Rosa frequently touched her hair to make sure it was puffed up. If it didn’t feel right, she rushed to the mirror to fix it. Another woman constantly touched her face to “cool it off so it didn’t look so red. Zach frequently touched his lips, which he thought were too small, tense, and “never [...]
If you are curious about the meaning of your dreams, try keeping a dream diary (see accompanying box). Whenever you awaken during the night, immediately write down everything you can remember about your most recent dream—characters, events, settings, colors, sounds, and any emotional connotations you find. Eventually you may begin to discern a pattern which [...]
Hypnosis is not a magical act, but a special state of awareness, and everyone has the ability to go into this state. We are familiar with the other states of awareness, the conscious state and the unconscious state; how the hypnotic state ties in with these is described below. Unconscious state. In this state the [...]
Sometimes when we are very tense in our mind we unconsciously hold our muscles very tensely. This may occur in driving our car. We may come to feel pain in our neck and shoulders. This is organic pain because it is due to the tense muscles stimulating the nerves; yet on the other hand the [...]
Another positive aspect of the dynamics of meditation is that it can teach us even more about ourselves. Over a period of time and with continued practice, meditation begins to work on many subtle levels. The quiet of meditation gives us the chance to integrate many aspects of ourselves. This happens subconsciously and we don’t [...]
When we look at the list of therapies it can be quite overwhelming. It isn’t really as daunting as it looks. Understanding of the disorders has now come a long way and freedom from the disorders is a reality for many of us. Treatment programs which incorporate relaxation, breathing techniques and cognitive behavioural therapy have [...]
Self absorption is another control against anxiety and panic attacks. It does not form the basis of one of the secondary conditions, but it is one of the controls many of us use. Ironically, for those of us who dissociate, it could contribute to our primary disorder. This control again makes it seem to family [...]
Anne Anne was thirty when she had her first panic attack. She was driving to the office where she worked as a secretary. She had just pulled up at a set of traffic lights when for no apparent reason she felt an ‘electric shock’ go right through her body, which reacted to the powerful tingling [...]