The Concept of Mind and Techniques for Struggle With Anxiety

The concept of the mind being a separate entity from the body was originally proposed by Descartes. Much has occurred since Descartes set forward his unrefined hypothesis clarifying how the spirit connects with its physical packaging. The pineal organ he singled out for the event ended up being ineffectively prepared for the activity, for it involves a fringe put in the arrangement of neuronal systems key to cognizance and selfhood. Observational research on the nervous system science of mind-body interaction started decisively about a century after Descartes when Robert Whytt, testing neural responses tentatively, appeared that reflex reaction in frogs are related with spinal cord incitement while the midbrain is enacted amid the pupillary constriction.

Marshall Hall’s work on the physiology of reflex moved the examination past lab into therapeutic practice where his trial discoveries demonstrated their indicative and therapeutic value (Shalin, 2017). Since these initial concepts, many strides have been made within psychology that has provided research that mind versus body have applications that are effective and ideal in treating certain patients Hypnosis Hypnosis directly correlates to the separation of mind and body because it is defined as the induction of a state of consciousness in which a person apparently loses the power of intentional activity and is very receptive to suggestions or directions. This form of separating body and mind has been utilized for over 200 years and gave ave credibility to the notion that talking between a doctor and a patient has therapeutic potentials in Western psychotherapy. Commonly hypnosis has applications in therapy to recover repressed memories or have behavioral modification based on suggestions.

Hypnosis can be broken down into three main parts which include absorption, dissociation, and suggestibility. The trance state has been alluded to as ‘self-altering attention,’ the ability to lose oneself easily in what one is focusing on. The ability to lose oneself suggests dissociation, processing potentially distracting information outside of cognizant mindfulness. The third segment is suggestibility. This does not imply that the hypnotized individual can’t apply power over what they think and do, but rather that they are inclined to go along with hypnotic suggestions because they are less inclined to consider alternatives and analyze the context of the proposals (Spiegel, 2013). Being that there are three main parts it becomes an extremely clinical and procedural like process. In having hypnosis as such a process it leaves very little room for error and makes it more effective for those who are hypnotizable. One can explore the relationship between hypnosis and associated psychotherapeutic techniques as a viable treatment for various anxiety disorders.

Specifically, anxiety is tended to as an exceptional type of mind versus body issue because it contains a resounding connection between mental and physical hardships. Hypnosis has a rich history and clinical applications that in present day make it a viable option to assist with the mind-body problem that stems from certain cases of anxiety. Some of the rich histories are accredited to Freud using it in his practices for a brief period and other medical professionals using it when soldiers returned with PTSD from World War II. The revisiting of the technique even after Freud stopped using it is a testament to how well it worked in different settings. In being able to use hypnosis in this manner the hypnotist must realize whether the patient has hypnotizability. The ability to hypnotize a person highly varies among adults whereas most children are easily hypnotizable. Being that everyone is at different levels of hypnotizability, a good way to introduce it into therapy is through the use of a clinical scale such as the Hypnotic Induction Profile (Spiegel, 2013). The scale gives helpful data about the patient’s level of hypnotizability, which gives exact direction for the decision of treatment. The presence and the level of a patient’s hypnotizability can help in creating an effective treatment plan.

Hypnosis has the most positive outcome when learned properly in a medical setting and then utilize in the manners seen as fit. Anxiety : Mind and Body Anxiety is an original mind-body issue since a collaboration between mental and physical misery is a trademark included in the majority of the disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, specific phobias, acute stress disorder (ASD), and PTSD. Each of the listed disorders includes a responding cycle of mental and physical afflictions. This makes approaches, for example, hypnosis that includes upgraded control by the psyche over the body particularly important for treatment. People with anxieties often times realize their fears are irrational but it doesn’t stop people from having those fears. The difficult part is to change over anxiety into fear, to give it a center, so something should be possible to cure it, in the same sense that changing over depression into being melancholy can help depressed people work through the origins of their bitterness so the disintegration of their self-esteem and emotions of sadness and vulnerability are diminished.

In order to successfully convert these ideas one must give their patients the necessary tools to do so (Spiegel, 2013). Upon having heart palpitations, perspiring, or abdomen pain, they are probably going to react with great amounts of anxiety, fixating on the substantial signs that ultimately make the reaction worse. By utilizing hypnosis in this specific situation it could be extremely beneficial for reasons besides the obvious anxiety reducing relaxation. The other reason is that hypnosis has a dissociative element that promotes the disengagement of the psychological and somatic components of anxiety. This depicts how learning self-hypnosis could be beneficial in more than a psychologist’s office for a person suffering from anxieties in particular. Mind Body Medicines Another possible treatment for a variety of mental disorders and chronic illness alike are integral and elective pharmaceutical (CAM) which consolidates an expansive scope of treatment options. Two of the most well known CAM modalities are mind-body medicine (MBM) and non-vitamin natural products. Non-vitamin natural products are anything that occur organically without chemicals being added or being completely man made.

An example of this that has a role in some people’s everyday lives is chamomile tea for a calming effect. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine characterizes mind-body rehearses as “those that focus on the interactions among the brain, mind, body, and behavior, with the intent to use the mind to affect physical functioning and promote health.” Methods to stimulate MBM to incorporate meditation, acupuncture, yoga, guided breathing and tai chi as effective treatment ideas. MBM has been utilized by approximately 18.1 million adults in the United States. The people who utilized MBM therapies most commonly practiced this through deep-breathing exercises, meditation, yoga, and progressive muscle relaxation (Prasad, 2013). This figure depicts how widespread the concept of MBM is becoming within a Western society that often pushes a more pharmaceutically based solution. By not taking medications and trying an natural route to control anxieties it would result in less high medical bills and addictions to medicines like Xanax.