Missing Mobile Angst

Did you read the recent article about London train passenger Robin Lee – arrested on suspicion of abstracting electricity, after using a plug socket to charge his phone in a train carriage?  He was de-arrested soon afterwards, but then re-arrested for unacceptable behaviour.

Whilst apparently there are "no hard and fast rules" when it comes to using plug sockets in public areas such as cafes and cinemas, to be absolutely safe you should always ask, unless a plug is clearly marked for public us. Call me old-fashioned, but I feel that it’s good manners to ask if you are ‘charging up’ free in someone else’s premises. But trains? Well that’s not so easy...

Anyway all this got me thinking..... Maybe Robin is suffering from the recently coined term ‘Nomophobia’. Nomophobia, (in case you haven’t heard of it) is a fear of being out of mobile phone contact. This may be due to lack of reception, a dead battery or a lost or damaged phone. As with other phobias, Nomophobia is an anxiety state and it affects people in different ways. Some will become panicky, irrationally focused on the absence of their device and unable to concentrate. Others might respond by withdrawing, or become irritable or non-communicative. Some will experience physical symptoms, such as an increased heart rate, upset stomach or sweaty palms.

So how, as therapists, do we help someone who has this irrational fear? Well firstly our client needs to recognise that their fear is irrational. Cognitive approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can be helpful here. Mindfulness approaches can be very beneficial too. Anxiety is a future based fear and practising Mindfulness can help to keep the individual ‘in the now’. Wonderfully useful is hypnotherapy. It is very calming and can help the sufferer to see things in perspective. Clients who consult me for help to overcome a phobia often find that other issues are improved or eliminated during the process.

If you don’t feel you’re in need of a therapist for your nomophobic response, you can take some practical steps to reduce your anxiety. You could for instance have a back-up plan or device. This will, of course, require reception, so a useful ‘old-style’ alternative is to keep a note of important numbers in your purse or wallet. This gives you the option of using a payphone or (if reception allows) to borrow someone else’s phone.

If your fear is that you cannot be reached, it is worth accepting that nothing major is likely to occur in the couple of hours when you’re out of contact. Last week I returned home to fetch my mobile I’d left charging in the kitchen. I justified this because I’d told several business contacts that I would be returning calls at lunchtime. Needless to say, there was only one message when I checked in my break, and that  call didn’t require my urgent attention!

So next time you find yourself going into a spin because you are incommunicado, pause, take a breath and remind yourself that your phone is not your life-support system, just a communication device. Nothing terrible is likely to happen because you have no phone and on the upside, you won’t get pestered by PPI salesman or those who can help you get compensation for a car accident that you never had! It’s OK to be out of reach for a while, and you might even find that you enjoy the peace and quiet that absence of technology can bring.

Hypnosis - Quack remedy or valid treatment?

Many of us have seen theatrical hypnotists, who seemingly manipulate their ‘victims’ into complying with requests to undertake bizarre behaviours. These behaviours will usually generate hysterical laughs from the audience and the thought of this puts off many people who could benefit from hypnosis in a therapeutic setting.

People often make an assumption that hypnosis is connected with sleep or is similar to be under anaesthetic. Scientific studies into brain activity have shown that it is actually a slightly altered state of consciousness, similar to day dreaming. Hypnosis is a focused state, where an individual will ‘zone out’ from their surroundings; indeed sports people and artists describe ‘being in the zone’ when they are absorbed in their activity.

Being in a trance-like state (hypnosis) generates different physical feelings in different people. Many people describe a sense of deep relaxation, with their body feeling very comfortable and heavy. The majority of people feel safe; as if the rest of the world has been shut out.  They become less aware of their surroundings and are not disturbed by everyday sounds that could normally distract them. During hypnosis their mind may wander, but they will be able to absorb useful suggestions given by the hypnotherapist, even if they are not consciously listening.

So can everyone reach a hypnotic trance? This is debatable. It is believed that most people can be hypnotised if they wish to be, although some individuals are more ‘suggestible’ than others. Creative or imaginative people or those who easily become engrossed in things tend to find hypnosis easy. As with many things in life, practise improves the speed and ease at which hypnosis can be achieved; the more familiar the state becomes, the quicker it happens. Many therapists say that ‘all hypnosis is self-hypnosis as they no-one can be hypnotised against their will.

There is a raft of issues, both mental and physical, that hypnosis or self-hypnosis can help with, including habit change, anxious thinking and pain management. For the latter, hypnosis has been shown to be very effective. It works particularly well for childbirth and tooth ache, but can be used for many types of chronic and acute pain.

Hypnosis can be used not only for analgesia, but anaesthetic too; indeed hypnosis was used during surgical procedures before medical anaesthetic was available. Recently there has been a resurgence of interest in hypno-anaesthesia, for operations and dental procedures and this may be due to a new awareness of the process through media reports. Individuals who don’t like the idea of general anaesthetic or who can’t tolerate it, now have an alternative.

Contrary to how it appears on stage shows and TV, being hypnotised does not mean that someone takes control of your mind. The people who volunteer to be hypnotised on stage know that they are there for the entertainment of the audience and therefore must be happy to make fools of themselves and get their ’15 minutes of fame’.