Tapping?

I'm not really sure where this would go.  Move it if need be.

I was wondering if anyone here has heard of or uses tapping/Emotional Freedom Technique.  DH gets panic attacks about every month or so and was prescribed diazepam, but he hates taking it.  I was looking up different techniques for dealing with anxiety/panic attacks, etc and came across this tapping technique.  A lot of people who'd struggled with anxiety and panic attacks used tapping and had great things to say about it.  I saw there was a youtube video demonstrating the technique, watched it and tried it out.  After like 10 minutes of watching it, I felt really good!!  And I tend to be on the skeptical side of things like this.  Anyway, I'm thinking of letting DH know about it, but I wanted to see if anyone else had anything to say about it on here.

There's a website with a bunch of info and videos if you're wanting to check it out. www.tapping.com.

Not exactly connected with tapping, but still - my partner, who is a pharmacist, sometimes gets panic/anxiety attacks, and she is completely against taking drugs for this (she says she's seen too much of what they can do, especially diazepam) but she swears by something called Bach's Rescue Remedy, made from flowers. You put a drop on your tongue to calm and centre yourself.

Not exactly connected with tapping, but still - my partner, who is a pharmacist, sometimes gets panic/anxiety attacks, and she is completely against taking drugs for this (she says she's seen too much of what they can do, especially diazepam) but she swears by something called Bach's Rescue Remedy, made from flowers. You put a drop on your tongue to calm and centre yourself.

Looks like I'll be making a trip to Holland and Barrett today.  Bach's Rescue Remedy is another thing I came across a lot when researching.

I really don't like the idea of taking drugs as well for stress/anxiety either.  Not just for the side effects and mechanism but because it's usually just hiding the root of the problem, like many pharmaceutical drugs. 

She uses Rescue Remedy before going to the dentist and before events like exams. She also found that homeopathic treatment got her blood pressure right down (too low, at first!) when she was faced with the possibility of having to use beta blockers. Again, she's seen what they do. I don't know where you live, but in Bristol there is actually an NHS Homeopathic Hospital. Finding a good practitioner is important.

Looks like I'll be making a trip to Holland and Barrett today.  Bach's Rescue Remedy is another thing I came across a lot when researching.

I really don't like the idea of taking drugs as well for stress/anxiety either.  Not just for the side effects and mechanism but because it's usually just hiding the root of the problem, like many pharmaceutical drugs. 

Erm, herbal remedies are drugs.

Erm, herbal remedies are drugs.

But not pharmaceutical drugs. Which is the point.

Many pharms are plant based and what is the difference between taking a plant based drug or a pharm based one in thsie case?  And how are plant based ones any different really?  They are mass produced in a factory by people, they are refined and reduced and things are added to make them to be digestible.  Pharm based ones are actually tested to be sure they work.


How is the plant based addressing the problem as opposed to the pharm one which is merely hiding the root of the problem?

I am not saying that plant based drugs do or do not work for certain issues, just that simply because they are plant based doesn't mean they are effective, or safe in some cases.

You could always approach a GP for a referral for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Apparently it's quite effective for anxiety/phobias/etc.

Many pharms are plant based and what is the difference between taking a plant based drug or a pharm based one in thsie case?  And how are plant based ones any different really?  They are mass produced in a factory by people, they are refined and reduced and things are added to make them to be digestible.  Pharm based ones are actually tested to be sure they work.


How is the plant based addressing the problem as opposed to the pharm one which is merely hiding the root of the problem?

I am not saying that plant based drugs do or do not work for certain issues, just that simply because they are plant based doesn't mean they are effective, or safe in some cases.

Well, I have to agree. There are a lot of problems with people taking stuff like St John's Wort, for example, thinking that because it doesn't come in a pack with Ciba or Schering on it, that it is therefore "natural" and innocuous. However there can be nasty or unhelpful interactions with other medications, including oral contraception, antidepressants and migraine treatments, and the doses are not exactly standardised. People with HIV should not take it. Also certain Chinese herbal medicines are a worry: substandard herbs, unregulated ingredients and unproven methods of diagnosis are potentially dangerous. Even common English hedgerow plants can be hazardous.

However, the stuff I was talking about, Bach's Rescue Remedy, is really little more than a placebo (not that I intend that to be a criticism - the whole area of placebos and homeopathy is an interesting part of complementary therapy).

Bottom line, I think, is that people who have any condition, emotional or physical, that they feel needs medication should seek qualified professional advice.

However, the stuff I was talking about, Bach's Rescue Remedy, is really little more than a placebo (not that I intend that to be a criticism - the whole area of placebos and homeopathy is an interesting part of complementary therapy).

I was actually going to say much the same thing about Bach's Rescue Remedy. I don't suffer from anything serious like anxiety, but I often use Bach's if I have a job interview or am traveling, etc. And while I'm not entirely convinced it's anything other than psychological, it does seem to have a bit of an effect, though not a dramatic one. However, I'm not sure it would work on someone with a real behavioural health diagnosis.

So I guess something I really meant to write (but didn't because I have this thing where I think people can read my mind.  Sorry, DH gets frustrated too.  It's a bad, bad habit) was that I don't agree with pharmaceutical drugs being prescribed without counseling, which, much of the time, they are.  Being bi-polar I've had a wide rang of drugs thrown at me and they've never worked without really addressing the original problem with therapy (or whatever other method is suggested) which is why I originally mentioned tapping.  It claims to help eliminate negative feelings as they're coming as opposed to just masking them.  Though I do believe that drugs can be effective with proper counseling, when they're given alone to someone, they just mask the real issue, and that's what DHs GP has done.

And, yes, many pharmaceuticals are plant-based, but most of them are not naturally occurring substances (there's almost always a little tweak which really can make a huge difference), and are typically in very large concentrations, really more than the body needs.

Anyway, back to tapping, if anyone has any opinion on tapping, I'd love to hear it.  One thing I am a bit worried about though is that DHs panic attacks come out of no where, even if there's no apparent issue.  So he's taking little things that would be a non-issue for most and possibly subconsciously blowing them out of proportion which is kind of scary.  He went to his GP here and they didn't even suggest therapy or anything just "here, take these when you're feeling an attack coming." 

AnneR, I'll look into this.  Really what happens in the immediate future depends on what DHs GP will refer him to.

Not sure what the situation is south of here, but in Weston, the one person at the mental health trust who was doing CBT is leaving.

I had a referral from within the mental health trust (as opposed to from a GP) for CBT and a few months later got a letter from that person saying that they were leaving and until a replacement had been found, they wouldn't be doing CBT for new patients (or something like that).

I still get seen there very regularly, which is cool, and mostly just checking on how I'm doing and fiddling with some medication things. Luckily, it's in a nice new building that's a 20-minute walk from my house, and near the Morrisons I don't get to go to otherwise.

From the website:

Before you read this, realise that you don't need to know precisely how Tapping works. If you try it, and watch your body and mind carefully to see what happens, you will realise that it does.

You just have a set of beliefs that say you need to fully understand something before you can use it! So you could try tapping those beliefs, because they probably hold you back in other areas.

You will still be left with unanswered questions after reading this explanation. My suggestion is that you experiment with Tapping and find your own answers. You don't really know how electricity works - no-one really does! But you still switch on a light, and you still cook your dinner with it. It's really true, even the most knowledgeable scientists don't know precisely how electricity works.

 


So...

I don't have to understand how tapping works, and you don't have to explain it to me, I just have to BELIEVE.

And by the way, people do understand how electricity works. They are called PHYSICISTS.

Rhonda from Rhode Island
"It took only ONE 40 min. tapping session with your self-acceptance video to lift an unbearable pain I thought I'd have to live with for life."

By the way, I have had many years of CBT.  It works but it takes time.

Sorry, sounds like snake oil to me.

You don't really know how electricity works - no-one really does! But you still switch on a light, and you still cook your dinner with it. It's really true, even the most knowledgeable scientists don't know precisely how electricity works.

Yes they do. Volta, Ampère, Ohm, Faraday, Tesla, Clerk Maxwell, check 'em out. How do you think power plants and electrical distribution systems could be designed, built and operated if people didn't understand pretty well "how electricity works"?

Agreed, Sweetpeach. But whatever floats your boat. Some people think homeopathy is snake oil, but it got my partner's blood pressure down from 140/105 to 120/80

I was a little concerned that they're so vague about how it works.  The way they describe it makes me think if I really believed that chocolate would solve all my problems that it actually would!  That would be fabulous! 

Most often people don't even understand how drugs work.  They just take them as ordered, but at least there is information out there for people like me who are obsessed with pharmacodynamics. Whereas the tapping site doesn't even attempt to even describe it.