Here is an answer, one page or less, to a common question in NLP since as you probably know that we teach NLP Coaching Certification Trainings.
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The question we want to consider in this article is, “Can NLP help depression?” The answer is, “Yes!” Of course, that answer would have to be qualified. In the same way, “Can vigorous physical exercise help depression?” Again, “Yes!”
Here is another question, can drugs, specifically cannabis help depression? I think the answer would have to be, “Yes”. Here is a quote from the prestigious Mayo Clinic:
“Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most commonly prescribed antidepressants. They can ease symptoms [emphasis added] of moderate to severe depression, are relatively safe and generally cause fewer side effects than other types of antidepressants do.”
Note that it says “ease symptoms” not “cure” – this is one of the “side-effects” (pun intended) of NLP – we learn to pay attention to the language and the words used. Well, before I answer the question “Can NLP help depression?” first I think we need to say, that this information is not meant to be a replacement for medical advice. Do not change your dosage (if you are taking an antidepressant) without consulting your Medical Doctor.
Now, the statistics:
The National Institute of Mental Health says Testo Fuel results showed that less than half of patients become symptom-free on antidepressants, even if they tried two different medications. The article also states that with many patients who respond, the depression often returns in spite of sticking with the treatment.
This is significant.
There are other studies that show that the benefits of depression medication have been exaggerated, with some researchers stating that when it comes to mild to moderate depression ”antidepressants are only slightly more effective than placebos.
Here is another quote from Psychology Today:
“One problem is that no one is quite sure what causes depression. Everyone knows, or will likely know one day, what it feels like to be depressed. This is why depression is often referred to as “the common cold of mental illness.” “
So (1) depression is not cured but managed and (2) no one is quite sure what causes depression. But think now, what would happen if together we could get rid of all of the depression from your past, using Time Line Therapy™ techniques? Just eliminated it? Made it disappear! Would that make a difference? You bet it would: Done, finished, terminated – gone.
Based on our 30 + years of experience doing our trainings we noticed that – based on their own feedback – our students discover that what they learn in our NLP Practitioner and Master Practitioner and especially the information and the techniques acquired during the Time Line Therapy® section, makes the symptomology of depression disappear. They don’t feel it anymore. They say it’s gone.
Is the depression cured? Of course only your medical practitioner can tell you that, however the feedback we receive training after training is that ” well it’s gone!
That having been said, NLP and especially Time Line Therapy® techniques are very effective at eliminating symptoms of depression. Of course it is best to do Time Line Therapy® techniques with someone who is trained at the highest level of competency or even better take a training and learn the techniques yourself so you’re not dependent on anybody else in the future.
If you want to discover how this works, contact the office nearest you, and set up an appointment to find out together if NLP has anything that works for Depression. I assure you it does.
9 Comments
Brett
I wonder in some cases if the Internal Rep for depression comes first or the chemical imbalance? I would have thought the I.R. comes first for the chemical response to occur??? Could it go either way???
Adriana
Hmmmm…. Which one was first the chicken or the egg? The IR (as in the internal representation) with its set of submodalities is related to the conflict event, or the significant emotional event (SEE). That much we can say. But what if depression is a hormonal imbalance? Or thyroid deficiency? Or adrenal fatigue? These modify the “chemical” background and then the mind creates IRs… So you have the IRs but they do not precede depression… or do they?
Brett
Yup! I thought as much as values and environmental factors, such as chemical influence, and then depression could precede the I.R. BUT…. with investigation into individual cases concerned, anything is possible.
This is why i find it’s so important to consider environmental factors that can and may be influencing the client such as vitamin and mineral deficiencies as well as toxins being present in the body.
Maybe it’s not a matter of me thinking which came first, the I.R. or the depression, maybe it’s a greater matter of me thinking what it would be like for the client to be free of depression and pay attention to that I.R. once I understand how the client is doing the depression?
Either way I think it’s very important to pay attention and ask as many questions as we can 🙂
Sophie
I used to work in the field of Health and am alarmed with the rate at which Medical Doctor’s are diagnosing people with Depression over the last 15 years. Depression in the Indigenous Australian communities are at a higher rate than ever due to many modern day factors.
It can be difficult to introduce such powerful techniques due to cultural and family constraints that seem to be opening up to these new channels of change.
The biggest step can be in the education of alternatives such as Time Line Therapy® techniques and getting them in the door.
Adriana
I guess the problem you describe could also be attributed to a conflict in values levels (thus in modes of thinking). We recently visited a country in Latin America. If you try to talk to people there about NLP or Time Line Therapy® you get a blank stare and soon you realize that there is no comprehension of why this would be important. Beer? Yes – important. Free lunch – yes important! A better car? Important. Mind stuff…huh? As you remember from the values levels series, this is not a matter of intelligence. These people are sharp and capable – but it is NOT IMPORTANT TO THEM – not part of their values. Now you can make a parallel with what you describe. Maybe it is a similar situation.
Delilah
I have seen individuals who have never had any history of depression develop “major depressive disorder” after one or a series of S.E.E.’s back to back. It’s a blessing that we have Time Line Therapy! it’s an exceptionally powerful tool to eliminate symptoms of depression.
Brett
It’s an amazing tool that’s for sure Delilah. Have you worked with anyone for depression using these techniques yet?
🙂
Katt Tiley
I used to suffer from depression, years ago, for which I was on a variety of antidepressants for about four years after my Mom died in 2000. When I took the first medication, I felt the effects after about four days, thinking, This must be what it is like for normal people.” So I stayed on them for the next four years.
At the end of that four-year time, I could not afford the Rx, so I prayed about it, decided to wean myself off the meds, and did so successfully. My head cleared up. I could think again, and it was then that I realized, for me, that I *learned* this behavior from my Mom, and that I was not a depressed person. I also belonged to a few gastric bypass on-line support groups, where I read post after post about the antidepressant cocktails that their doctors prescribed, because they were depressed. Still. After losing all their weight. I was appalled.
So all that being said, in my case, the depression I lived with for so many years was, I think, more of a learned trait. Don’t get me wrong – I was depressed after my Mom died. It’s just that I had believed that I would be on antidepressants for the rest of my life, which is not true.
I am thankful!
NLP NEWSLETTER | ISSUE 233
[…] Can NLP Help Depression – Have you or someone you know ever experienced depression? Many of us would answer yes here. Many may also answer yes to experiencing different ‘treatments’ in order to stop experiencing that depression, including a medication based approach. So here is another question, are these ‘treatments’ producing the desired result? Which perhaps for most people would be for it to be gone for good! And what if there was a technique out there that has produced this result for people time and time again? This weeks first article is by Dr. Tad James where he discusses just that! […]