Hypnotherapy and NLP for White Coat Phobia
Hypnosis and NLP for White Coat Phobia Adelaide
About white coat Syndrome
Also known as white coat hypertension, white coat syndrome is a psychological condition in which your blood pressure rises and high levels of anxiety or panic arise when checked in a medical setting. This is due to a phobia of needles and medical procedures in general. If you suffer from the condition, your blood pressure may be lower by as much as 30 mmHg when checked outside the hospital.
What causes white coat Hypertension?
Your blood pressure is not a constant value. It fluctuates depending on environmental and physiological conditions.
Anxiety or tension is one of the factors that cause blood pressure to rise. White coat hypertension is therefore an indication that the hospital setting or presence of medical personnel is making you anxious.
The tension you experience while in hospital may be due to:
§ Fear of the medical operations
§ Lack of experience in interacting with medical staff
§ Unfamiliarity with hospital setting
§ Past bad experience in the hospital e.g. when you were really sick
§ Fear of unfavorable test results
Impact of white coat condition
Many people with white coat don’t even know that they suffer from the condition. This is because they assume the blood pressure values that they take from the hospital are the right values.
You would need to check the blood pressure again when outside the hospital to note the difference.
Since there are no deaths or severe medical repercussions associated with white coat syndrome, you may assume that it is a condition without consequences. This would be a wrong assumption.
The wrong results may lead to wrong diagnosis and possibly prescription of drugs or treatments that you do not really need.
Hypertension medications are designed to lower your blood pressure back to normal. As such, if you take them while you have a healthy blood pressure, it could result in hypotension i.e. very low blood pressure.
If you have conditional blood pressure checks, the frequent spikes in blood pressure can also cause long-term damage on your heart, blood vessels, and kidneys.
People with white coat hypertension have been noted to be more susceptible to:
§ Actual hypertension
§ Stroke
§ Cardiovascular illnesses
§ Heart attack
§ Heart failure
§ Kidney failure
There could also be other indirect consequences. For instance, if you are having medical test that as part of requirements at your workplace, the inflated blood pressure may give you wrong results that cause you to lose your job.
Managing the Condition
Considering the possible consequences of white coat hypertension, it is important for you to find a way to manage it.
Some of the approaches you can use include:
§ Alert your doctor or nurse to wait for a while for you to relax before he or she can check your blood pressure
§ Ask if you might have your blood pressure taken in a different area of the hospital
§ Engage in a conversation that is unrelated to the medical procedure or hospital
If you notice that none of these techniques work, you can organize with your doctor to have your blood pressure checked at home. You can do this yourself or with the help of someone at home.
For more accuracy, you can may have your pressure monitored over a 24 hour period.
If the pressure is found to be consistently high even when you are outside the hospital, it means you actually have high blood pressure that needs to be treatment.
You can cure white coat syndrome with hypnotherapy and NLP
As mentioned earlier, white coat syndrome has negative short term and long term effects. It is therefore important to have a permanent solution.
The anxiety related with the condition originates from the subconscious part of the brain. It is therefore an irrational emotion. In fact, thinking that you might suffer white coat hypertension is enough to trigger the phenomenon when you get the hospital.
Hypnotherapy is designed to tap into your subconscious mind to address and eradicate the irrational anxiety that you experience when you visit a hospital. Under the guidance of the therapist, you will learn how to train your brain to associate the hospital setting with more positive thoughts.
The previous techniques are only temporary and may not even work. With hypnotherapy, you will be cured permanently and possibly irreversibly.
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