Emotional Freedom Technique to help with Depression and Anxiety
Depression and Anxiety
Using EFT for depression and anxiety can be useful and have lasting effects. According to the Mental Health Foundation, each year, one in four people will experience a mental health problem. One in 5 older people will suffer from depression. 3.3% of children and young adults in the UK will be affected with symptoms of anxiety. These symptoms whether depression or anxiety can be either very mild or very severe.
There are many different depression symptoms including feeling hopeless or helpless, self-hatred and loss of interest in life. Depression and anxiety can make us sleep more. We can feel very angry or irritable. Other symptoms include having no energy and gaining weight. There are many more symptoms to add to the list. These feelings are far more intense than the normal Monday morning blues.
Setbacks in life happen that make us feel fed up but when we are depressed the feelings do not go away. Even when problems and obstacles are dealt with depression and anxiety can persist. A suffering person can see no way out of the black hole that they are experiencing. It is insidious and can engulf the victim without warning and refuse to go away.
Depression and anxiety will affect each person differently. Symptoms can vary and differ in intensity. It depends on the cause of the problems that they are experiencing and the individuals own unique make up.
One medical cause for depression is hormonal. Prolonged stress can trigger excessive production of adrenalin in the body. Adrenalin is the ‘fight or flight’ hormone. Often depressed people have high levels of this stress hormone in their bloodstream. Anxiety and stress can manifest the same physical symptoms. Some other physical symptoms of anxiety and stress can be needing to visit the bathroom more often, having heart palpitations, difficulty in breathing, constant feelings of worry, sweating, chest pain.
Some non-medical reasons for depression and anxiety are loneliness, being bullied, bereavement and pessimism. Anxiety can be bought on by difficult situations, trauma, shock, pain or suffering.
For the purpose of this article I would like to talk about EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique or tapping).
Emotional Freedom Technique uses the methodical tapping of pressure points on the head, face and neck. During the process the client will make positive affirmations. The affirmation help to disperse negative emotions and energetic blockages. Universally described as acupuncture for the emotions EFT is a non-invasive procedure. EFT does not use needles and is purely rhythmic pressure applied to alleviate and dissolve negative emotions.
The areas stimulated during the tapping process correspond with the end of the energy lines that run through the body. These lines carry our vital energy, or Chi. If a negative energy has not been released naturally it can cause a disturbance. If the disturbance is left unattended it can manifest as a physical symptom. A physical symptom could be persistent migraine, depression and anxiety or aches and pains. The idea of tapping on the head and face to ‘get well’ may be hard to believe. There are studies, however, that have demonstrated how efficient EFT can be in helping depression and anxiety. I have copied some links below for you to explore further.
Emotional Freedom Technique can give immediate and permanent relief. It is important to focus on the root cause of a depressive state or anxious episode. When having a treatment with a practitioner these areas are explored and dealt with as they arise during the treatment. There are powerful self-help techniques that the client can learn to help them to continue their therapy at home.
Excerpt from an article by Dr Catherine Ewing about her work using EFT to help Depression:
Finally, a breakthrough
Trained in several energy healing modalities, I was well aware of the power of clearing blockages from the energy bodies to bring about mental, emotional and physical well-being. I set about finding a technique that I could use in therapy sessions without violating my professional boundaries concerning touch and without compromising my credibility with clients who might have thought of energy work as too “woo-woo”. In 2006 I discovered Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and have been using it successfully with clients ever since. It is not only the most effective and efficient method I have come across in 20 years of psychotherapy; it has the much added bonus of not causing unnecessary secondary trauma to the clients. It is also portable, meaning that it can be easily taught to clients so that they can use the technique between sessions with their therapist or EFT practitioner.
Link to article:
http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/blogs/healing-depression-using-emotional-freedom-technique
Link to article:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/05/02/stress-relief.aspx
For more information about depression and its causes can be found by following this link:
Natural Depression Treatments
If you would like some more information please contact me via my email here at Healthy Pages.
