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Congestive heart failure, or CHF, is quickly becoming one of the most common chronic health conditions in the United States. Nearly five million people currently live with this disease, and half a million more are diagnosed with it each year. Although many people develop mild forms of CHF, this illness can quickly become disabling and greatly interfere with daily living.
People who develop congestive heart failure experience many changes from their previous daily routines. They must take medications to relieve fluid buildup and to reduce the work performed by their heart muscle. Some of these cause depression and fatigue. Often, these drugs can impair physical intimacy with a spouse or significant other. They can also cause other undesirable side effects, like
loss of
appetite, Insomnia, coughing, and even weight gain.
Another
problem that people with CHF encounter is the need for major diet
changes. Many must stop
eating red meat, avoid foods high in fat and salt, or even restrict the
amount of fluids they drink each day. They find that they cannot eat their
favorite foods, or at the very least, must eat them sparingly. Often, they are
encouraged to lose weight and exercise to keep their bodies as fit as possible.
The problem with trying to lose weight or exercise
is that many people diagnosed with congestive heart failure no longer have the
energy to engage in the same level of physical activity that they did before.
Instead, they must confine themselves to watching while friends and family
members play volleyball, swim, or jog. This leads to isolation, grief and
loneliness. In addition, many sufferers report mourning their loss of physical
strength and energy.
Many patients who experience this loss of physical energy have developed heart
problems that are sufficiently severe to prevent them from working. People who
have not yet reached the age of retirement often find themselves suddenly unable
to work. They suddenly find themselves faced with the struggle of gaining
disability payments from social security.
In addition to resulting in enormous amounts of financial stress
and anxiety, this sudden inability to work can increase feelings of social
isolation and loneliness. People who rely on work to meet their needs for
friendship, and socialization find themselves at home alone. Instead of
exchanging friendly banter with the person at the neighboring desk, they find
themselves staring at the television while everyone else continues to live as
before.
Sometimes, people take anti-depressant or anti-anxiety
medications in an attempt to cope with these losses. Others may opt for
counseling or group therapies to assist them with meeting socialization needs
and working through the grief induced by their newly restricted lifestyle.
A newer, more effective way of coping with this kind of depression, however, has
gained recent attention and achieved almost instant popularity among clients who
have tried it. Furthermore, unlike medications or counseling therapies, this
technique is very economical. People can learn to use it without experiencing
further financial hardship.
This approach, which utilizes a combination of Ericksonian hypnosis and
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), assists people to learn to relax and find
peace and tranquility in their daily lives. These techniques assist people to
accept the new restrictions in their lives while encouraging them to continue
living life to the fullest extent that they are able. Even depression that
occurs because of medication can be easily treated through the successful use of
the techniques available through hypnosis and NLP. Two such techniques are
anchoring and the Flash.
Ericksonian Hypnosis is often called conversational hypnosis. It offers
techniques for providing post-hypnotic suggestions embedded in a conversation or
metaphor. The benefit of this technique is that it eliminates the resistance to
direct suggestions that is almost always encountered when using more traditional
forms of hypnotherapy.
Through the use anchoring, consulting hypnotists and NLP Practitioners coach
clients to focus on happy thoughts and situations from the past where they felt
calm and in control. As the client becomes engrossed in these memories, they are
able to re-experience those positive feelings. The individual then learns to
make a physical anchor for these feelings by touching two fingers together. The
unconscious mind creates a link between the physical touch of the two fingers,
and the good feelings. Later, when the client encounters a stressful or
depressing moment, they trigger the anchor by touching together the two fingers,
which re-creates the sensations of peace and tranquility.
The Flash technique is also very helpful to people who are struggling to
overcome depression. The Flash technique programs the mind to automatically use
the negative thoughts that are causing stress and depression, as triggers for
positive thoughts that will create relaxation and happiness. With practice,
people soon find themselves almost unable to think negative thoughts!
Summary: People with congestive heart failure often experience depression
because of grieving over loss of their physical health and strength. Other
factors that can contribute to their depression include medications and
financial stresses. Both Ericksonian Hypnosis and NLP offer excellent techniques
for helping people cope with depression without having to spend enormous amounts
of time and money.
A
list of the common uses of hypnosis.
© 2008 By Alan B. Densky, CH. This document may NOT be re-printed without permission. All Rights Reserved. We are happy to syndicate our articles to approved websites.
Alan B. Densky, CH is a certified
hypnotist and NLP Practitioner. He's helped thousands of clients since 1978. He
offers CDs for self
hypnosis for depression. Visit his Neuro-VISION
self-hypnosis site for the hypnosis
article library, or watch his free
video hypnosis collection.
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