Dementia and hypnosis ......

Courtesy http://www.medicalnewstoday.com .........

Fascinating .......


A scientist at the University of Liverpool has found that hypnosis can slow down the impacts of dementia and improve quality of life for those living with the condition. 

Forensic psychologist, Dr Simon Duff, investigated the effects of hypnosis on people living with dementia and compared the treatment to mainstream health-care methods. He also looked at how hypnosis compared to a type of group therapy in which participants were encouraged to discuss news and current affairs. 

They found that people living with dementia who had received hypnosis therapy showed an improvement in concentration, memory and socialisation compared to the other two treatment groups. Relaxation, motivation and daily living activities also improved with the use of hypnosis. 

Dr Duff said: "Over a nine month period of weekly sessions, it became clear that the participants attending the discussion group remained the same throughout. The group who received 'treatment as usual' showed a small decline over the assessment period, yet those having regular hypnosis sessions showed real improvement across all of the areas that we looked at. 

"Participants who are aware of the onset of dementia may become depressed and anxious at their gradual loss of cognitive ability and so hypnosis - which is a tool for relaxation - can really help the mind concentrate on positive activity like socialisation." 

Further research will now take place to establish whether hypnosis maintains its effects on dementia as the illness progresses, over longer periods of time. 

Dr Dan Nightingale, co-author of the research and leading dementia consultant at the Abacus Clinic in Newark, added: "Evidence to date has shown that we can enhance the quality of life for people living with dementia through the correct use of hypnosis. We have now developed a course for clinicians who wish to incorporate hypnosis into health care plans." 

  -- The seven areas used to measure quality of life were concentration, relaxation, motivation, activities of daily living, immediate memory, memory of significant life events and socialisation. These were chosen as the main factors for patients with dementia by health workers. 

-- The University of Liverpool is a member of the Russell Group of leading research-intensive institutions in the UK. It attracts collaborative and contract research commissions from a wide range of national and international organisations valued at more than £108 million annually. 

The University of Liverpool

The Blues

Depression is very common indeed. Sometimes it's a fleeting experience that we have when life goes awry for a while; sometimes, for some people, it can be a more devastating and life-darkening experience which may go on for a protracted period of time.

What is sometimes known as clinical depression brings with it an intense sadness, or despair, that affects everyday life. For some this may mean keeping away from social activities or friendships. For others it may mean difficulties at work, school or in daily interactions with people. As you probably know, this form of depression is more severe than just having the blues or feeling sad for no reason at all. You can't just snap out of it. Clinical depression includes experiencing one of the following major symptoms for two weeks or more:

• Anhedonia, which is the inability to experience pleasure from normally pleasurable life events (food, sex, social activities, exercise)
• Depressed mood

And at least five of the following, again that exhibit for two weeks or more:
• Unexplained loss of energy (mental or physical)
• Change in appetite leading to unplanned weight gain or loss
• Feelings of overwhelming sadness or fear
• The inability to feel any emotion at all, like an empty feeling
• Change in sleeping patterns (sleeping more or having trouble with sleep)
• Feeling very irritable
• Loss of hope, feeling helpless
• Intense feelings of guilt
• Feeling worthless
• Trouble concentrating or making decisions
• Frequent thoughts of death, or wanting to die
• Suicidal thoughts, with or without a plan
• Lack of self-esteem
• Physical aches and pains, often thinking they may be signs of a serious illness
• Self-hate and poor self-image

Although most of my clients would of course (and rightly so) see a physician before they contact me for an appointment due to depression, we have found that hypnotherapy potentially can decrease some of the symptoms that add to your depressed feelings, and may certainly brighten your mood. Your GP can rule out any other major mental disorder, or indeed any physical ailment which is making you feel 'blue'. This is a great starting point.

Hypnotherapy can do this by:
• Boosting confidence
• Enhancing the belief that your traditional treatment plan will work
• Decreasing pain perception
• Improving sleep (which can do wonders to improve mood)
• Increasing motivation for activities (social interactions, exercise, others)
• Improving perception of self-worth
• Improving belief about a brighter future
• Enhancing coping skills to stressful events

I'm always available for questions which you may have; either by email or phone/SMS.

There is an alternative to 'The Blues'.

After the trauma ....

Reflecting on times gone by, I recall my Grandfather. He was a very quiet man who could "turn his hand" to just about anything. He came from that era of making do with whatever was at hand. For instance, I remember a wardrobe in his bedroom which he had built by hand from scrap timber. It was exquisite. He had many other skills too, such as shoe or boot repairing. Servicing clocks and watches was also one of his gifts.

All this from a man who, at the age of 19 was thrust into a war so frighteningly horrific, that it now seems like a black nightmare in our history books. In 1916-17 he was a member of the 2nd Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, who were in the thick of the fighting in Belgium. Most of his Battalion did not survive the war, and those who did were scarred for life. Some bore psychological scars, some carried horrendous physical scars. My Grandfather had both.

On a cold morning in 1917, outside a Belgian village named Passchendaele, he, along with six of his mates, was blown to pieces by an exploding shell which ripped their trench asunder. He regained consciousness for a little while at least, finding himself under the remnants of his little group. Body parts and blood were everywhere. He recanted to me that his fear peaked when he thought he had lost his sight. He hadn't. His eye sockets were full of the congealed blood of his dead comrades. I cannot even imagine just how this young man felt at that moment. He himself was grimly wounded. Shrapnel protruded from neck, back and buttocks, some buried itself deeper. His boots had been blown clean off, taking with them portions of his right foot. His right knee was a pulp, the kneecap totally gone. He lay there bleeding and buried in this muddy nightmare of carnage for most of the day, until stretcher bearers came and carried him to a medical post.

This then was just the beginning of his terror. Forever after he was to suffer quietly what we now know as PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder. I imagine that he relived that time of terror every single day of his life until he died quietly, with no fuss, in 1967.

PTSD is something which is better understood nowadays. Most people have heard of it, but what is it in reality? Here are a list of the symptoms:

• Frequently having upsetting thoughts or memories about a traumatic event.
• Having recurrent nightmares.
• Acting or feeling as though the traumatic event were happening again, sometimes called a "flashback."
• Having strong feelings of distress when reminded of the traumatic event.
• Being physically responsive, such as experiencing a surge in your heart rate or sweating, to reminders of the traumatic event.
• Making an effort to avoid places or people that remind you of the traumatic event.

• Having a difficult time remembering important parts of the traumatic event.
• A loss of interest in important, once positive, activities.
• Feeling distant from others.
• Experiencing difficulties expressing positive feelings such as happiness or love.
• Feeling as though your life may be cut short.
• Having a difficult time falling or staying asleep.

• Feeling more irritable or having outbursts of anger.
• Having difficulty concentrating.
• Feeling constantly "on guard" or like danger is lurking around every corner.
• Being "jumpy" or easily startled.

You do not have to have been a soldier in a war zone to suffer with PTSD. As the name suggests, it is an ailment created after a traumatic experience.

If you, or someone that you know can relate to all, or a group of the symptoms listed above, seek help. Feel free to contact me for an appraisal if you so wish.

Phobias and the phobic ....

“Fear” is the normal response to a genuine danger. With phobias, the fear is either irrational or excessive. It is an abnormally fearful response to a danger that is imagined or is irrationally exaggerated. People can develop phobic reactions to animals (spiders is a very common phobia), activities such as flying, or social situations, eating in public or simply being in a public environment. Phobias affect people of all ages, from all walks of life, in every part of the world.


Phobias are emotional and physical reactions to feared objects or situations. Symptoms of a phobia include the following:

• Feelings of panic, dread, horror, or terror
• Recognition that the fear goes beyond normal boundaries and the actual threat of danger
• Reactions that are automatic and uncontrollable, practically taking over the person’s thoughts
• Rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, trembling, and an overwhelming desire to flee the situation—all the physical reactions associated with extreme fear
• Extreme measures taken to avoid the feared object or situation

Phobias are divided into categories according to the cause of the reaction and avoidance.
Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is the fear of being alone in any place or situation where it seems escape would be difficult or help unavailable should the need arise. People with agoraphobia may avoid being on bridges, busy streets or in crowded stores. Some people with agoraphobia become so disabled they literally will not leave their homes. If they do, it is only with great distress or when accompanied by a friend or family member.

Symptoms usually develop between late adolescence and mid 30’s. The onset may be sudden or gradual. Most people with agoraphobia develop the disorder after first suffering from one or more spontaneous panic attacks—feelings of intense, overwhelming terror accompanied by symptoms such as sweating, shortness of breath, or faintness.

These attacks seem to occur randomly and without warning, making it impossible for a person to predict what situation will trigger such a reaction. The unpredictability of the panic attacks “trains” individuals to anticipate future panic attacks and, therefore, to fear any situation in which an attack may occur. As a result, they avoid going into any place or situation where previous panic attacks have occurred.

Social Phobia

A person with social phobia fears being watched or humiliated while doing something in front of others. The activity is often as mundane as signing a personal check or eating a meal. The most common social phobia is the fear of speaking in public. Many people have a generalized form of social phobia, in which they fear and avoid interpersonal interactions. This makes it difficult for them to go to work or school or to socialize at all. Social phobias generally develop after puberty and, without treatment, can be lifelong.

Specific Phobia

As the name implies, people with a specific phobia generally have an irrational fear of specific objects or situations. The disability caused by this phobia can be severe if the feared object or situation is a common one. The most common specific phobia in the general population is fear of animals—particularly dogs, snakes, insects, and mice. Other specific phobias are fear of closed spaces (claustrophobia) and fear of heights (acrophobia). Most simple phobias develop during childhood and eventually disappear. Those that persist into adulthood rarely go away without treatment.

Treatment

Any phobia that interferes with daily living and creates extreme disability should be treated. With proper treatment, the vast majority of phobia patients can completely overcome their fears and be symptom-free for years, if not for life. Effective relief can usually be gained through either hypnotherapy, medication, or a combination of both.

Hypnotherapy

In hypnotherapy, one meets with a trained hypnotherapist and confronts the feared object or situation in a carefully planned, gradual way, but this is done "within" the mind, in a state of hypnosis. It is possible to depotentiate the phobia, and learn to control the mental and physical reactions of fear very rapidly. By confronting the phobia in this way, the old irrational thoughts and responses are nullified, painlessly and permanently.

For your interest, a list of phobias may be located here: http://phobialist.com/reverse.html

Please contact me if you have any questions at all, I'm always willing to talk and point you in the right direction .....

Flash

listen to ‘Flash’ on Audioboo

Retirement? Another viewpoint ....

I'd like to thank Professor David Demko for the following article.  I'm sure he wouldn't mind me passing it onto those at that certain point in their life.  It's a fascinating and alternative look at something often taken for granted.

Here's the best retirement advice you'll ever get ... DON'T DO IT. Forget retirement. There is no such thing. Retirement is just a convenient invention created years ago as an avenue to clear the work place for new blood. Over the years, entire industries became beneficiaries of this new concept called "retirement". Ironically, it seems that the last person to benefit from retirement is the retiree. It's time to start traveling in the right lane of your road to retirement. 

So how did the Captains of Industry get mature workers to go along with the idea of retirement? Easy. Tell the workers that retirement is a reward, the best part of life. But was that true? As far back as twenty years ago, the American Medical Association called enforced idlement, like retirement, a health hazard. In fact, even before the AMA proclamation, studies by the National Institute of Mental Health suggested that the transition to retirement was so stressful that the average life expectancy of a white collar male at age 65 was only 36-40 months.

So why does the retirement myth persist? Well, there's too much at stake for too many special interests. You might even say that retirement was created for everyone's benefit but the retiree. Sure, you might end up benefiting from retirement, you might even enjoy it. But that's incidental. Let's take a look at the intended beneficiaries of your retirement.

Corporate America wanted "new blood" to strengthen the work force. "New blood" is code for "replace experienced personnel with younger people who will work cheap". Any how, the corporate thirst for new blood set off early retirement trends that continue unabated to this very day. Interestingly, industry's trend of pushing mature talent out the door has coincided with the downward spiral of America's competitiveness in the global marketplace.

Another benefactor of your retirement is the nation's huge health care industry that, ironically, prospers only when you're sick. Where's the incentive to keep you healthy, active and enjoying your retirement? If you're lucky enough to be healthy, then there's the "well-you-never-really-know" insurance industry trying to capitalize on your anxieties about life's uncertainties.

Another benefactor of your retirement is the financial planning industry that distracts you from pondering whether or not retirement makes any sense at all, because you're too darn busy planning to be financially secure in retirement. Never mind that you just might be financially secure, yet emotionally miserable, if you stopped working. Everyone seems to be having a great time living off your decision to retire. Everyone that is, except you.

If you want to get retirement right, you have to understand that almost everyone's interests are served by your retirement, except your own interests. Once you figure that out, you're half way home. Enjoying an active and productive retirement won't just happen. Retirement is more a state of mind than a stage of life. It's what you make of it, it's what you discover is in it for you. Retirement is doing what you want to do, even if it's work that you want to do. Here's a few rules to keep in mind if you want to make retirement work for you.

DAVE'S RULE #1
Ask yourself why you want to retire. Don't do it just because you hate the daily drill of your job. If you don't like your job, you should change jobs, not retire. I criss-cross the country speaking to thousands of retirees, and this is what their spouses would like their husbands to do ... GET A LIFE. Women say they are sick and tired of the "stopped living, stay-at-home, sitting-in-a-chair-waiting-to-die husband". So plan on retiring from one thing, like your job, to something else that's equally interesting. Just don't retire from life.

DAVE'S RULE #2
Find out what makes you tick. What makes your life inspiring, worth living? Ever wonder why a lot of self-employed people never retire? What for? Their retirement reward is to be able to continue to pursue their lifelong passion whether it's a hardware store, law practice, or photography.

DAVE'S RULE #3
Force yourself to set lifestyle goals. Since you can look forward to another two decades, plan to make it as interesting as possible. For example, make a list of ten things you'd love to do if you could afford to retire. Then, write down how much time you're spending on these activities now. Most likely, you have a retirement fantasy that includes a lot of exciting pursuits. But if you're not pursuing any of these activities now, what makes you think your preferences will change in retirement? People find time for the things they love to do. In a sense, successful retirement results from people who call their own bluff. All their worklife they talk about all the exciting activities they'll be engaged in. Then comes retirement and they don't pursue any activity. Don't wait for later to discover that your retirement dream is all show and no go.

DAVE'S RULE #4
Try to see through the dollar signs. A common mistake is to concentrate only on the financial aspects of retirement. Sure you need to have a nest egg. But what's the point if you aren't healthy enough, or don't live long enough to enjoy the opportunities afforded by your retirement income? One of the greatest ironies of so-called retirement planning is that most people spend fifty years building a nest egg, but only fifty minutes making plans to stay healthy enough to enjoy it.

If retirement exists at all, it exists as a state of mind. The ultimate in retirement probably means being able to live life on your own terms, doing what feels right for you. Continuing to work. Changing careers. Stopping work altogether. Pursuing a college degree. Or one of a thousand other pursuits. Today's retirees have based the retirement decision on economic feasibility without much thought to the personal consequences. Baby boomers may be a different story. Research suggests that boomers won't be financially capable of retiring in the same style as their parents.

That's the bad news. The good news is that the boomers will have to do a lot more soul-searching about the retirement decision. As a result, they may not retire at all. Call it necessity, or preference. Retirement, as we know it today, may never be the same. And quite likely just might disappear from the American experience.
Dr. David J. Demko is a doctoral graduate of the University of Michigan with certifications in Gerontology (UM), Geriatric Assessment (USF), and Retirement Planning Leadership (AARP). 

Males suffer most?

They may look stronger and braver than women, but men suffer the most when a relationship is rocky, a new study has claimed.

Researchers at the Wake Forest University in the US found that the pangs of broken-heart have a greater effect on the mental health of young men than the fair sex -- contradicting the stereotypical image of stoic men who are unaffected by what happens in their relationships.

While women are more likely to display their depression to friends, men are more likely to store up their feelings - with negative health effects including making them more likely to drink alcohol, the researchers found.

Prof Robin Simon, who led the study, admitted she was shocked that the results overturned the widespread assumption that women are more vulnerable to the emotional rollercoaster of relationships.

"Surprisingly, we found young men are more reactive to the quality of ongoing relationships," she was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail .

That means men's mental health is more affected by the harmful stress of a rocky relationship, she said.

The study, based on a survey of 1,000 unmarried 18- to 23-year-olds in Florida, also found that men get greater motional benefits from the positive aspects of an ongoing romance.

The findings could be down to the fact that young men often have few people in whom they confide -- apart from their romantic partner. Whereas women are more likely to have close relationships with family and friends, she said.

Strain in a relationship could also be linked to poor emotional well-being because it threatens young men's sense of identity and feelings of self-worth.

Another factor, Prof Simon said, was that men and women express emotional distress in different ways.

"Women express emotional distress with depression, while men express emotional distress with substance problems."

The researchers also found that while young men are more affected by the quality of a current relationship, young women are more emotionally affected by whether or not they are in a relationship.

The study, which was part of a long-term probe into mental health and the transition to adulthood, appeared in the Journal of Health and Social Behaviour .

Weighty Worries

Well, it's now scientific fact. Stress can make us develop weight issues. Many people carrying those extra kilos are doing so because of the body's response to external stress. It's very obvious then that by lowering our stress levels, we not only become a calmer person, we can also lose weight. Sounds good to me. Hypnotherapy is a wonderfully soothing and efficient way of reaching that aim.

Here is an article by Dr William C, Shiel which sums up the issue quite neatly:

Most people admit that when they're under stress, healthy eating habits can be difficult to maintain. Whether eating to fill an emotional need or grabbing fast food simply because there's no time to prepare something healthy, a stressed-out lifestyle is rarely a healthy one. But weight gain when under stress may also be at least partly due to the body's system of hormonal checks and balances, which can actually promote weight gain when you're stressed out, according to some researchers.
Cortisol is a critical hormone with many actions in the body. Normally, cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands in a pattern called a diurnal variation, meaning that levels of cortisol in the bloodstream vary depending upon the time of day (normally, cortisol levels are highest in the early morning and lowest around midnight). Cortisol is important for the maintenance of blood pressure as well as the provision of energy for the body. Cortisol stimulates fat and carbohydrate metabolism for fast energy, and stimulates insulin release and maintenance of blood sugar levels. The end result of these actions can be an increase in appetite.
Cortisol has been termed the "stress hormone" because excess cortisol is secreted during times of physical or psychological stress, and the normal pattern of cortisol secretion (with levels highest in the early morning and lowest at night) can be altered. This disruption of cortisol secretion may not only promote weight gain, but it can also affect where you put on the weight. Some studies have shown that stress and elevated cortisol tend to cause fat deposition in the abdominal area rather than in the hips. This fat deposition has been referred to as "toxic fat" since abdominal fat deposition is strongly correlated with the development of cardiovascular disease including heart attacks and strokes.
Stress is certainly not the only reason having for abnormal levels of cortisol. A number of diseases and conditions can result in abnormal levels of cortisol in the bloodstream. Cushing's Syndrome is a term used by doctors to describe a condition in which various medical problems result in very high levels of cortisol, leading to changes in the body's appearance and function.
Weight gain or loss is dependent on a number of factors including resting metabolic rate, food intake, amount of exercise, and even the types of food consumed and the times of day food is consumed. Genetic factors also likely influence our metabolism and may explain some people's tendency to gain or lose weight more rapidly than others.
Whether or not a particular individual's stress levels will result in high cortisol levels and weight gain is not readily predictable. The amount of cortisol secreted in response to stress can vary among individuals, with some persons being innately more "reactive" to stressful events. Studies of women who tended to react to stress with high levels of cortisol secretion have shown that these women also tended to eat more when under stress than women who secreted less cortisol. Another study demonstrated that women who stored their excess fat in the abdominal area had higher cortisol levels and reported more lifestyle stress than women who stored fat primarily in the hips.
The diet industry has attempted to capitalize on findings from these studies by promoting dietary supplements claiming to lower cortisol and enhance weight loss. No independent studies published in respected, peer-reviewed medical journals have shown that these supplements have any value in cortisol reduction or weight loss. In fact, exercise is the best method for lowering cortisol levels that have risen in response to stress and has the added benefit of burning calories to stimulate weight loss.

2013

Here's a very quick one indeed.  I'd like to wish each and every one of you a very safe, very healthy and happy coming twelve months.

I hope that 2013 is that which you would wish it to be, and more.

My best wishes to you all.