Hypnosis for anxiety: understanding existential fear
It is 3 a.m., and your mind is doing math. The bills, the rent, the job that may or may not be safe. You know that lying awake will not change any of it, and still the thoughts keep circling. This is what existential fear can feel like. It is common, it can be exhausting, and it is one of the areas where hypnosis for anxiety can help.
In an interview, Dr. Manuela Vanheiden, neurobiologist, OMNI hypnotherapist and alternative practitioner for psychotherapy (Heilpraktikerin für Psychotherapie, a German qualification), explains what is behind existential fear and how hypnosis can help.
What existential fear is
Existential fear is the fear of not being able to cope with life, or of losing its economic and material foundations. The focus is usually on money and work: the failure of a business, the insolvency of your own company, the loss of a job.
Older people know this fear, too. The fear of poverty in old age, or of not being able to manage in case of illness, is particularly strong among people who are alone and have no support from family or friends.
Why one worry pulls in the next
Existential fear is rarely a single fear. It is usually a chain. The thought of losing your job leads to the fear of financial problems. That leads to the fear of not being able to pay for food, not being able to pay the bills, perhaps losing your home.
If you run your own business, the chain has more links. Too few orders may not only ruin you but also mean that you can no longer pay your employees.
On top of the economic worries come social ones. What will your family, your friends or others think of you if things go wrong? Will you look like a failure? Will people turn away if you do not succeed?
In short, the people affected are afraid that something will change for the worse and that they will be helpless and powerless to stop it, and judged for it. Together, these worries can become so heavy that the good parts of life fade from view and every thought revolves around the fear.
Who is affected, and what triggers it
In Dr. Vanheiden’s practice, the people who suffer most from existential fear are self-employed: tradespeople, entrepreneurs and freelancers. During the coronavirus pandemic, she also saw more employees looking for help with it. Overall, the number of such clients in her practice increased at that time, and colleagues told her the same.
Sometimes there is a clear trigger: an employer announces restructuring or job cuts, or working hours are cut and nobody knows what comes next. During the pandemic, self-employed people who were no longer allowed to work were at particular risk.
But this fear can also appear without any trigger. People who tend toward pessimism, or who have less resilience, can develop fears about their future even when there is no objective reason to worry.
How existential fear shows up
The most common symptoms are inner restlessness and high emotional tension. This tension often lasts all day and makes people less resilient and more irritable.
Many cannot switch off in the evening and struggle with sleep. That can range from difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep to panic attacks at night, when people wake up in a cold sweat, with a racing heart, a tight chest or the feeling that a heavy stone is lying on them.
People in this situation also tend to brood. Their thoughts keep circling around the feared loss and everything that might follow, and these spirals disturb sleep even more.
If your fear is severe, if it lasts for weeks or if you have panic attacks, talk to a doctor or therapist. Hypnosis can be part of the help you get, but a professional assessment comes first.
What you can do right now
Dr. Vanheiden’s first piece of advice is simple: “You should focus on the solution and not on the fears.”
Break the loop. In the short term, it helps to step out of the situation and switch off. Self-hypnosis, meditation, exercise, time with friends or family and time in nature can clear your head and help you see the situation in proportion.
Practice mindfulness. “I advise my clients to practice mindfulness,” she says: focus on the here and now without judging, and accept what cannot be changed at the moment. It is a valuable tool for this kind of fear in particular.
Check the facts. If your fear is often unfounded, look at the real numbers: your job situation, your income, your sales. Dr. Vanheiden often meets clients whose jobs are secure and whose businesses are doing well, sometimes very well, and who are afraid all the same.
Build a cushion. If possible, set aside financial reserves that can carry you through difficult times. A plan B, an alternative or a contingency plan can also strengthen your sense of security.
How hypnosis for anxiety works at the root
Some fears do not respond to facts and good advice. That is because they are anchored in the subconscious, in networks of fear that the conscious mind can reach only with great effort, if at all. In hypnosis, these networks become accessible and can be changed.
Uncovering hypnosis goes to the source. Anxiety hypnotherapy can help resolve the fears themselves and work on the factors behind them. It can release negative beliefs and pessimistic thinking that go back to childhood, establish a sense of security in the subconscious and strengthen your resources, and with them your resilience.
In hypnosis, you can also build self-confidence, self-assurance and optimism on the level where they take hold. The goal is not to talk yourself into feeling safe. It is to feel safer from the inside.
About Dr. Manuela Vanheiden
Dr. Manuela Vanheiden is an OMNI hypnotherapist, trauma educator and trainer. When this interview first appeared, she had more than ten years of experience with hypnosis and hypnotherapy. Her background in neuroscience gives her a particular perspective on anxiety, depression and trauma. More at hypnosezimmer.de.
Your next step: if you want to help people with fears and anxiety, see Module 3: OMNI Hypnotherapist (online). Among other things, you learn methods for fears, phobias and panic attacks.
