Hypnotherapy: A counter measure for the modern world

A global study found that the incidence of anxiety disorders among those aged 10-24 increased by around 52% between 1990 and 2021.

The modern world and rising anxiety

We are living in crazy "anxiety-inducing" times, and hypnotherapy is more important now than it has ever been. The world is changing radically faster than our minds were ever designed to change. Our electrically driven minds are constantly being filled with more and more information, wherever we go.

Daily life has become a blur of screens, noise, notifications, obligations, and endless mental multitasking. From the moment we wake up, we’re already catching up: to messages, to tasks, to expectations, to other people’s lives and opinions. Let's use the metaphor of spinning plates. People have way too many plates to focus on and keep spinning, and they're beginning to wobble and crash to the floor.

The general state of mental health in the population is getting worse, and one of the most popular solutions seems to be medication. But is medication addressing the actual root cause? In England, a report by the Centre for Mental Health estimated that the cost of mental health drug prescriptions in 2022 was approximately £0.6 billion (i.e., £586,704,371) – this covers five types of medications (hypnotics/anxiolytics, dementia drugs, psychoses-related, CNS stimulants/ADHD and antidepressants).

Losing touch with our natural rhythm

Somewhere in the middle of all this mental distraction, we lose touch with something essential – our natural rhythm. We forget to tune in to ourselves. We forget to sit in silence and simply listen to our breath. We forget stillness. We forget the simple grounding truth that human beings are part of nature. Highly complex biological organisms, not machines built to run endlessly.

This disconnection from ourselves and our connection with nature is, I believe, a key chronic factor driving modern-day anxiety. When we are disconnected from the natural world, away from the sensory calm of sunlight, fresh air, deep controlled breathing, quiet, and good quality anxiety-free sleep, the mind begins to "overload" and we begin to perceive a threat, which then activates our "fight or flight" survival instincts. All of this can't always be simply corrected with a pill.

According to a mental health pressures analysis, between 2017-2023, rates of “probable mental disorder” among young people aged 8–16 rose from around 1 in 8 to more than 1 in 6. And for those aged 17-19, the rates increased from approximately 1 in 10 to 1 in 4, BMA.

The whole of society seems to be under attack. Our bodies have evolved over thousands of years to respond to natural rhythms, but today, we live in a world where our days are lit by artificially lit screens instead of daylight, and our evenings are shaped by overstimulation instead of slowing down. Our nervous system is triggered by notifications instead of natural sounds, our minds are pulled outward instead of inward, and our attention is constantly hijacked 24/7 with algorithms specifically designed to keep us engaged and scrolling.

It’s not that humans have changed. It’s that the environment around us has been radically changed, almost overnight, and our brains and nervous system simply cannot adjust and cope with being on high alert, all the time. The symptoms of this "dystopia" can clearly be seen all around us:

• Anxiety levels are up: In England, the prevalence of “common mental health conditions” (which includes anxiety) among 16-64 year-olds rose from 15.5 % in 1993 to 22.6 % in 2023/24. In those aged 16-24, the rise was especially marked (NHS England).
• Suicide rates are up: ONS reports an increase of 7.6% in 2023 since 2022.
• General mental health levels are poor: Globally, from 1990 to 2021, the incidence of anxiety disorders among those aged 10-24 increased by 52%.
• Mental health of teens in crisis: In England, the prevalence of “common mental health conditions” (which includes anxiety) among 16-64 year-olds rose from 15.5% in 1993 to 22.6% in 2023/24.
• Increasing anger and violence are seen, often in our daily news.
• Overthinking and fear for the future.
• Feelings of disconnection.
• People feel overstimulated and overwhelmed.

Hypnotherapy: An anxiety countermeasure for the modern world

Hypnotherapy is the perfect anxiety "countermeasure' tool to help us combat this disconnection from our natural rhythms and constant bombardment of overstimulation and demand for our attention, by calling us to take back control of our minds and allow us to return to a calm, quiet, reflective, regenerative state.

Hypnotherapy can instantly help you feel:

• calm
• grounded
• relaxed
• help you breathe better
• feel more in control 
• feel more connected with yourself

Hypnotherapy can be viewed as focused attention on a desired outcome. But our minds don't just receive information when we are focused on it. These days our minds are constantly being "influenced" by "influencers" and "programs" designed to "influence" us, via screens produced by people who have spent billions of pounds studying human behaviour to ensure they capture and intensify our emotions and grip our attention for longer, often with undesired outcomes for us.

Take advertisements as a classic example of this. In today’s world, we are constantly absorbing information in a "trance-like" way. Our brains are receiving all kinds of subliminal messages, emotional triggers and information during adverts. 

This every day, unintentional “hypnosis” can subtly shape our beliefs on:

• how we view ourselves
• how we compare ourselves
• who to believe
• how we measure success
• what we wear and the language we use
• what to fear
• what we should be doing
• how we should live life
• what we think we should look like, feel like, or be like

This isn’t sinister – it’s simply how the human mind works. Once you're aware of that, hypnotherapy becomes a tool with which you can begin to "de-hypnotise" yourself and take back control of your own mind. Fill it with positive, desired outcomes, question thoughts and behaviours and consciously change your own internal dialogue.

How hypnotherapy helps you reconnect

Hypnotherapy is the antidote – a conscious, therapeutic counterbalance to the overwhelming, constant bombardment of modern life. Instead of absorbing more stress, it helps you release it. Instead of reinforcing anxiety patterns, it softens them. Instead of pulling you out of yourself, it brings you back home.

Hypnotherapy does this by:

• focusing your attention  
• questioning your current thought patterns and behaviours
• putting you in a powerful, positive state
• helping you work on and create your desired outcomes
• reconnecting you with your natural rhythms
• grounding you
• helping you take back control of your own mind

When the mind is allowed to enter into a calm state, it mirrors the same peace you only find in nature. It reconnects you with your natural frequency. This state is often not experienced for many, for weeks and months on end.

When you consciously bring your mind back into its natural rhythm, anxiety eases. It allows your nervous system to rest and recalibrate. When you reconnect with your inner nature, clarity and direction return. When you learn to quieten the noise, you hear yourself again.

Hypnotherapy, the often overlooked, seemingly simple process of focused attention on a desired outcome, consciously taking control of your own mind, slowing down, deep breathing, tuning in to yourself and listening, is one of the most powerful things to do in modern life.