Hard to Focus
Have you ever felt as if your brain is full of cotton wool. ‘I can’t think!’ seems to sum up how you feel. This is more common than you would think. A recent client was suffering from depression and anxiety. Her DAS Score (depression, anxiety stress), was extremely high. Her actions suggested she was in a state of FFF (fight-flight-freeze) and unable to relax. She said that she was having trouble focusing and described this as “I can’t think” and “can’t imagine a future”.
This is was surprising when you think about the physiology of the body when a person is suffering from depression, anxiety and /or stress.
Most long term depression, anxiety, stress, and even PTSD is caused by unresolved stress or trauma from the past. When a person has a stressful or traumatic event it goes into survival mode.
You are given three ways to handle the event, which is described as fight-flight-freeze
Fight-Flight-Freeze
To be able to do this the muscles of the body have to be primed, they must be able to spring into action in a moment. To get to this stage the body takes blood from the brain, you don’t want to be thinking of what you should do, you could die whilst thinking about it and the blood is channeled into the muscles. Blood is also taken from organs that don’t need to work at this time. The digestive system and the stomach is not needed and so the blood is moved into the muscles. The muscles and body are then flooded with hormones so that the muscles become like tensed springs, ready for action.
Return to Calm
When the event that caused the Fight, Flight, Freeze response is over, the natural response is for the body and brain to return to calm. With people who have long term depression, anxiety, and stress the body and brain this does not always happen. The body remains ‘hyper-vigilant’ and in a state of heightened readiness. Why this is, is still under investigation.
People in this state, often suffer from foggy thinking. This is because the correct blood flow is not reaching the brain. These people may have stiff necks and shoulders as the muscles remain tense. Often they suffer from digestive problems as the digestive organs are working as they should. The blood flow is still being diverted. They are in survival mode and when you are in survival mode you can’t think of the future, all you can think about is surviving!
With hypnosis and a new therapy called TRTP, these situations where a person is ‘stuck back in the past’ can be resolved very quickly and efficiently. This allows the body and brain to come back to calm. The person is able to once again think clearly and plan for the future.
If you are suffering from long term stress, depression or anxiety why not give me a call on 1300 64 53 54 and arrange a complimentary session to discuss how I can help you.