Alternative Methods of Coping

Strange Ways of Dealing With Addiction-Related Negative Emotions

“The torment is in my arm. For what reason are you putting the needle in my thigh?” shouted Nadia at Dr. Lee. A previous barbiturate fiend, Nadia got snared on the medication when it was recommended for her outrageous tension and sleep deprivation.

Nadia woke up one day to find she was unable to raise one arm without weakening torment. Her mother recommended skipping ‘ordinary specialists’ and counselling an acupuncturist. Dr. Lee clarified that weight focuses on ‘meridians’ along which fundamental energy flows are associated with, and relate to, inward organs. That is the reason needles might be stuck on the inward elbow to address kidney infirmities, for example.

After one treatment, Nadia could raise her arm to the midsection, at that point shoulder level. After the second, she could turn her whole arm. Dazzled, she utilized needle therapy to vanquish compulsion and is presently calm. For amateurs battling enslavement, various treatment alternatives are accessible. Assuming, nonetheless, your compulsion traverses years, and you’ve attempted standard techniques without progress, perhaps it’s an ideal opportunity to investigate out-of-the-crate elective strategies like Nadia did. In spite of the fact that not all procedures suit everybody, some merit attempting on the grounds that not at all like pharmacological medicines (physician endorsed drugs), most don’t have side effects—aside from maybe feeling senseless while participating in them. Go solo, at that point! For rehearsals like giggling yoga, be that as it may, it’s a better time in a class.

Neuro Linguistic Tapping (NLT)

NLT is divided into three systems: Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), and Timeline. Gina illustrated how an EFT method helped her undergo surgery from the waist down without general anesthesia. Her doctors gave her a local one because they needed her awake during the operation to get her feedback.

Fortunately, she chanced upon an NLP class prior, where she learned alternative methods of managing anxiety, pain, and depression. On surgery day, though, she panicked and could only remember the simplest one.

Throughout the operation, she used her index and middle fingers to tap on ‘pressure points’ on her face, neck, and chest while reciting mantras like, “I feel no pain. My body has the innate ability to heal itself.” Gina’s doctors were amazed when she emerged from the procedure without expressing any form of distress.

Acupressure

Like acupuncture but without needles. Massaging by ‘drawing’ circles with your index finger or thumb on these meridians while breathing deeply and closing your eyes for a few minutes can relieve conditions including anxiety, stress, insomnia, pain, and nausea:

• the spot between your eyebrows
• the fleshy part where the thumb and index finger meet
• the deepest indentation on each upper ear lobe
• two points (left and right) where the back of the neck meets the shoulders
• two points (left and right) where the back of the neck meets the skull
• the indentation one thumb’s length below the inner wrist
• the indentation .5 inch below where the big toe and second toe meet

Ujjayi Breathing

Using deep breaths to stave off panic attacks is well known, like paper bag breathing. But Ujjayi, the most common form of breath control in yoga, is breathing through the nose and tightening the throat to make a ‘snoring’ sound. It calms the mind, improves concentration, overrides distractions, and releases tension. Alternative methods of breathing, such as this one, can be beneficial for anxiety, depression, thyroid conditions, and chemotherapy effects, among others.

“The Secret”

Those unfamiliar can watch this video on YouTube or read the book. Despite The Secret’s detractors, an addict can learn the concepts of affirmation and visualization from it. These are encouragements to oneself in the form of statements and images that are placed where one can see them daily to achieve goals.

Ever cheerful Faye applies these to her life. Every morning, she reads an inscription she wrote on her bathroom mirror: “I will be happy today, no matter what.” Nobody can tell she survived a hysterectomy, breast cancer, and the death of both parents.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MSBR)

This modality changes the body’s response to external events, as Marine Captain Jeff Davis discovered. Suffering from PTSD after his first deployment to Iraq, he almost drove himself off a bridge. In 2008, he and his team were the first to be tested with mindfulness training for active-duty military personnel. When they returned from deployment, they were found to be more compassionate, discerning, and not as reactive. Advocating mindfulness training as an important tool against PTSD, Davis said after a heart attack: “The doctors who worked on me saved my heart, but mindfulness saved my life.”

Somatic Experiencing

Dr. Peter Levine, the originator of this body-oriented technique, was a stress consultant for NASA during the space shuttle’s development. His book, Waking the Tiger: Healing of Trauma, discusses somatic tools as alternative methods for treating trauma. They soothe and regulate emotions/thoughts and free patients from being too dependent on therapists. Examples:

To quiet overwhelming emotions:

Place your right hand under your left arm. Put your left hand on your right shoulder. Or tap skin all over to help the body remember that it is the container for all sensation and feeling. Squeezing muscles in different parts of the body also helps in getting that sense of boundary.

For better sleep or dream quality:

Put one hand on the forehead and the other on the upper chest. With eyes open or closed, wait until you feel some kind of shift. This may be an energy flow or temperature change. Then, keeping the lower hand on the chest, place the upper hand on the belly. Again, wait until you feel a shift or flow.

Unification

Despite the effectiveness of many alternative methods of treatment, some allopathic medical practitioners still do not recognize them as part of mainstream medicine. But for those let down by conventional medicine, necessity compels them to try these.

Complementary medicine may not suit everyone, but many patients who view it as a last resort find it surprisingly effective, especially in cases of addiction and trauma. Fortunately, many modalities are now part of a category called ‘evidence-based therapies’ because they’ve already been proven by scientific studies to be effective for certain medical conditions. The key is to find the appropriate treatment for one’s ailment. Some insurers and state/provincial health branches cover select forms of complementary medicine.

Negative beliefs and behaviour go deeper than thoughts (many unconscious), so we can’t just “will them away”. But thanks to new research, scientists are finding that allopathic and complementary treatments combined are effective in modifying these and treating many psychological, neurological, or addictive illnesses.