Any suggestions for elderly person with nervous ticks?

Hi, I recently saw an elderly person who began making nervous grunting sounds unconsciously after falling several times a year ago.

His doctors are also baffled by the sounds and aren't sure what's causing them. .

This person makes the sound almost constantly while awake (but not when asleep). I also noticed that, when concentrating or taking deep breaths, the sounds would briefly grow quieter or stop, but my client could not sustain deep breathing longer than a minute or so in or out of hypnosis. I hypnotized my client and brought this person to a deep state (my client's eyes were rolled up the entire time). However, no suggestions for relaxing the noise nor letting go of the tension and fears seemed to stop the grunting sounds for more than a minute or so. I tried literal and inferred suggestions to cover my bases. In the meantime, my client is exhausted by this uncontrollable symptom and has been avoiding people. Does anyone have any suggestions that can help my client?

Thank you!

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Permalink Reply by Donna Carter on November 30, 2010 at 10:30am

Maybe..
change the submodalities to something different...calmer submodalities (when I say calmer...I usually ask the client what would calm it for them...I don't know why I do this, it just works for me...hopefully it makes sense as I say it here).

Here's another thought...
what is he doing when he isn't making the sound? If he can go....5 seconds...can he go 6? If he can go 1 minute...can he go 30 seconds more? a minute more?
I would explore what he is doing when he 'isn't' making the sound....and do more of that!! (expanding the time there....through repetition).

hmmm....
random thoughts...
D.

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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on November 30, 2010 at 7:42pm

Hi Kathleen,

I would use some Parts Therapy with this gentleman. A wonderful metaphorical process into this is the Dragon Slaying (attached) which can be done in waking trance. It helps a client identify the problem, its purpose and then change it according to his desires. Powerful!

Best wishes,

Kelley

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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Simonds on December 1, 2010 at 10:17am

Hmmm...this is just like what I do for pain management. I hadn't thought of that. I'll give it a try. Thank you!

James Malone said:

Kathleen, this is the sort of case where you have to be really creative and persistent and keep trying different things until hopefully a technique clicks.

I would consider attempting imagery where this gentleman would be asked to imagine a control dial for the grunting marked 0-10, 0=no impulse to grunt, 10 = the strongest impulse. Have him note the number where he imagines it is currently set. During hypnosis have him turn it up higher so that the symptom becomes more pronounced, then lower it to where it was and then continue to lower it to a more comfortable/controllable level-although I wouldn't suggest attempting to make the symptom disappear right away as they wouldn't be believable. Good luck to you! Jim

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Permalink Reply by Kathleen Simonds on December 1, 2010 at 10:25am

Kelley, Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful process with me. I plan on using it with more than just this client. I can see how powerful it will be. The parts therapy suggestion is also a good one I hadn't considered. Bright blessings, and many thaniks!

Kelley Woods said:

Hi Kathleen,

I would use some Parts Therapy with this gentleman. A wonderful metaphorical process into this is the Dragon Slaying (attached) which can be done in waking trance. It helps a client identify the problem, its purpose and then change it according to his desires. Powerful!

Best wishes,

Kelley

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Permalink Reply by Kelley Woods on December 1, 2010 at 12:39pm

You are so welcome, Kathleen. Please note that some Parts work IS contained in the dragon slaying metaphor! When exploring the purpose of the dragon, it's easy to seguay into the history and source and even take a tangent over to Parts negotiation, returning then to make the remaining adjustments of the dragon, as necessary.

Kelley

Kathleen Simonds said:

Kelley, Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful process with me. I plan on using it with more than just this client. I can see how powerful it will be. The parts therapy suggestion is also a good one I hadn't considered. Bright blessings, and many thaniks!

Kelley Woods said:
Hi Kathleen,

I would use some Parts Therapy with this gentleman. A wonderful metaphorical process into this is the Dragon Slaying (attached) which can be done in waking trance. It helps a client identify the problem, its purpose and then change it according to his desires. Powerful!

Best wishes,

Kelley

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Permalink Reply by Susan French on December 3, 2010 at 6:54pm

Hi Kathleen,

It sounds like a similar neurological problem that I developed 35 years ago. My twitches were in my eyelids, face, neck and shoulders. I didn't make a sound but it WAS exhausting and embarrassing. Mine was called Blepherospasm, Hemifacial, Meige and spasmodic torticollis. You can look them up individually to see if it seems similar to your client.

I would suggest very specific breathing exercises that involve using the entire lung capacity, including the two lobes which lie beneath the upper lungs. This kind of breathing (also called diaphragmatic breathing, relaxation breathing, yogic breathing) activates the parasympathetic nervous system (the part of the CNS that calms us down). I think if you look in the Scripts group, I posted the technique a long time ago. If you can't find it, email me susanfrench2010@gmail.com and I'll try to find it on one of my flash-drives.

I was taught the method the several times biofeedback was used and it really helped. Had I been given hypnosis along with the special breathing, I probably would have gotten faster relief.

I use this breathing technique for all stress clients, insomnia clients, anxiety and panic attack clients and just about everybody else. I've incorporated it into my induction because it creates a relatively rapid and deep state. Dr. Herbert Benson wrote a book called "The Relaxation Response," in which he gives good information in regards to all of that.

James' idea sounds like a good one but I really think you'll get a lot of mileage out of incorporating the deep, yogic breathing with, perhaps, a countdown from 30. Breathe in, deep in your abdomen to the count of 4, hold to the count of 4 and breathe out to the count of 6, 7, or 8 depending on what's comfortable. Count backwards through a whole breathing cycle. I'm sorry. As I write this I'm very tired, so I'm not certain if it's clear. It's also hard to describe verbally.

Look for my paper telling how to do it properly and why. Once you've taught him how to active the parasympathetic "calming" response, he will feel much more relaxed (and will be) and he will begin to see that this gives him immediate control, if only for a little while. That will allow him to relax mentally which also helps a lot. Beyond that, I think that I would search for every script known to man or beast having to do with relaxing all of the muscles of the body and quieting the thoughts.

Good luck.

Let me know if I can give you any more info. It sounds like what he has is a tic disorder or involuntary movement disorder, not unlike Tourettes for instance. Sometimes those kinds of things can be the result of medication. Look up Tardive Dyskinesia.

Susan
http://www.hypno4success.com