I have a wee anxiety problem which acts up periodically. Things had been going swimmingly for awhile, but once I bought that ticket I started losing sleep. Basically, I was fearing that I would have a panic attack while on the plane.
My first recourse was medication, so I looked through my pathetic health insurance policy, and quickly understood why everyone hates lawyers, and I found myself favoring a revamping of the healthcare system far more drastic and fundamental than anything Congress is capable of. That did not help. Seriously, who put the lawyers in charge? One of the first things I will do when I am Emperor is put an end to Legalspeak.
There was a clinic near my house in Portland so I went there, was told they had no openings for two months (I was leaving in one) so I went to a walk-in clinic where the doctor apparently decided I looked like a junkie and refused to give me a prescription. I can understand her position, they had never seen me before and I was asking for a strong drug, but it was an interesting experience to be treated like an addict.
Luckily for my stress level, I was able to get an appointment with a doctor in my hometown who I last saw about 12 years ago, but who remembers me and trusts that I am not seeking drugs to sell on the street. So I had my little bottle of pills, just in case, but on a bit of a lark took my mom’s advice and went to see a hypnotherapist.
I tried hypnotherapy once years ago, and sat there uncomfortably, waiting for the Hollywood moment where my eyes would glaze over and she would start programming me to bark like a dog every time someone said arugula. Suffice to say it was a waste of time and money.
This time was different. We talked about what I was hoping to get from it, my previous experience and why it hadn’t worked. Then she basically did a guided relaxation exercise. No fancy chicanery, she just helped me relax, and while relaxed went over a few keywords we had come up with to ease my subconscious.
The beauty and curse of such things is that you have no idea whether they do any good or if the outcome would have been identical regardless, but all I can say is that I spent my full day of traveling relaxed, comfortable, and enjoying myself. I had the pills in my pocket for the first flight, but quickly put them away and forgot about them.
I am not saying hypnotherapy is a miracle cure, or that it will work for everyone, but I do definitely think there is something to it. The best part is that the therapist recorded the session and emailed it to me, so now I have a guided meditation exercise I can listen to any time. I believe it will prove to be of continued use in easing this silly monkey brain of mine.
