Hypnosis For Blood Pressure Phobia: Overcoming Your Fears
You may have heard of fear of doctors (which is also known as the white coat effect), fear of blood, or even fear of needles, but what about fear of blood pressure?
Fear of blood pressure may sound uncommon but actually, a lot of people suffer from anxiety caused by thinking about blood pressure, anxiety before blood pressure is taken in the doctor’s office, or even anxiety due to hearing about blood pressure itself.
It’s easy to speculate the possible negative effects of fear of blood pressure. Blood pressure intake is one of the first things that is measured when we visit the doctor’s office. These blood pressure measurements can give the doctor valuable insight into our overall health or any health risks we may be under. This is why, in general, people who suffer from fear of blood pressure may be considerably worried about their health.
Just like many other phobias, hypnotherapy can help with relief from fear of blood pressure as well. Usually, fear of blood pressure arises from a trail of irrational thoughts about health, doctor, or other things that may be associated with blood pressure. With the help of hypnosis, it’s possible to transform these negative associations subconsciously.
Understanding blood pressure phobia
Blood pressure phobia is a specific type of anxiety disorder that can cause intense fear, panic, and stress when a person's blood pressure is being measured.
Some common symptoms of blood pressure phobia include anxiety and worry about upcoming doctor's appointments, increased heart rate or palpitations when blood pressure is being taken, and irritability or fear at the mention of blood pressure. People with blood pressure phobia may also experience physical symptoms like sweating, shaking, and shortness of breath.
What causes fear of blood pressure?
There may be many causes why someone may experience fear of blood pressure. Three common reasons are; generalized anxiety disorder, other health issues, or a negative experience involving blood pressure.
Anytime someone experiences fear, most likely, they are experiencing anxiety as well. Anxiety is what fuels worrying and anticipating thoughts. If you are dealing with generalized anxiety disorder, you may be more likely to develop a fear or a phobia.
Often times when we go through a serious health issue, understandably, we tend to be worried about the future and we may be anticipating it. It’s easy to associate these negative feelings with blood pressure and attribute it to the doctor visits that always seemed to bring negative news. Even if you weren’t the one who had the health problem but you had to go through the process with a loved one, this may be a trigger for developing a fear of blood pressure also.
Finally, rarely, there may be problems caused by blood pressure, blood pressure measuring, or with the person who is measuring the blood pressure. For example, if you are dealing with high blood pressure and this was confused with a heart problem by your doctor in the past, you may develop a fear of blood pressure due to this negative experience.
What are the symptoms of fear of blood pressure?
When we fear something, usually we feel intense anxiety physically and mentally. Our mind reacts as if we are actually in great danger, activating the fight/flight/freeze response. The intensity of the feelings or dominance of the reactions depends on the person.
Overall symptoms of fear of blood pressure can look like this:
· Anxiety the day before a known blood pressure measuring (for example doctor’s visit)
· Increased heartbeat right before blood pressure measuring
· Irritation and worry upon hearing about blood pressure
· Intense anxiety with things related to blood pressure
Hypnotherapy can help with fear of blood pressure by changing subconscious perspectives and associations.
How can hypnotherapy help with fear of blood pressure?
Hypnosis can help with fears and phobias by focusing on the negative association with the trigger and releasing the anxiety related to it. Especially when it comes to irrational thought patterns, hypnotherapy can be one of the best healing techniques for fears and phobias.
Hypnotherapy overall carries parts of meditation, inner calmness, and also foundations of exposure therapy and other cognitive therapies. During hypnotherapy not only you can identify the core issues about your fear but also you will leave with actionable tools to release anxiety in case of exposure to triggers.
What to expect with hypnosis
Hypnotherapy can help you overcome blood pressure phobia by:
Addressing underlying fears and anxieties that contribute to blood pressure phobia
Finding out the root cause of blood pressure phobia if necessary
Replacing negative associations with blood pressure with positive ones
Promoting relaxation and reducing stress, which can help regulate blood pressure
Teaching you coping strategies to manage anxiety and panic related to blood pressure
Mechanics of hypnosis
When someone is hypnotized, they will feel a deep sense of relaxation. Muscles can feel heavier or lighter than usual. They may also experience mental calmness, clarity, and focus. In a calm and relaxed state like this, the subconscious mind is actually more suggestible than normal.
This is when your subconscious mind can be more willing to work with you. This can look like changing perceptions, responding differently to the same events, or processing information differently. In summary, the effects will be mostly on your perceptions.
How would it feel if you could feel excited when getting ready for your blood pressure measurement because you will have a better insight into your health, rather than feeling anxious? Hypnosis’ effects can be simple as that.
Change your fear only using your mind's power
As you may already know, hypnotherapy only uses your subconscious mind power. This means it’s no medicine, no side effects, no outside intervention but your imagination. That’s how powerful your imagination can be.
If you think about it, the reason why you are fearful of blood pressure is your imagination in the first place. Hypnosis allows us to use the same intensity of imagination power and divert it to the positive instead.
You may use your imagination during hypnosis to go over some triggering scenarios and learn to produce a different response than anxiety. During hypnosis, the mind doesn’t know the difference between imagination and reality. So next time when you find yourself in a situation where in the past you may have been triggered, you may find a totally different response this time!
Give it a try!
Even though fear of blood pressure may sound simple, it can really take a toll on health in the long term. Many people who experience fear of blood pressure tend to avoid going to the doctor or treatments which prevent them from living a happy and healthy life. Hypnotherapy can be just the solution you are looking for when it comes to the fear of blood pressure.