Hypnotherapy for Medical Anxiety: How can Hypnosis Help?
Medical anxiety is different than health anxiety or obsessive thoughts about your health. It’s much more…
When someone deals with medical anxiety, the anxiety can be experienced anytime there is a scheduled doctor’s visit, a physical symptom, or an upcoming surgery.
It’s important to take control of medical anxiety because, in the end, this anxiety can affect your surgery outcome, blood pressure, heart issues, weight problems, and overall health.
Hypnosis can help you be comfortable again in your doctor’s office, operation room, or any testing institution. It’s an effective technique that uses the mind's power to help you take back your health. Let’s dive deeper:
What is medical anxiety?
Medical anxiety, also referred to as, health anxiety, hypochondria, healthcare anxiety, or medical phobia, is when you experience an intense fear or worry about medical situations, procedures, your health overall or all other health-related matters. It can lead to physical symptoms like a racing heart and even avoidance of medical care altogether.
Medical anxiety can feel like this:
· Avoiding doctor visits at all costs
· Needle phobia
· Avoiding necessary surgeries
· Intense anxiety when blood pressure is being taken at a hospital (more about blood pressure anxiety here)
· Intense anxiety when experiencing pain or any unexpected abnormalities in the body
· Constantly worrying about getting sick or having a terminal illness
What causes medical anxiety?
Unfortunately, there is not really one known cause of medical anxiety. There may be many reasons why you feel intense anxiety in medical situations. However, if you have a history of anxiety disorder, you may be more prone to medical anxiety.
Additionally, childhood issues or traumatic experiences can cause medical anxiety as well. This doesn’t necessarily have to be something you personally experienced. Even a negative health event you observed can lead to medical anxiety.
For example, growing up if you had to visit doctors and hospitals for a long time because your father had a terminal illness, you may naturally associate negative feelings with doctors and hospitals. Later on, this can manifest itself as medical anxiety.
Finally, the environment you grew up in has a significant effect on the way you perceive your health and well-being. What your family and culture say about health or disease can also affect your perception. For example, if you grew up in a household where someone you love was constantly dealing with a health issue, you may subconsciously start to believe that it’s very easy to get sick or it’s difficult to be healthy.
How to break the cycle of medical anxiety?
It may be challenging to break the cycle of medical anxiety. Unfortunately, many people don’t even realize the negative conditioning they grew up with for a while in their life. They continue living by avoiding doctors, googling symptoms, and being lost in the rabbit hole of overthinking for a while until they cannot anymore.
Breaking the cycle starts with recognizing that there is a big problem and overthinking about your health and the supporters of your health -doctors, hospitals, surgery, blood pressure machine- is blocking your optimal health in retrospect. Once you recognize this, you can go about it in two very powerful ways:
First, it’s necessary to address the anxiety that is associated with medical situations. After all, anxiety is what makes the feelings very intense and leads to disturbing behaviors. When you control anxiety, you’ll be able to control your thoughts as well.
Second, understand the root cause. Nothing happens for no reason. Whether it was a traumatic event or a small uncomfortable experience, finding the cause can help you understand your triggers better.
Hypnosis can help with medical anxiety by reconditioning the mind to respond calm and neutrally in medical situations.
How can hypnosis help with medical anxiety?
Depending on the specific symptoms you experience and the cause of the issue, there will be a number of different ways hypnotherapy can help you overcome medical anxiety. Here are some common powerful hypnotic approaches:
Addressing the related fears and phobias with hypnosis
Medical anxiety manifests itself very differently in everyone. Some people struggle with fear of doctors, fear of needles, fear of blood pressure or some people struggle with fear of hospitals. Sometimes addressing your specific fear or phobia can bring powerful results!
Fears and phobias are caused by subconsciously created negative associations about a specific issue. Therefore, hypnosis can help recondition your mind and release any triggers to create positive connections instead.
Reinforcing the mind-body connection with hypnosis
If you struggle with worrying about getting sick or recovering after surgery, maybe you lost connection with your body and your body’s natural abilities. Because the body itself is a very intelligent mechanism and is capable of repair, healing, and change when it’s in rest and digest mode.
Hypnosis can help you reconnect with your internal power subconsciously, leading to a deeper sense of trust and a calming urge to let go of any doubts or worries. When you subconsciously trust, you give permission to your body to do what it’s capable of doing!
Reprograming anxiety patterns with hypnosis
Anxiety disorder can make you more prone to fears, and phobias, or can lead to general anxiety in medical situations. In these cases, addressing anxiety can be the most important area to work on.
Hypnosis allows us to work with your triggers, past issues contributing to anxiety and training your mind to respond in calmness subconsciously.
Resolving any past traumas with hypnosis
In some cases, medical anxiety is caused by a specific event, memory, or story of some sort. This can be witnessing a loved one going through a disease, experiencing life-altering sickness, or negative experiences of others. Even though you may consciously resolve these, they can still affect your subconscious mind.
Hypnotherapy is a very powerful technique to uncover the core issue and help you integrate it in a positive and effective way subconsciously. This can be done with rescripting techniques, release techniques, or regression.
Future pacing for the optimal health results
When we are worried, the sympathetic nervous system is active. This means, your body is tight, clenched, and focused on survival rather than healing, releasing, and repairing. This becomes especially important in the cases of surgery preparation and fears/phobias.
Future pacing is a hypnotic technique that helps your subconscious mind to create a positive expectation. This powerful visual becomes as effective as a real-life memory in your life. Therefore, your mind positively lives the event that you used to worry about in a positive way. As a result, your mind sends calming and relaxing signals to your body on the day of the surgery or doctor visit.
Final words
Medical anxiety can be draining. Many people who deal with medical anxiety oversee important symptoms or the opposite, they explode with small discomforts. In the end, they are left wondering if they will ever live a life without medical anxiety. Hypnotherapy offers a positive light. A light that is holistic, complimentary, and very effective. This can be your light to take control of your health and mind!