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Archive for the ‘Poison Hypnotic’ Category

In 2006 in the US, the clinical gold standard for insomnia was controlled-release Ambien. Millions of prescriptions a year were and are written. Moving across the Atlantic, the situation is no less “impressive”. According to the latest figures, there are around half a million people in England taking sleeping pills at any one time. The National Health Service records show 820,000 prescriptions are written every month. It is estimated that some 330,000 pills are taken every day. This would make insomnia the most common psychological condition in Britain.

Why is insomnia so common? One explanation is that we now live a 24/7 lifestyle. Television and cable transmit tempting programs into our homes round the clock. We can surf the net, talk or sms on our handphones. We drink too much coffee. We live in an overstimulated world. But why would that lead to what, in real terms, would have to be described as an epidemic? Perhaps it is an age thing. As we all get older, do we need less sleep?

A better explanation seems to be that we have changed our attitude towards sleep. The first step is to distinguish between insomnia as the inability to get to sleep when we want to and sleeplessness where something keeps us awake, e.g. a change in our biological clock after flying to a different time zone. This makes insomnia mainly a psychological condition with insomniacs significantly more likely to be depressed than ordinary sleepers. This means that the more anxious we get about “falling asleep” the more difficult it is likely to become.

Generations ago, people did not take sleep for granted. Indeed, they were often worried about appearing lazy if they slept too much — Leonardo da Vinci pronounced sleep a waste of valuable time, napping about fifteen minutes every four hours. Now we are indoctrinated with the idea that unless we sleep seven or eight hours a night, our worlds will end. Hence, the National Sleep Foundation in the US recommends eight hours, but it is a fact that 70% of the population get less than this. A range of between five-and-a-half and nine-and-a-half hours per night is probably normal. In The New Black: Mourning, Melancholia and Depression, Darian Leader suggests that insomnia is usually a symptom of anxiety. Rather than routinely prescribe ambien, he consistently seeks to identify and treat the cause of the inability to sleep.

We could enjoy the peace of the night-time world when everyone else is asleep. The phone does not ring. No-one disturbs us. But the sleep-deprived brain does not function well and, for the majority, nights cannot be used creatively or productively. People are simply too tired whatever time of the day or night it is. Go for long enough without sleep and madness waits for us. This creates a billion dollar/pound industry to produce medications to knock us out. We are not deterred even though there can be withdrawal symptoms to negotiate when we try to stop taking the pills. Ambien is better than no treatment. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a good alternative but often not available. Other than CBT, we are into the self-help world of relaxation techniques. Perhaps this last option recognises that insomniacs are often too busy thinking about “stuff” to get to sleep. If they were bored, they might just drop off. One thing is certain, if you are not going to rely on ambien, the worst thing is to try to make yourself sleep. Like most things, the harder you try to do what should come naturally, the more unnatural you make it and the harder it becomes.

China put on an extravagant farewell to the Olympics last night, while David Beckham, the world’s most famous soccer player, kicked a ball to start the countdown to London 2012.

Launching a huge party to wrap up the greatest sporting show on earth, thousands of athletes poured in from all four corners of the stadium, blowing kisses and waving flags.

The towering figure of Chinese basketball star Yao Ming was seen grinning from ear to ear.



Soccer player David Beckham (R) kicks a soccer ball during the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Stadium August 24, 2008. [Agencies]

 

Two giant drums were hoisted into the sky, with two pairs of suspended drummers thumping out a hypnotic beat.

The stadium was turned into a kaleidoscope of glittering colors, as about 200 acrobats took giant leaps and somersaulted across a stage on spring-heeled stilts.

There were speeches from Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organising Committee, and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, the latter officially declaring the Beijing Games to be over.



Fireworks explode during the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games at the National Stadium August 24, 2008. [Agencies] 

Rogge and Guo Jinlong, the mayor of Beijing, then handed over the Olympic Flag to Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, host city of the next Olympics in 2012.

It heralded the start of an eight-minute segment for London organizers to showcase the 2012 Games, with a red London bus driven into the stadium.

 

 

Singer Leona Lewis and former Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page emerged as the bus transformed into a grass-covered carnival float, and the pair combined for a rendition of “Whole Lotta Love”.

The biggest star turn came when a  grinning Beckham kicked the ball off the top of the bus into the hands of a delighted Games volunteer.

The Olympic flame was then extinguished but the carnival continued in the night with songs and dances.

Self-hypnosis is a technique designed to allow patients to continue therapy in an independent manner, entering in a state of hypnosis due to his or her own suggestions. In our daily lives, we pass through different states of auto-hypnotic consciousness, of meditation or intense concentration, or on the contrary, the total lack of attention.

You can sit in an armchair or lie on a bed, but it is important to feel comfortably during self-hypnosis.

Step 1. Sitting, keep your head straight and look in the distance in front of you. Your body must be in a relaxed position. If you are stretched, your head must lie in a comfortable position; you must feel comfortable, without any tension in your neck area. Look above yourself in the ceiling, but without a specific location.

Step 2. Keep your head in a comfortable position and turn your eyes (upwards, as if you look from inside to a target set opposite your brow). You should not make considerable effort, it is important to feel comfortable. Your eyes movements, which are also performed during your sleep, usually go hand in hand with a hypnosis relaxation of the eyelids felt like being increasingly heavy.

Step 3. Continue to look back and up and now, close your eyes slowly (feel that you are about to leave your eyelids fall, without any tension or discomfort).

Step 4. Now your eyelids are fully closed, inspire deeply through your nose, your mouth is closed … Your breath should be deep, deep (but without too much effort) … stop your breath for a few seconds (depending on the individual possibilities, avoiding the fatigue).

Step 5. Then … breathe out slowly, leaving the air pass through  the lips which are slightly  open and stay with your eyelids closed during the hypnosis exercise … allow your eyes return to their horizontal normal position.

Step 6. Now … with your eyelids still closed … you feel good, calm … you can breathe easily … you can imagine your body feeling good in the seat or bed you are lying on… you feel perfectly relaxed. Your spirit and body are perfectly relaxed, but at the same time in a state of alert, vigilance, living a pleasant sensation of floating that is self-hypnosis.

Step 7. Enjoy this pleasant sensation of floating, of hypnosis… and easily turn your attention on your right or left forearm, as you like… and imagine your forearm from the elbow to the hand becoming light, very light … let your palm rise slightly, very slightly, as if it float.

Step 8. You have reached your purpose … your left or right forearm and palm are in levitation, your elbow is resting on the armchair or the bed. You have felt a unique sensation during self-hypnosis.

Of course, there are many other ways to get into self-hypnosis, which are based on fixing a point or on progressive relaxation. In addition, self-hypnosis can be reached through meditation or using abdominal breathing described in the Yoga system. All these are variations that allow achieving the same result.