How Can Hypnotherapy Help COVID 19 Patients In Quarantine?

It’s becoming blatantly obvious that the coronavirus pandemic is far from over. People around the world are still testing positive in high numbers.

For many, that means having to quarantine for days or even weeks on end. And, of course, this isolation brings its own set of problems.

As well as potentially feeling physically unwell, there are lots of mental health issues that a situation like this can spawn and perpetuate.

Fortunately, hypnotherapy is a powerful tool that can come to the rescue.

But how can hypnotherapy help COVID-19 patients?

For one thing, there are so many related conditions where hypnosis is incredibly effective.

On top of that, hypnosis or hypnotherapy can be done using telemedicine, meaning there’s no risk whatsoever of spreading the virus.

The therapist can provide the necessary treatment via telephone or video call, whether that’s dealing with the physical or mental effects of the illness, or the post-illness after-effects.

So if your family members or friends are suffering in isolation, it’s good to know that hypnotherapy offers practical and professional assistance.

The question is, how exactly can it do that – and what aspects of the virus can it help with?

How Can Hypnotherapy Help COVID-19 Patients?: Issues Hypnotherapy Can Help Treat

 

There’s no getting away from it. The coronavirus is scary.

And the statistics tell you why. As of August 2021, more than 4 million people worldwide have lost their lives as a result of COVID-19.

Compare that to something like the flu, which typically kills between 250,000 and 500,000 globally every year (30,000 – 40,000 in the U.S.).

That makes the coronavirus between 4 and 8 times deadlier, which also helps to explain why sufferers have to deal with so many other issues.

If someone finds themselves isolated in quarantine because of a positive COVID-19 test, then chances are they’re experiencing one or more of these symptoms:

So how can hypnosis help with COVID? Let’s look at these issues one at a time to see how hypnotherapy can be used to treat them.

Anxiety

Every hypnosis session starts with an induction, which is when you try to get the client to relax and switch off. And if you’re relaxed, you can’t be anxious.

From there, it’s possible to do a blitz on relaxation using hypnotic theme words such as comfort, calm, peace, tranquility, being at ease, unwinding, letting go, and so on.

During a blitz, the idea is to elicit information from the subject and then feed it back to them, such as:

“You are feeling more relaxed now, aren’t you? Relaxing like this helps you stay calm and collected, doesn’t it?”

The feedback reinforces the relaxation and provides positive encouragement to keep the subject calm and composed.

Terror / Fear of dying

The pandemic has made people keenly aware of their own mortality. It’s only natural to be afraid of something so potentially lethal.

But it’s more than fear: it’s terror. Because you’re not just afraid of catching the disease, you’re also afraid of what it might do to you.

There’s actually a medical term for the fear of dying: thanatophobia. It’s from the Greek thanatos (death) and phobos (fear).

Hypnosis can help by putting these types of feelings into context. One way to do that is through a technique called revivification.

This involves reliving a memory, taking the subject back to a time when they felt something similar. Since they survived that instance of terror, they should have the resources to survive this one.

Check out this Hypnosis Training Academy article for more information on using hypnosis to overcome the COVID-related fear of dying.

Stress

Everyone feels stress at times, and a little stress is a good thing. It only becomes a problem when the stress is continuous.

Too much stress interferes with mental and emotional processes, unbalancing your body’s natural equilibrium. It can cause you to lose weight and even disrupt your immune response.

Hypnosis is a natural antidote to stress. As well as the usual induction relaxation phase, there are specific techniques aimed at encouraging deep relaxation. And you can’t be stressed when you’re relaxed.

An example of this is Dynamic Mental Imagery or DMI. This is a guided visualization where the subject imagines himself or herself in a scene in nature, like a park, a forest, a beach, etc.

They’ll discover that they can be alone (isolated) in a natural setting and still have a pleasant experience, so isolation isn’t always a bad thing.

It’s also possible to do a blitz around being less stressed, encouraging the subject while feeding back positive statements such as:

“You are coping well with working from home, aren’t you?”

Phobias

A phobia is an irrational fear of something, such as spiders or balloons. Phobias can be learned from others or can be the result of an event or experience.

How can hypnotherapy help COVID 19 patients with phobia?

Using hypnosis, it’s possible to get at the underlying cause of the phobia, deal with it, and then eliminate it. One effective technique for doing this is called regression therapy.

Regression involves taking the subject back to a time, usually in early childhood, when the phobia first began. Unlike a revivification, the subject thinks and acts as if they were actually in that time again and at that age.

Then they travel forward to the present and realize that those circumstances no longer exist. The hypnotist follows this up with self-esteem boosting exercises to help the subject move forward in a positive way.

Loneliness / Isolation

If you’re quarantined, it’s easy to lose touch with people. That includes family members, friends and colleagues.

Regular phone and video calls can help, but that still leaves you on your own for a substantial part of the day. It’s important to reach out whenever you feel cut off or secluded, when you need to vent, or when you need advice or encouragement.

This is another time when the blitz technique is useful. You can blitz around the theme of human connection, togetherness, being part of a group, and so on, echoing back with phrases such as this:

“Keeping in touch with family members makes you feel connected, doesn’t it?”

Sleeplessness / Insomnia

Three of the main causes of insomnia are stress, anxiety and depression. It makes perfect sense, then, that sleep hypnosis is aimed at trying to get the subject to relax.

One way to achieve this is to have them focus on their breathing, followed by relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation.

Another technique involves using the power of suggestion to tap into their unconscious mind and fill it with positive images and symbols associated with sleep. This can be accomplished with visualization methods such as the DMI.

One of the easiest ways to help someone overcome sleeplessness is to teach them self-hypnosis. That gives them the power to experience deep relaxation as they need it, helping them shut out the conscious world and drift off to sleep whenever necessary.

Pain Management

Hypnosis is used for pain management in a variety of settings including:

• Before, during and after surgery
• During dental work
• During childbirth

Again, the idea is to get the subject relaxed. This can be done with hypnotic language using a number of different hypnosis tools, such as:

• Hot words – power words with extra power in them, designed to soothe and comfort
• Stories – these stimulate the imagination to quickly access the unconscious mind
• Mind-Bending Language – used to disrupt negative thinking, leading the mind away from the problem and towards a solution
• The Non-Awareness Set – asking questions to highlight things happening outside of the subject’s awareness

Depression

Someone in quarantine suddenly has a lot of time on their hands, time they can spend thinking about their situation, which is bound to make them feel anxious. Their routines have gone out the window and they’ve only got themselves to rely on.

But people are social animals and they need contact with other human beings. Otherwise, they get demotivated, worry about things they can’t control, and become even more depressed.

It’s important for them to connect with family, friends, and colleagues on a regular basis so they don’t feel completely detached and isolated. At the same time, self-hypnosis will help them stave off negative or unhelpful thoughts.

As well as reducing stress and anxiety, self-hypnosis can help to regulate the body’s hormones to promote physical and mental health. For example, serotonin influences sleep and appetite while melatonin encourages sleep and strengthens the immune system. Similarly, endorphins are natural painkillers that also relieve stress.

Find out more about how COVID-19 can affect your mental health and how can hypnotherapy help COVID 19 patients by reading The Psychological Effect of Covid-19: What Are The Experts Saying? – A Guide For Hypnotherapists On 5 Emerging Trends Of Anxiety From COVID-19

Panic Attacks

As you might imagine, panic attacks are associated with too much stress, fear, and anxiety. They can be scary and cause distress, particularly if you’re forced to deal with them on your own.

You might experience a number of symptoms including a racing heartbeat, sweating, trembling, nausea, dizziness, and even chest pain. Attacks usually last between 5 and 20 minutes and the best way to control them is by trying to relax.

Self-hypnosis is the perfect tool for the job, especially if the subject can focus on their breathing, taking long, deep breaths until the symptoms subside and their body returns to normal.

How To Support Family Members & Friends Who Are COVID-19 Patients In Seeking Hypnotherapy

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced hypnotherapists to move their services online. Ironically, this is a good thing, because it means that therapists are able to reach more people than ever before, no matter where in the world they live.

And if you’re worried that online hypnosis or telemedicine is less effective, don’t be. As this article on Business Insider shows, it actually makes no difference whatsoever.

In the article, author Julie Peck explains how she sought hypnosis to help her overcome the anxiety she felt whenever she was around people who weren’t wearing masks.

She booked a one-hour virtual hypnosis session with a certified clinical hypnotist. During the session, Peck experienced truly deep relaxation and learned several coping mechanisms.

After just one session, she managed to take her son to the barbershop for a haircut. She was able to breathe through the event without getting upset or panicking, even though she and her son were the only people wearing masks.

How can hypnotherapy help COVID 19 patients? If someone you know is suffering from COVID-19 symptoms or having to quarantine, there are several things you can do to support them:

As the information above clearly demonstrates, it’s possible to ward off many of the issues associated with the coronavirus using self-hypnosis. This Hypnosis Training Academy article and infographic give you everything you need to know in order to hypnotize yourself.

And if you’re having trouble getting started, this specially designed tool will help put you in exactly the right frame of mind.

Remember: hypnosis is perfectly safe, painless, and non-invasive. And self-hypnosis is one of the easiest ways to get relaxed and eliminate stress – whenever you feel the need to do so.

Conclusion & Key Takeaways

COVID-19 patients in quarantine have to deal with issues that come from enforced isolation.

These can include physical as well as mental health problems. Luckily, there are lots of hypnosis techniques that are perfect for the job.

How can hypnotherapy help COVID-19 patients?

Hypnosis can be done virtually, online or via telephone, so there’s no chance of spreading the virus.

Someone isolating because of a positive COVID-19 test might experience some of these symptoms:

• Anxiety
• Terror / Fear of dying
• Stress
• Phobias
• Loneliness
• Sleeplessness / Insomnia
• Pain management
• Depression
• Panic attacks

Hypnosis or hypnotherapy techniques can help to ease or eliminate these symptoms. These techniques include the blitz, revivification, DMI, Mind-Bending Language, regression, the Non-Awareness Set, and self-hypnosis.

Many of the symptoms are connected to anxiety, stress, and fear, so the initial aim is to encourage deep relaxation. That’s significant because you can’t be stressed or anxious when you’re relaxed.

If you know someone in quarantine, you can offer your support by:

• Staying in touch
• Being available when they need you
• Researching online hypnosis sessions

There is a lot of information available regarding how to access a qualified hypnotherapist in order to help anyone who might be in quarantine. This gives you the opportunity to reassure them that they are not alone and that help is only a phone or video call away.