Unfortunately, depression is generally referred to as a mental illness and carries a certain amount of unnecessary stigma. Depression is not genetic and is caused by an unpleasant or past traumatic incident or prolonged stress and anxiety, resulting from constant negative thinking patterns.
When a person is depressed, their serotonin levels are low. However, we know positive life experiences increase levels of serotonin and that negative introspective thinking reduces them. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that plays an essential part in learning, pain, mood, and sleep.
One of the symptoms that show these patterns that can set up in depression is the reduced activity of specific neurotransmitters in the brain. This reduction in activity is treated by antidepressants, not the thinking patterns of the trauma or anxiety caused. Antidepressant medication is based on artificially increasing the number of neurotransmitters found in the synaptic cleft in the brain. While on medication, the effects of depression may well be suppressed or even disappear entirely, which of course, can be very helpful. But what do antidepressants do to prevent a relapse or to affect a permanent cure? (Search Antidepressants what you need to know).
Depression often creates extreme black and white thinking; it can cause dark moods and hopelessness through a rotating cycle of negative thinking. It may also cause disturbing dreams, which create poor sleep, tiring out the system even more. So rather than getting rest from our sleep, it's exhausting us.
During hypnotherapy sessions, stress hormones, such as cortisol, are reduced, helping the body to slowly de-stress, serotonin levels are increased, helping to enhance mood. Through this therapy, we can get to the causes that create negative emotions. This is essential, as the learned emotional response happens instantly before the rotating cycle of negative thoughts that follow. This basic neuroscience questions the efficacy of CBT or counselling with this condition, and the chances of making long term progress with those are limited. As you learn hypnotically to reframe and de-sensitise past experiences and the way you perceive them, this gives you a new perspective. You begin to rid yourself of any negative feelings such as guilt, anger or hopelessness; as your confidence and self-esteem increase, you begin to think and feel more positive. You start to act differently in situations. This enables you to deal with them better and manage your life more effectively, bringing about positive changes in how you deal with life experiences. As your mood lightens and your energy and serotonin levels increase, you feel more like exercising, which increases endorphins in your brain, helping you to feel happier. You take control naturally by learning a new set of skills that help you resist further bouts of depression in all these ways.
Comments