Depression: What is it and how do we treat it?

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Permalink Reply by John Sannicandro on February 27, 2011 at 1:19am

Michael Yapko is a world renowned expert on clinical hypnosis as well as treating depression. He believes that regression to cause is not needed to combat depression and I agree. I am a licensed mental health professional and never emphasize the regress to cause because it can be dangerous. Often people who are suicidal don't have the energy to kill themselves and the early stages of treatment are dangerous because they can develop just enough energy to follow through with a suicide. And with dwelling on the cause they will get worse before they get better. Dangerous stuff for a hypnotherapist to deal with unless they have a mental health background and a great liability for them. The same is also true for PTSD with regard to regress to cause. Research shows that regression is not only not needed but counterproductive.

Depression comes in many flavors. Depression that is part of bipolar disorder can be extremely complicated and an untrained hypnotherapist could do serious harm if not aware of the correct diagnosis.

 

Daniel Amen, mentioned previously, is a big proponent of hypnosis for treating mental health as well. He and many mental health professionals use combinations of treatment-talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnosis, and medications. In my practice I use combinations such as cognitive behavioral therapy with hypnosis and eventually self hypnosis to treat a variety of problems with the emphasis on symptom relief first and foremost. If symptoms are not identified and addressed clients usually drop out of treatment and for a client with major depression the results can be fatal.Clients who are taught skills like those of CBT, meditation, and self hypnosis make faster progress, stay in treatment longer and have a better long term prognosis because they are making profound lifestyle changes that turn their life around.

John

www.jslmhc.com

 





 

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Permalink Reply by John Sannicandro on February 27, 2011 at 1:27am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8EIJmYzzvQ

 

Yapko lecture on depression.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tI1UEPrYkE

 

Amen's 8 part lecture.

 

John

www.jslmhc.com

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Permalink Reply by Jenny Lynn on February 28, 2011 at 8:38am

It's very seductive to consider mental and emotional disturbances as illnesses.  And indeed, it is only because these states of mind have received medical attention and been classified as medical disorders that they are at all being taken seriously.  In the US as has been mentioned in this thread, it is a matter for serious concern that ANY therapist should only treat a medically diagnosed 'mental health disorder' under medical supervision.  

The brain is an organ indeed and despite the fact there is little evidence of 'chemical imbalances' the hypothesis that that is in fact the case justifies the use of drugs. However, most mental health episodes are caused by life's experiences.  Yet in an attempt to homogenise and classify so called 'mental health conditions', psychiatry examines the symptomatology that is mostly treated with drug therapy to attempt to return people to a state that is considered 'normal'. At least that is certainly my experience with the many clients I have treated who have turned away from psychiatry and from medication here in the UK.

 

Consider in the states alone how much the pharmaceuticals are in the heart of the people.  Got suspected depression?  Get a diagnosis and go and get some prozac.  If you don't do that, I just wonder how many people would think you were weird or plain rebellious? There are powerful corporations making alot of money out of people's 'mental ill health'.

 

What I see is an objectification of something that is far more subtle and delicate and leaves modern psychiatry only guessing at what is going on.  In my opinion, the real nature of experience is extremely subjective and it takes a skilled transpersonal therapist of whichever persuasion to help someone through their spiritual malaise.  

Part of a person's mental health disorder may well be to do with the kind of stressful isolation that we live with in our society:  We are presented with image after image of what it means to be well, successful and happy: the media is swamped by alluring adverts imploring us to aspire to be bigger, better and more sexy than we can possibly all be.  We are surrounded by messages of what is normal, desirable, even expected of us.  We are all hypnotised.  If we believe the illusions that are promulgated far and wide that stretch deeply into our current culture, no wonder we feel so alone and disconnected from the whole.  How can we ever be as beautiful, sexy, wealthy, youthful etc as is considered to be the way to go? And then we add insult to injury by turning to yet another externally referenced idea of moral propriety and correctness by consulting a psychiatrist who will give us drugs to cope with all the hypnosis that has been unwittingly administered to us and the psychiatrist colludes in that hypnosis! 

I think there may be times when some use of psychiatric sedation may be appropriate.  However, if we are any more mentally ill than we were say 50 years ago, (considering there were only a handful of psychiatric diagnoses back then) one considerable aspect of that decrease in wellbeing, must be attributable to us living in such a sophisticated and spiritually disconnected world. (I don't mean religious by the way when I use the word spiritual).  And in order to justify ever more the use of back end technology, ie: drug therapy in the treatment of mental and emotional wellbeing, there has to be an identifiable 'diagnosis' to apply them to.  Hence my contention that Psychiatry is a job creation scheme.

Now, as a caveat, I would never tell clients to come off their medication.  However, most clients who are on medication after a while tend to reduce their dosage and sometimes even stop.  I'm always careful to ensure that they have told their doctor they are doing this.  My reasons?  Whatever my private thoughts, I don't want to end up with a law suit against me!  So if therapy has enabled them to feel better and take charge of their lives I consider my work is done.

 

Jenny Lynn

Read Your Client

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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