How Metaverse Hypnosis Could Help With Stress

Stress is all around us these days. Stress stems from work, our children, our relationships, and so many other sources. The interesting thing is that all these forms of stress are psychological stress but our bodies are better designed to deal with physical stress. To once have to run away from a saber-toothed tiger was a far more short-lived experience than the prolonged periods of stress we encounter nowadays. 

Today’s stress is constant, because we cannot just flee from the stressors. We have to go through it over and over again. Stress can lead to disrupted sleep, and this can exacerbate the release of cortisol, the stress hormone, leading to more stress. We get trapped in a circle, and this circle gets harder and harder to break without help. 

What are the stress-reducing benefits of hypnosis?

Hypnosis can be a very efficient tool to help break that circle. This is because:

• Hypnosis is relaxing for both the mind and body
• Hypnosis helps to untangle the endless stream of thoughts and rumination 
• Self-hypnosis is very easy to learn from an instructor and is extremely efficient in reducing feelings of stress

Why do some people suffer more from stress than others?

Of course, some people react with more stress to certain situations than others. Stress can also be a triggered response learned in early years of childhood. Perhaps a very stressful moment in time left you with the message that all situations like these are dangerous, so whenever a similar pattern is detected, the brain automatically matches the current and past experience together, and stress is induced. 

How we unconsciously learn to be stressed.

Let’s take an example. Timmy is three years old and is noticing that his dad is behaving very strangely in some situations. It’s hard for Timmy to  understand that this is related to alcohol abuse. The most dominant thing Timmy notices is that his dad becomes very loud and sometimes starts to get  violent towards his mother. Nobody is really injured or hurt, but the threat for Timmy is strong; not only could he find himself in a dangerous situation like his mother (perhaps if something was to fall on him when his dad is behaving violently), but a disrupted family can affect his life outside of the home. Timmy’s response of stress and anxiety is absolutely appropriate and expected.

Now, Timmy is 40 years old and a successful banker. Everything was going well for him, until he got a new boss who talks very loudly. This alone triggers the old response he learned when he was just  three years old. Stress becomes very dominant, but because the reaction is unconscious, he doesn’t realize what the real source of the stress is. Work is becoming less and less enjoyable,  and the long hours do not allow for any efficient stress relief. Timmy’s stress is carried home to his family where conflict arises, and as a last resort, Timmy starts drinking –  a strategy he learned from his dad. This helps in the short term, but in the long run Timmy just piles on more and more stress.

Therapy example Metaverse hypnosis with stress

Through his hypnosis sessions, Timmy now has the help of a hypnotherapist who is there to show him how to let go of old stress. There are several techniques the therapist teaches him to release bottled-up stress and other emotions. Timmy harnesses those resources that help him to become more resilient to stress, and eventually his sessions start exploring the root of the problem, reversing old patterns that have burned themselves into his unconscious nervous system. These steps help Timmy to deal with the loud voice of his boss without the release of stress hormones. 

Can this be done in the metaverse?

The whole process is, of course, very easily possible with an AR interface or with VR-goggles. It is not necessary to be in the same physical room to carry out any of these exercises, as we know from current Covid-19 times that even video-calls are sufficient solutions that have now become the standard for many practitioners. 

In a video call, we do not share a room with clients, but in VR we do share a virtual room. This saves time associated with commuting and being physically-present, and also helps us to free up physical space for other purposes… and that is why Metaverse hypnosis is the next best thing to hypnosis in physical practice.