Depression is an emotional symptom that affects most of us at one time or another. When depression begins to dominate a major portion of a person’s life, however, it becomes a dangerous condition that creates extreme emotional pain and causes a person to take drastic means of escape, such as drug or alcohol abuse, frantic hy- peractivity, or total lethargy, seclusion, psychosis, or suicide. De- pression is the end result of the repression of unresolved conflicts over which we feel we have no control. When an individual is de- pressed, he usually feels unable to make decisions because of cir- cumstances that he believes are beyond his control or because of the seeming futility of any decision or act.
Two of the early signals of oncoming depression are anxiety and boredom. Anxiety is a fight mechanism; depression is the flight re- action that is activated to remove the individual from the anxiety state. Boredom is an emotional conflict that is caused by repres- sion or suppression of either anger, guilt, or feelings of futility. Bore- dom is present at one time or another in everyone’s life. However, an emotionally healthy person finds alternatives to his boredom,
whereas an emotionally unhealthy person dwells on his boredom until it takes him into depression.
When a person begins to experience depression, symptoms such as feelings of melancholy and futility begin, in combination with a blockage of venting. (Remember that the only complete and per- manent form of venting is through the subconscious mind, via dreams or hypnosis.) Blockage of venting occurs when a person ceases to vent through the normal dream process, usually for one of two reasons:
1. People who are depressed will usually have de- pressing dreams because the subconscious mind is attempting to vent out the negative conditions. How- ever, if they do not understand the dream-venting process, they are likely to interpret the dreams liter- ally or precognitively and, thus, allow the dreams to pull them deeper into depression.
2. To avoid the pain brought out in dreams, depressed persons may purposefully attempt to suppress mem- ory of their dreams. This causes an even greater buildup of anxieties. In either case, the mind be- comes like a clogged pipe, and your responsibility as a therapist is to unclog this buildup and allow it to drain, so that positive input can be received.
When a person becomes depressed, the brain starts receiving signals to vent. Since venting is associated in the mind with sleep, the depressed individual begins to require more and more sleep and to awaken less and less refreshed because he is still holding onto the anxieties that took him into the depression to begin with. Effec- tive venting is blocked, as noted above. If the events that catalyzed the depression are not removed, more sleep will result in more de- pression, and depressive feelings will begin to dominate a greater portion of the person’s life. Usually, this lack of energy and drive compounds the depression; and, many times, the individual will re- sort to artificial stimulants (which actually cause even greater block- age), in an effort to pull himself out.
One of the end results of perpetual depression, is a state of con- tinued hypersuggestibility. This hypersuggestibility compounds the depression because the person becomes overly suggestible and
sensitive to everything around him: the weather seems too hot or too cold, sounds are too loud, traffic or crowds are overwhelming, friends are too demanding. The depression increases, as the hypersug- gestibility increases, and vice versa.
The clue to removing depression is to find solutions for the per- son’s unresolved conflicts and to cause the subject to vent through his normal dream process. The Physically suggestible subject, who is not as prone to depression as the Emotional, can temporarily vent and ease the pressure by screaming, yelling, crying, or talking to a friend, a therapist, or even himself. The Emotionally suggestible per- son, however, needs positive alternatives and positive feedback so that, when he begins to vent through dreams, he is venting the true or inferred causes and not just their literal symptoms.
Always point out to the depressed person what his positive op- tions are because options allow a person to survive. There is only one circumstance under which a person will attempt suicide, and that is, when he has lost sight of his options and feels that he has literally run into a dead end.
As severe as depression may seem, hypnotherapy is an ex- tremely effective tool for its rapid removal because hypnosis can reach the subconscious mind so much faster than conscious ther- apy, thereby allowing for rapid neutralization of conflicts. The Hyp- notherapist must be sure that the client has consulted with a Medical Doctor and/or Psychiatrist regarding this complaint. The Hyp- notherapist must receive written confirmation that the Doctor is aware of the client’s complaint and sees no problem with the client pursuing hypnotherapy for this issue. Once that is obtained, the fol- lowing guidelines should be strictly adhered to for quick and effec- tive modification of depressive behavior patterns:
1. Unbunch or separate the problems affecting the client. Work with the most painful problem first, giv- ing alternatives and suggestions on how to handle the situation. Follow the same procedure with each problem in order of severity, being sure to deal with each separately and completely before moving on to the next.
2. Thoroughly explain the message-unit concept and hypersuggestibility.
3. Neutralize all negative feelings and thoughts that took place prior to the hypersuggestible state.
4. Suggest that the subject will dream and will remem- ber his dreams, and then follow through with a proper dream analysis program.
5. Relax the subject’s body and mind through hypnotic suggestions, in order to prevent the physical need for excessive sleep.
6. Block the subject from hypersuggestibility, following the dehypnotization process.
7. Establish short-range goals and objectives so that the subject can develop direction and feel that he is going somewhere, thereby eliminating his feelings of futility and giving him hope.
8. Give him the feeling that you are working this out to- gether. Tell him that he must be available and that you will be available to work out and handle all prob- lems. It gives him a sense of security to know that he can always reach you, if the depression becomes se- vere. In effect, allow the relationship between you and your client to be an escape mechanism that sub- stitutes for further depression or suicidal thought or attempts.