Covid-19: Anxiety in the 21st Century

Today we are living in a different reality due to the global pandemic. Covid-19 has ravaged the world in the last year. Mental health workers are more busy than ever before. We are concerned about getting the illness, educating our children, the safety of elderly relatives, job loss, civil unrest, racial and gender inequity, and more.

Months of quarantine have put considerable strain on couples and families. Domestic violence and child abuse are on the rise - as are feelings of helplessness, loneliness, isolation and claustrophobia.

For those who were already prone to anxiety, Covid-19 has made matters so much worse. Anxiety can affect:

• Sleep
• Skin
• Breathing
• Digestion
• Marriage
• Sexual function
• Parenting
• Social interaction
• Employment
• and more

Some non-Covid-19 anxieties include:

• test anxiety
• stage fright
• social anxiety
• employment interview fears
• pre-game jitters
• sexual performance worries
• anxiety while driving

While the above may interfere with your quality of life, they do not always rise to the level of a clinical disorder. Medical Hypnosis has been found to be effective in these cases (Heap and Aravind, 2002).

Hypnotherapy can be an extremely useful adjunct to more conventional treatments such as psychotherapy and medication. Hypnosis works in 2 ways- using suggestion and using regression.

The 1st type of hypnosis, suggestive therapy, can be offered as either directly or indirectly. Direct suggestion involves using direct, affirmative statements to influence a certain outcome. Indirect suggestion involves using stories and metaphors to accomplish the same goals and is most useful for clients who are inclined to resist direct suggestion.

During your time in hypnosis, you will be fully in control, experiencing relaxed feelings and focused attention. You play a key role in creating your change as you will be actively involved in the imagery (Hornyak and Green, 2000).

The 2nd approach to hypnotherapy involves regression. An extremely powerful technique for recovering buried memories and identifying the root cause of many challenges, regression involves the client returning to an earlier time within her personal history to clear the emotional charge of a specific event that was the root of her present difficulties. Repressed anxiety is due to painful emotions in a person’s past (Kroger, 2008). 

Regression is an effective way to get around this defense mechanism. Regardless of which approach is used to address your challenges, you will be learning self-hypnosis to gain greater self-control and mastery. Many rely on a recording initially but quickly learn how to achieve self-hypnosis outside of therapy (Hornyak and Green, 2000).

Some challenges that respond well to hypnotherapy include:

• Insomnia
• Eczema
• Migraines
• Digestive issues
• Public speaking
• Social anxiety
• Exam anxiety
• Specific phobias (snakes, heights, etc.)
• Smoking
• Excess weight

After twenty- five years of conducting in-person hypnotherapy sessions for individuals, groups and hypnotherapy students, Ajamu is able to produce the same great results while working remotely since 2012. Now everyone in the US and abroad has access to competent, compassionate hypnotic support.

• Heap, Michael, Ph.D. and Kottiyattil K. Aravind, MBBS, FRCS, (2002). Hartland’s Medical and Dental Hypnosis, Fourth Edition

• Kroger, William S., M.D., (2008). Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Revised Second Edition

• Schoenberger, N. E., (2000). Women with Anxiety Disorders. In L.M. Hornyak, and J. Green (Eds.) Healing from Within-The Use of Hypnosis in Women’s Health Care (pp.45-64).