Fear of Being Alone

(This blog was originally posted on October 28, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

If there is no specific cause for being afraid of being alone—for example, a specific traumatic incident that threatened the person, such as a physical attack—the individual may be agoraphobia. The late Dr. Ron Hodges, a psychiatrist and colleague of Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., and former director of the Atlanta, Georgia branch of HMI, contended that fear of being alone is many people’s Number One Fear. Since this reaction is often associated with low blood-sugar levels, it is imperative for the hypnotherapist to address this issue before working with the client to alleviate the actual fear or phobia.

“[Fear of being alone] is an irrational fear based on physical sensations,” Dr. Kappas explained. “You think something will happen to you.” These include irregular heartbeat, dizziness, shaking, confusion, increased suggestibility and anxiety or panic. But the related anxiety of losing control, which is triggered by these physiological sensations, forms the basis of this fear. Once better nutrition is established and the person’s blood-sugar levels are stabilized, the hypnotherapist must teach the client face the fear of being alone. This is accomplished by demonstrating how to induce and ameliorate the physical symptoms that come up whenever he or she thinks about situations that typically trigger fear.

“Desensitize the physical feelings for every situation you feel the fear. It’s got nothing to do with the event,” he said. Remember that it can take some time—months or even years—until the person can completely overcome this fear, Dr. Kappas warned.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2018

Finding My Way Home

(This blog was originally posted on May 25, 2016)

 

Photo by Rick Hustead

It had already been a long day, and by the time I finished my errands in Panorama City I was more than ready to call it a day. So did my GPS, apparently, because it never gave me directions for my route home. Meanwhile, I was so caught up in my thoughts about what still needed to be done that I lost track of where I was for a moment, missed my turn for the freeway (environmental hypnosis) and basically got lost. Ten years ago I probably would have started hyperventilating, but not today. This time, I did not panic about my predicament and actually got very relaxed.

Those of you who have followed my blog know that I used to have a huge anxiety about driving—especially, freeway driving. But as I explained in an essay titled How Hypnosis Has Helped Me, having spent more than eleven years training and working in hypnotherapy has helped me overcome anxiety about a lot of things. And it isn’t just applying the theories and models that I studied, learned and now regularly use to help clients achieve their vocational and avocational self-improvement goals. Exposure to hypnosis—whether I am giving or receiving it—has increased my tolerance for stress and improved my ability to relax in just about any situation. Today was a perfect example of how beautifully my knowledge, experience and planning helped me find my way home.

·         As soon as I realized that I had missed the freeway ramp I needed, I immediately started paying attention to my breathing, focusing on taking slow, deep breaths through my nose and releasing the air in slow exhales through my mouth. This kind of diaphragmatic breathing kept my heart-rate slow and steady and my physical body relaxed. Remember: opposite emotions cannot exist in the same space, so when the mind and body are calm and relaxed stress cannot take hold.

·         I reminded myself that everything was Okay as I kept watching for familiar landmarks and street signs. I used to drive to and from work in this neighborhood about 25 years ago; I was confident that my subconscious mind would recognize some of these streets even if my conscious mind did not. I also reminded myself that the way streets are laid out in Los Angeles I was bound to eventually find a freeway entrance that would take me home. Even if I didn’t, I could always pull into a gas station and ask directions; and gas stations are usually, strategically very close to freeways.

·         Fortunately, I had eaten lunch (with protein) before I started running around this afternoon, so I didn’t have to worry about hunger/symptoms of low-blood sugar levels exacerbating my anxiety. I know through my hypnotherapy training and helping clients overcome fears and phobias that the best way to control and avoid anxiety is to eat protein, which I now take great care to do.

·         You may have heard and practice the saying, “It is about the comfort of the driver” when you and your family or friends head out on long road journeys. In other words, is there enough gas in the tank? Are the tires full of air and the vehicle in good operation condition? Is the heat/air-conditioning on? Is music playing or is it quiet in the car? Is a supply of water and snacks (preferably protein snacks) available if the car breaks down or there is a long delay on the road? (In California—or any other state vulnerable for earthquakes—it is always a good idea to keep these items in the car for just such an emergency. I knew I was set on all of those counts.

·         One of my favorite affirmations is, “I handle 1,000-pound stallions; you/this is not a problem.” And, it wasn’t. Being at the end of the lead-line when my trainer’s Lipizzan stallion snorts goes up into a perfect levade to intimidate another other stallion is much more intimidating than looking for a freeway. Fortunately, I didn’t have to use this affirmation today because I eventually spotted a familiar landmark and knew I had somehow found my way into my mentor’s neighborhood. Driving home from Cheryl’s office has become part of my muscle-memory, a subconscious known.

I did breathe a huge sigh of relief to finally be able to join rush-hour traffic on the Interstate 405. But I got home safely (albeit very slowly) thanks to my training and experience as a certified hypnotherapist and none whatsoever from my GPS, which continued to give me the silent treatment all the way home.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2017

Unwitting Victims of Hyper-Suggestibility

Victims of Hyper-Suggestibility?

Just when I was starting to worry that I still had no idea what to write about for today’s blog, inspiration struck when I heard a news report about a very unusual prank that happened yesterday in Minneapolis. Apparently, someone called a Burger King restaurant under the guise of warning the workers that there was a dangerous gas leak that could blow up the building. The caller reportedly advised the manager that this disaster could be prevented by smashing all of the windows to ventilate the building and clear out the gas. Ultimately, the workers broke all of the windows as the caller instructed them to do. At least one person reportedly went along with this action out of fear and, significantly, because everyone else was doing it.

The hosts of a popular radio show I was listening to immediately started to crack up and even make jokes about the employees who fell for this prank. I, on the other hand, felt sorry and a little sad about what happened to these workers. After all, they took this drastic action in the belief that it was the correct and even heroic thing to do to save their place of employment. Answering a phone call in which the person at the other end of the line warns that you are at risk of being caught in a gas explosion would make most people nervous and hyper-suggestible.

Based on what I know about suggestibility and behavior, this is how the scenario played out in an employee’s subconscious mind:

·         The work environment in a fast-food restaurant is usually very busy. Even if there weren’t throngs of customers present when the call came in, the employees were probably still in a state of natural hypnosis. In addition to dealing with the public, the repetitive action of flipping burgers, packaging the meals and counting change (stimuli overload) would make anyone extremely suggestible.

·         In addition, the smell of food cooking might or even the time of day when the person “typically” eats could have triggered a hunger response in one or more of these individuals. As I wrote in my previous blog titled Nutrition and the Development of Phobias, low blood-sugar levels, which are associated with hunger can exacerbate or even cause a person’s presenting problem (behavior or belief). Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D., reported that it is also common for a person to experience psychological symptoms such as depression, paranoia, irritability and memory problems when blood-sugar levels drop.

·         The three principles of hypnotic modalities also played a role in influencing the employees' reaction. First: The purported identity of the person on the phone was a posing as a firefighter (authority). Second: The potential validity of the warning of an impending explosion, unless the employees followed the caller’s instructions (the message). Third: The official-sounding voice and the terrifying content of this warning ultimately influenced (overload) how the employees responded to this threat. Most people trust firefighters: they rush into burning buildings to save lives, they rescue kittens stuck in high trees. The fallout from the 2010 gas explosion that took out an entire neighborhood in San Bruno, California, is still being felt in that community. So when a fireman contacts your place of business to help you avert a similar tragedy, wouldn’t you give him the benefit of the doubt? At least, at first?

·         Finally, the collective worry and panic that this threat would come true became its own destructive force. Have you have ever found yourself standing up and joining other fans do “the wave” at a sports event, without knowing why you’re doing it? Have ever wondered at the influence that one fussy toddler has, to be able to inspire just about every other baby in a room to join in the cacophony of screaming? Anxiety breeds anxiety, and when threat to life, limb and financial security are involved natural skepticism that would have otherwise prevented such an extreme reaction often goes out the window. In this instance, this metaphor became a reality.

Yes, logic, reasoning and good judgement probably would have made at least one of these employees question the veracity of this warning. But when you are working at a busy fast-food restaurant for minimum-wage pay and suddenly learn that your source of income—and you—could blow up “unless,” it’s a little easier to understand the employees’ reaction. Unfortunately, the collective hyper-suggestibility of these individuals also made them the brunt of two cruel jokes: that of the original prank caller(s) and the radio hosts.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2016