophobia? Kava also helps with menopausal symptoms, insomnia and to alleviate anxiety. Scullcap and Valerian help the body or mind release themselves from fear. St John’s Wort is said to balance the serotonin level and reduce anxiety but herbal remedies take time to build up so I am not sure how useful they are for a one-off scan.

Some doctors will prescribe a course of CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) to gradually expose you to the object of your fear which always seems very cruel and unnecessary to me plus the process takes weeks and there is a long waiting list.

I chose to listen to a hypnosis recording a couple of hours before my scan. I downloaded a hypnosis MP3 for Fear of MRI Scans and just lay back and relaxed. It took me into a tunnel of light where instead of feeling panic, I just felt calm and totally safe. I was enjoying the relaxation so much that there was no desire to open my eyes and trigger any claustrophobic feelings.

Later, at the scanning unit, I told the staff that I had been claustrophobic about MRI scans in the past so asked to look at the machine first and for them to give me a couple of moments to settle. They gave me a “panic button” to squeeze should I need to. They explained that the first part would take about 20 minutes then they would inject some dye into my bloodstream which gives contrast on the scans and continue scanning for another 10 minutes.

I knew in advance that I could bring a CD but rather than bring classical or relaxing music, I chose a favourite CD from Seal as I am very familiar with each song. Focusing on the words seemed to help.

MRI scans are very noisy with erratic sounds followed by periods of silence. There can be buzzing, knocking, clanging bells, drilling and one very loud part which reminded me of the noisy start to Pink Floyd’s track “Time” on “Dark Side of the Moon”! My CD did not drown out the noise but it helped distract me.

The hypnosis definitely helped me. I was able to calm my breathing, lie still for over 30 minutes of scanning, keep imagining myself in the tunnel of light and most importantly, not open my eyes! Having endured my first MRI scan in 10 years without anxiety, I know I have put scanxiety behind me thanks to hypnosis and I have the MP3 on my laptop to listen to before any future scans to ensure I am relaxed.

Fear of MRI Scans