Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder & Hypnosis

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Question:

Hello, i have a simple and straightforward question: is it possible, through hypnosis, to delete completely and permanently part of one's past from memory?

Thank you for your answer.

Answer:

Dear Jane, i could straightforwardly answer you no. But that would not be the truth, because the truth is way more complicated than that.

I will explain better: when we -as human beings- have to face very stressful situations, our nervous system fixes these times in our memory, and they often become knots of anxiety and distress.

This means that, in some unfortunate cases, we are forced to live always focusing on these chunks of memory; this causes us to suffer, and gives us the feeling that time never passed, and that our future will not exist. Always remember that this experience is only determined by the way our minds work, and it is not reality.

What i just described you is what who suffers from a condition called “Post-traumatic stress disorder” experiences usually. As you can imagine, this kind of disorder is particularly constraining, because the subject perceives time as in a story that never ends and always comes back to the starting point.

What can be done? The answer is clear: it is not possible to delete memories, but it is possible to reallocate those memories within a story that is able to create an evolutionary patch in the subject's experience.

In order to achieve this, hypnosis is a valuable tool, because through the alteration of the state of consciousness of the subject, it is possible to modify the emotional answer to certain memories, so to give back to the subject a feeling of control over his reality.

Dear Jane, I do not know what happened to you, but what i can tell you as a psychotherapist is that what you are living right now is only part of a narrative structure that caged you in a game without end, a tale that loops taking away your ability to make projects for the future.

I will conclude quoting an ancient Greek philosopher, Epictetus, in the hope that will bring you some hope: “Not things, but opinions about things, trouble men.”

Good luck.

Answer:

Paolo Chellini, Psychotherapist

Question:

Jane, 25 years old

Publication Date: 03/19/2008

Check out the original article here

Do not repeat the same mistakes

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Question:

Hi, I write here to ask something that is related to the creative process of the human mind. I would like to know why we, as human beings, often live multiple times the similar painful situations, and repeat the same mistakes throughout life.

Why in our life situations are repeated over and over? How can we be a bit more creative within our existence, so that we won’t live the same bad situations again?

Answer:

Dear Monica, what you are asking me is very hard to explain. Actually, it is the main reason of why people ask help to psychotherapists. However, to start my explanation, I will give you a definition of neurosis. This term is used to define a stereotypical and rigid way used to react to certain situations that can be related to an internal cognitive process, or to an external stimulus. Clearly, this rigid reaction of our mind can be explained in multiple ways, depending on which theoretical approach we decide to use.

For example, according to psychoanalysis, neurosis is the subconscious conflict of two thoughts, coming from the ego. According to the behavioral approach, neurosis is a learned behavior caused by the environment’s reinforcements (in this case the neurotic reaction will keep existing regardless of its original cause). According to Cognitivism it is a wrong evaluation process etc..

Dear Monica, as you can see we can use multiple ways to interpret this human problematic. Which one is the right one? I believe that there is no best answer, they all have a descriptive value, and they are all usable based on the specific clinical situation.

There is something that can be done on psychophysical level, though. In fact, recent researches on the functions of the human brain (and with this I am talking about the mind as well, since we cannot talk anymore of division between mind and body) are showing us the various processes that take shape. These researches are telling us something also on the experiences of perceptive rigidity, so on what make us repeat our “mistakes” over and over. In synthesis the answer that these researches are giving us is this: the human brain develops rigid reaction ways as a consequence of an excessive cortical activation. In other words, the problem is connected to anxiety.

Dear Monica, at this point I have to tell you what you can do. As a first thing I suggest you to begin to regularly do whatever practice that allows you to lower the psychophysical experience of anxiety. There are many ways: meditation, physical exercise, gardening, relaxation techniques, autohypnosis etc..

If with time you see that the problem did not change, I suggest you to contact a professional to begin, with him, a specific journey tailored on your personal situation.

I hope I have been of help, and I wish you good luck.

Answer:

Paolo Chellini

Question:

Monica, 25 years old

Publication Date: 12/18/2007

Check out the original article here

What is Anxiety Disorder?

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Question:

Hi, since about two years I keep having panic attacks and real or delusional fears. The only way I have to stop it is to take Xanax (Alprazolam) twice a day. There always have to be someone with me. What can I do? 

I don’t want to take drugs for the rest of my life and be terrified by everything.

Thanks for the answer.

Answer:

Dear Patrizia, the problem that you are reporting is a pretty common face of the Anxiety Disorder.

But what is anxiety disorder?

As you probably know, Anxiety is an adaptive experience connected to our ability to foresee our future. By itself Anxiety has a benefic function of protection and awareness in front of potentially dangerous situations. Although, when it persists, it becomes a disturbing experience and can, like in your case, pose limits to one’s life.

Using “technical” terms to describe your situation, in this moment you are suffering of something that we call the “fear of fear”. In other words, your thought is constantly involved in a catastrophic prevision of your whole reality. The result of this can only be “catastrophic” itself. This does not mean that your life is really horrible, but just that you perceive this way because you are stuck in a negative psychological reality that keep feeding itself.

How do you get out of this cycle? How do you stop anxiety?
The answer is simple and complex at the same time. It is simple because your situation is fairly common, and there are plenty of ways to solve it (psychiatrists/psychotherapists can surely be of great help.) It is also hard, because in this moment you have problems accepting professional help since the negative feeling that you perceive of your reality prevents you to have an optimistic hope, and so you tend to rely on symptoms containment therapies (such as the Xanax), rather then starting a real transforming therapy.

In conclusion, my suggestion is to look for a good professional (psychiatrist/psychotherapist) in your area. Think about this: what you are going through right now is filtered by how your mind is perceiving your reality, so your fears and your anxious attacks are only one kind of realities generated by your mind, just one of the many ”worlds” that we think is our reality. But, after all, it is just a mind-loop that can be changed.

Good Luck!

Answer:

Paolo Chellini, Psychotherapist

Question: 
Patrizia, 36 year’s old

Publication date: 12/28/2006

Check out the original article at: rolandociofi's blog