As a diabetes 2 sufferer myself, I was actually drawn to Hypnotherapy as a way to improve my condition, and ,most importantly, assist me in managing my condition. As I found out, to my cost, Diabetes 2 , is a condition that you reach, as a result of maintaining an unhealthy quality of life. The key elements that can lead to this unhealthy condition are: 1. Stress 2. Unhealthy Diet 3. Obesity 4. Lack of Exercise. These Four Factors are enough to create the Diabetes 2 Condition.
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It does not stop there, for in my case, once I was thrown into being categorised medically as Diabetes 2 sufferer, it further leads to depression, impotence, and in some cases. high blood pressure. This is because, those of us, like myself, who had never really experienced a serious medical condition before, that we had to monitor ourselves on a daily basis, do not take the initial diagnosis, particularly seriously, usually because of self denial, and it only when we get a major health warning due the diabetic condition.
As most Diabetes sufferers, my GP, referred me to my local Diabetes Centre who attempted to educate me in Diabetes Management, but never mentioned how open I would be to infection spreading, and so when I did get an infection in my groin, as a result of a sweat rash, it only took 5 days to turn into gangrene with almost fatal results. As a Diabetes patient you would be taught by your GP to Monitor your blood sugar on a regular basis, and would also be prescribed diabetes medication to assist in maintaining stable blood sugar levels.
In order to stay well, it’s important to use these aspects of your treatment properly. But it’s also important that you take other steps to help manage the condition and lower your risk of further health problems. Learning to manage your diabetes takes time, patience and effort. You may also be coping with difficult emotions after diagnosis, such as anger, confusion or depression. It is here that we need to examine the way Hypnosis, and self hypnosis , an assist a patient in the successful management of their diabetic condition.
As already mentioned a Diabetic sufferer will often have the following self management problems: Stress Lack of Exercise, often due to nerve problems in their feet Difficulty in Food Choices and Eating Habits Personal Embarrassment and Relationship Problems A Hypnotherapist is by definition, a stress management consultant and a motivational coach, all of the above challenges can be powerfully addressed by using hypnosis but please note the following: a hypnotist is only part of your diabetes support team.
Always be sure to have your doctor’s approval before beginning any hypnosis program that can have any influence on your medical condition. Each Diabetic sufferer will differ from another, and the above emotional issues, will appear in different levels, but Stress and its related issues, will all play a part in the sufferers make up, it is obvious to anyone with diabetes that having that disease is very stressful. The primary method by which hypnosis helps a person with diabetes is by reducing harmful stress. There are two fundamental ways in which stress negatively affects a person with diabetes. This harmful state of emotional affairs then makes it more difficult for a diabetic to follow their doctor’s recommendations. Also, when a person is in emotional pain, they usually reach for whatever makes them immediately feel better. This can be any addiction, though it is usually food and typically too much and not the kind that is good for a person with diabetes In the case of exercise, this is also a fundamental issue Since 95% of all persons with diabetes have Type 2 and since 90% of all those persons are obese, the implications for enhanced exercise motivation are all too clear.
For example, it is well documented that many Type 2 diabetics have had complete symptom remission after achieving a significant reduction in weight typically due to exercise and diet improvement. Additionally, exercise greatly contributes to one’s sense of well being and this therefore becomes a positive motivational cycle. I wish I could just eat better is a familiar refrain. Again, as a hypnotist helps a person to reduce their feelings of stress, they can then help that person to strengthen their inner commitment to making better food choices.
Please note that even a small reduction in a diabetics long term blood sugar tremendously reduces their chances of having serious complications later on. For brevities sake this discussion is limited to one very common embarrassing problem: impotence. Nearly 60% of all males with diabetes experience impotence. There are two concerns here: (1) There is a good chance that these people and their partners are feeling a great deal of unnecessary and harmful stress. (2) A male diabetic may choose to take a medication for impotence when that medication is inappropriate and quite possibly harmful.
This concern is also relevant to those millions of men with undiagnosed diabetes Many fear hypnosis because they fear a loss of control, yet a person is actually more in control of their body when he or she is in a state of trance. This fact should interest people with diabetes, because control is exactly the issue that concerns them: controlling blood sugar levels. One example of hypnosis helping people with diabetes is that it can change their insulin requirements and sometimes eliminate them.
This is illustrated in a case study found in the book, Mind-Body Therapy, by Ernest L. Rossi, PhD and David B. Cheek, M. D. In this book is an amazing story about a 33-year-old patient with insulin dependent diabetes who was pregnant. She was in the hospital because she and her doctors were considering ending the pregnancy because of severe toxemia and two diabetes induced comas that had occurred in her previous pregnancy. Dr. Cheek, talked with the patient and her husband about using hypnosis to control pain and thus control her insulin needs.
Upon her agreement, the patient was then trained to use hypnosis to achieve complete abdominal anesthesia. She was also trained to be able to awaken from trance to respond to doctors or nurses questions so that they did not think she was in a diabetic coma. Here’s where it gets more interesting: “On admission to the hospital she was taking 180 units of insulin a day, using 60 units of protamine zinc, and filling out her requirements with Regular insulin. The response to the surgery was remarkable.
She maintained a normal temperature, pulse, and respiration after a total hysterectomy under spinal anesthesia. Her blood sugar never went over 117 mg. / 100 cc. although she was eating a regular hospital diet from the day of surgery. ” But it gets even more fascinating: “No insulin was used during the hospital stay. During the next 11 months, she used only an occasional dose of insulin during periods of emotional stress. ” Please understand very clearly that this is an exceptional case that is discussed only so that the door can be opened to the possible benefits of hypnosis for diabetics.
Hypnotherapy As already stated, Hypnotherapy is most effective when used in conjunction with traditional health care. It is also important to note that most hypnotists are not licensed as medical practitioners. What else can a hypnotherapist do for you as a diabetic? Well, you know that food management is crucial in diabetes. Visit any physical therapist that is helping a diabetic amputee to rehabilitate and you’ll understand. Many of those who have suffered amputations did so because of their out of control and indiscriminate eating habits.
The results are horrifying. This is just one of the many devastating diabetes complications brought on by a destructive diet. Through the use of hypnosis, people can actually change their inner motivations thereby decreasing their desire for unhealthy food and unhealthy amounts of food. At the same time, a hypnotist can help a person to increase their desire for better foods and to develop better eating habits. How does this occur? The method is complex, but it can be described concisely.
Hypnosis is your ability to convince yourself that something is true. When you believe something, that belief is reflected in your thoughts, feelings and actions. So, once you use hypnosis to convince yourself that you prefer healthier foods and activities, then it becomes a habit to think and behave that way. Think of hypnosis as a lever, a simple tool that can help people to remove blocks in their lives that were previously impossible to budge. For each individual, the blocks are different.
The mechanism by which hypnosis removes these blocks is that while in trance you have the ability to perceive things differently. When you see or think of something differently, its effect on you is changed. Many people wonder if they have to do hypnosis on an ongoing basis. The answer is that it depends on the person and their situation. Treatment Plan Any diabetic patient will be attending a Diabetic Centre, where he will receive regular advice in blood-sugar maintenance, pediatric maintenance, weight maintenance, and dietry matters.
All these will form part of a Treatment Plan, and it is the Hypnotherapists role, to plan a Hypnotherapy Treatment Plan to work along side, and support the Diabetic Treatment Plan. 1. Stress 2. Unhealthy Diet 3. Obesity 4. Lack of Exercise . and Diabetes Management Earlier on in this essay , we isolated the above as the main causes of Diabetes 2. The effects on the patients ability to deal with Insulin and glucose, are the medical effects that actually do the physical damage, but the four factor s listed above are the ones that hypnosis can deal with.
Therefore, if one prepares a hypnotic treatment plan for a patient who is Diabetes 2, one would first prepare, after the initial consultation, and getting permission from the Diabetes Centre to consult, an induction and screed that Is appropriate to the client. It would contain adaptions to deal with the differing issues that the client will need to support the differing issues needed to support the Diabetic Treatment Plan. The first screed might be to deal with stress, the second to the deeper issues of obesity and weight management, and finally one that deals with ability to consistently manage the treatment plan.
It is also appropriate to point out that , as this could well be a long term treatment that runs longer than other hypnotherapy plans,the therapist should provide the patient with home work , that will provide self hypnosis and affirmations techniques, that assists the maintenance and monitoring being maximised. The therapist may also discover, additional habits, such as smoking, or some deeper underlaying issues that need the one to one sessions be focused in, and so the determination of the patient in dealing with all the issues, in what can be a live threatening issue, needs to be constantly encouraged.
