Hypnosis Anyone?

Has anyone tried hypnosis for anything? If so, did it work?? I'll will share my wacky fear with ya'll but don't laugh (LOL)....I have this crazy fear of lightning & thunder. It started when I was young and it just never went away...here I am, a grown ass woman and when it starts to rain or I see the sky light up with lighting....I'm running for cover (i.e. basement)...anywhere so that I cant hear the thunder or see the lightning. Now as an adult, its getting worse...almost feels like I'm going to have an anxiety attack if I dont go to my safe place (i.e. basement). Woe its me!!

Have you tried seeing a therapist about it? my degree is in Psych and i currently work in the field (with kids) but this is something that is quite common and often specialized therapists (that work with debilitating fear and anxiety) have supported proven and tailored interventions that can really help. I have tried hypnoses, and to be honest i'm not really sure if it worked but one thing i did notice after, I was more relaxed about everything. My grandmother did it to quit smoking, she smoked for 50 years, did hypnosis and 2 days later never smoked again.

You pooorr baaabbbbyyyy!

My daughter is SO scared of thunder and lightening too!

I've never tried it, but my boss tried it (hypnosis) to quit smoking and it didn't work for him.

Sorry!

I would love to try hypnosis for various reasons - to not have such a negative self-image, to LIKE to exercise, and like to eat veggies. I actually just posted that same thing in another thread yesterday, I think.

I think anything is worth trying if your fear is that bad. What do you lose if it doesn't work?

I say go for it, its not like its going to hurt...but I do agree with seeing someone about it. I was in a car accident when I was in high school and I developed an extreme fear of being a passenger in a car with others (I was a passenger in the accident) and saw a therapist about it for a while and now I am still a little freaked out but I am much better because he helped me work through the fears.

Did you get that crazy thunderstorm last night too? The lightening was insane! I was driving home from the train station, couldn't see a thing, and then there was a tree in the road! Luckily no one was coming the other direction. That was a bad storm.

Sorry, I got a little side-tracked. Anyway, my SIL runs to the basement everytime there is a thunderstorm. I have fear of thunder and lightening as well, but it's not as bad. I think this is pretty common so there has to be suitable treatments out there for it. I agree with the others...if you want to try hypnoses, then go for it. It's not like it will make your fear worse.

I say try it- I would like to try hypnosis for stomach problems that I have & for motivation to get off my ass...My FFIL did do it for smoking and it did not work for him, but everyone is different with different situations..so ya never know.

Thank you ladies for the feedback....I think I will take the advice to see a therapist as opposed to a hypnotist...hopefully it will help out. FI thinks I'm being a baby but he has no idea...its a real fear.

I worked with a therapist to get through some post-traumatic issues that caused me to involuntarily feel extreme fear and panic as a response to certain sounds. She used a therapy called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). This may be something that could work for you too. Good luck! I totally understand how debilitating things like this can be - even if they sound insignificant to other people.