When people experience wide awake opened-eye hypnosis they can be looking but not seeing as their attention may very well be inwards seeing, feeling and hearing imaginary realties. This also happens when people worry they are here but ‘not here’ as far as where their attention is placed is concerned.

I have often noticed that chronic worriers can even get a sense of relief when a real emergency occurs as it gets them focused on immediate reality which can feel refreshing.

So next time you want to spot how a magic trick is done be sure to notice how the magician directs your mind not just your eyes.

Mark

But there is a difference between healthy respect and a phobia. The man I helped over come a snake phobia (a snippet is shown here on YouTube) had a morbid fear of snakes to the extent that even seeing them on TV would send him fleeing from the room. Yet using the rewind technique (see: Phobias: Strange yet simple; terrible yet treatable) I helped him feel relaxed and comfortable (but still healthily wary) of snakes.

So even hard wired fears can become morbid or ‘exaggerated’ and therefore can be modified and turned into healthy respect. Hard wired responses can be adapted by us infinitely flexible humans. Putting ones head in a lions mouth (uncommon knowledge cannot condone such behavior) you would think would be a hard wired fear but many have overcome this fear in the name of old-style circus entertainment.

Must dash I’ve just noticed a long, tangled serpentine mass to the left of my peripheral vision-whew it’s just an extension lead!

Mark

So language which molds association and expectation can actually determine how we process experience biologically as well as psychologically. But of course we know this because this is precisely what placebos do and priming with language or experience is massively powerfully, see: Suggestibility: How to be an Einstein

We teach the vital importance of using language to shape experience on the Uncommon Knowledge hypnotherapy diploma course but the smell study cited above is a great and startling reminder of the power of language.

Mark

Although on this initial session they were working with one another they were still working with real issues and it’s a great rehearsal for when they start working with ‘real-Joe public’ clients in June. It’s so gratifying to see great therapy performed on the uncommon knowledge hypnotherapy diploma course a real service for the local community and invaluable as a learning experience for our uncommon students.

Mark

I may assume that winning the lottery would automatically put me on the fast track to a happy life ever more but not having to work (whilst great at first) prevents me meeting the need to feel stretched and significant unless I can somehow meet the need for purpose within my newly (financially) enriched life style.

On the uncommon knowledge hypnotherapy diploma course our studends are encouraged to get clients to really describe in detail what they mean by the term ‘happy’ and to think in depth how having more happiness in their future lives would work in reality above and beyond just a vague idea.

People are not good at predicting just what will make them happy or unhappy in the future. We are not good at predicting our true emotional responses to future events.

Mark

This could explain the research in this article cited leading to the conclusion that ’social bullying’ can have lasting psychological effects into adulthood and be a causal factor in the development of adult depression.

All kinds of bullying (see: Understanding bullies and bullying) can leave lasting fear, anxiety and pessimistic styles of perception.

Whether it’s feeling like an inevitable victim or developing feelings of misanthropy brought about through persistent bullying, peer rejection and bystander apathy or just a general sense that life is totally beyond ones personal control bullying can lead to or worsen depression.

After all so many depressed people seem to ‘join the mob’ and start to bully themselves in some way.

Mark

We talked about some basic ideas that may shed light on teenage behaviour and skills that can be useful in lifting that depression. I thought some of you would find what we discussed useful.

The genetic debateSome people say that genes are responsible but depression has increased ten fold over the last two generations. A statistic that forces us to look beyond genetics, so what are we left with?

Teenage brains: do not finish developing until their early twentiesThe section of the brain that sits behind the forehead is called the frontal cortex, in a teenager continues to grow until they are about twenty two. The frontal cortex is responsible for thinking things through, empathy, reading external stimuli and a whole host of things.

In a USA study they found that when they asked teenagers and adults to look at a picture (of someone who was angry) and guess the emotion expressed. Only fifty percent of the teenagers compared to one hundred percent of the adults got it right.

Interestingly they found that when they wired up the participants brains, the researchers found that when the teenagers were looking at the picture most of the activity was in the back part of the head and this is to do with gut instinct and emotions. The adults showed most activity in the frontal cortex.

The consequesnces of this are that teenagers will be more emotional and often misread what others say or how they look. Teenagers process information differently so may not understand things that adults assume have been made clear.

The link between junk food and antisocial behaviour.
The UK prison trial at Aylesbury jail showed that when young men there were fed multivitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids, the number of violent offences they committed in the prison fell by 37%. Although no one is suggesting that poor diet alone can account for the complexity of violent behavior, the former chief inspector of prisons Lord Ramsbotham says that he is now ‘absolutely convinced that there is a direct link between diet and antisocial behaviour’

TV can make people exhausted
The fast scene changes in many films and computer games causes something called the orientation response in our brain to continually fire off and this can cause the exhaustion that is characteristic of depression; if too much time is spent playing games or watching action movies on TV.

Not lazy, just have a different set of chemicals to what we adults haveOur sleep cycles are partly governed by a chemical called melatonin, teenager’s melatonin is set to have them up late and sleep later in the morning.

Some of the consequences of underdeveloped brains, and different sleep cycles can lead parents to think that their child is unhappy. High emotionality, quick to react, inability to express themselves clearly and needing lots of sleep can be misinterpreted as the onset of depression but there are other factors that are more significant.

The meaning we attach to events is a deciding factor in depression or happinessThe eminent psychologist Martin Seligman discovered that our ‘explanatory styles’ are what decides our path to depression or feeling fine. That simply means the way in which we explain life’s events to ourselves.

So if a teenager looses in a hockey match and says to himself ‘ I always play rubbish, there is no point in me being in the team in the future as I won’t ever be useful. And I am now not looking forward to going to school at all.’ This is what he calls a global, specific and permanent style and is likely to make the person anxious and feel low.

However if that teenager after that match says ‘ that was not my best game, but the competition was tough and there is still another chance to get in to the final next week…………and I am seeing my mates tonight will cheer me up’ this way of looking at ‘bad’ events inoculates against depression.

Adult and teenage depression can be treated in the same way.
The National Institute of Clinical Excellence decided in 2005 that Drugs should not be the first line of treatment for anyone suffering from depression, also that teenagers and children should rarely be prescribed drugs (antidepressant medication.) Their research shows that talking therapies should be the first line of approach in treatment.

Our Depression Learning Path has helped many suffers of depression, it has a section on Seligman’s explanatory styles. So if you are a teenager who is feeling low or are worried about someone else; they like thousands of others may find the depression learning path helpful. Its all free so take a look.

Idealists’ state that there ‘is good in everyone’ but psychologists think there is ‘potential good in the vast majority’ but that about 2% of the population seems to fit the description of psychopath (see: No strings on me: Is there a psychopath in your life?)

We can all adopt more or less psychopathic behaviors under extreme enough circumstances as addressed in William Golding’s wonderful dystopian novel ‘Lord of the flies’. But a true psychopath is born according to current thinking and therefore should be recognized in childhood and adolescence.

I’ve just seen this rather inconclusive piece on childhood and teenage psychopathy.

Child psychopaths may be abnormally deceitful and manipulative, be un-shocked by the suffering of people or animals and even torture animals and bully other children for ‘pleasure.’

Then again many children and teenagers display selfish and insensitive behavior. Teenagers can even be somewhat ‘emotion blind’ as far as others are concerned making them appear callous. This is due to the still developing pre-frontal cortex. So it’s vital that children are not labeled psychopaths when they are just being children.

Mark.

The facilitators took two groups of students and asked one group to recall their journey to the campus and the others to think about their last meal. They were then all offered unlimited biscuits; the group that had thought about their last meal ate less than the other group. So on TV a psychologist was advocating we should all imagine our last meal and this would stop us snacking later.

She said that we always have a choice and that if we think about what we had before we can then think that ‘I am not going to snack later’ ‘Oh yeah’ I felt myself murmur.

Great thought, but only part of the picture, as many people who have struggled with their weight will know. Those people are very familiar with the cravings that seem to possess every fiber of their being and flood them with thoughts of eating. These inner drives are so hard to ignore, no matter what our conscious brain tells us.

Because our natural instincts can be highjacked by unconscious processes we can crave something before we think consciously about it. Often this urge is the body chemically asking for sustenance and conscious intervention will rarely make it fade. You will see this in people who have yo yo dieted for years where their body believes it has a feast and famine existence.

Also if you eat a diet that is loaded with refined foods or heavy on the carbohydrates this causes your body’s blood sugar to have a roller coaster effect. So your fuel gauge swings from thinking it is empty, to too full. The chemicals it pumps out to deal with this can make you feel lethargic, emotional and craving sugary foods.

Then you can have habits that are mismatches of our basic needs. So if you feel lonely and turn to food for a comfort this is a faulty pattern match. Read the article on basic needs to ensure that your needs are met in an appropriate way.

Finally the process that can override the ability to make clear choices are limiting beliefs. The old war mentality that makes you clear the food left on your kids plates is way out of date. Or a belief that you are ugly that causing anxiety, stress being a major contributory factor to cravings.

Ok so this is a great practice for me as I am talking about weight issues and nutrition to our students this weekend. And by the next weekend I always get several students saying how much better they feel, greater energy, clearer thought and better sleep; all from altering their unconscious attitudes to food, stabilizing their blood sugars and eating more nourishing foods.

I will let you know their feedback. Off to finish my breakfast!!

Research consistently shows that experiencing super one off triumphs isn’t what really produces and maintains stable happiness. Happy Hour

I’ve just come across: We search for happiness in eager anticipation and joyful memories, but it may be life’s simple and everyday gifts that sustain our contentment

In my article The cost of freedom I cite research that shows the mental and even physical benefits of developing the gratitude attitude.

We can strive for the big things and know how to appreciate, even cherish the small things.

Mark