Concept of Relaxation Techniques - Assignment Example

Medical treatment has become extremely expensive in the modern world. Nowadays, physicians do not have sufficient time in their busy schedules to devote to all their patients; they are there to prescribe the medical tests, diagnose the diseases and recommend the medicines. Unfortunately, the medical treatment is devoid of the human healing touch, which was so important is assuring the fast recovery of the patients. Due to the increasing expenses of medical science and the complications of the traditional methods of treatment, certain alternative ways of treatment have become popular in the recent times. These are grouped together as Complementary and Alternative Methods of Medical treatment. Examples of such alternative methods of medical treatment include Homeopathy, Relaxology, Osteopathy, Aromatherapy, Relaxation Techniques, Spiritual Healing, Herbal Treatment and so on. Results of medical research have shown that an increasing number of people across the world and trying to seek relief in these methods of treatment. Concept of Relaxation Techniques People belonging to the modern generation are used to leading very hectic and stressful lives. Stress becomes harmful when it assumes large proportions and interferes with the healthy equilibrium condition of the human nervous system. An imbalanced nervous system can brought back into a state of equilibrium with the help of relaxation techniques. Relaxation techniques include some specific exercises which helps to generate the “relaxation response”, a condition of deep serenity, which is exactly the opposite of the “stress response”. The relaxation response is actually “a mentally active process that leaves the body relaxed, calm and focused” (Robinson, Segal, Smith, 2011). It does not simply involve lying down, resting or sleeping. When the human nervous system is engulfed by stress, the body starts producing a variety of chemicals that endow the person with the ability to face a critical situation. The relaxation techniques reclaim the physical body and the mind from this heightened state to a condition of equilibrium (Robinson, Segal, Smith, 2011). The concept of the relaxation response had actually originated in the ancient times and has been in practice since then. “Transcendental meditation, yoga, tai chi, quigong, vipassana (a form of meditation practiced in Buddhism) are all traditional forms of relaxation methods which have been in vogue for over thousands of years. In 1929, Dr. Edmund Jackson published a book called “Progressive Relaxation” where he described a new theory of relaxation technique. The progressive relaxation treatment ensures the stretching of the muscle groups which helps to eradicate symptoms of anxiety and tension from the physical body. There have been a number of scientific researches undertaken through the decades which have confirmed the benefits of this technique. Herbert Benson, a doctor at the Harvard Medical School has popularized the form of relaxation response that is widely practiced around the world. In 1975, Dr. Benson published his path breaking book “Relaxation Response”, in which he elaborately described the stress-reduction process in the human body. The special mechanism lowers the body from its elevated level of stress and therefore decreases the associated blood pressure, relaxes the muscle tensions and controls the heartbeat. Dr. Benson’s efforts made people aware of the different methods of relaxation that can be practiced to combat high stress levels. In fact, a number of Relaxation Techniques, as they are prevalent today have been derived from the examples in the book. The best example in this respect, is the cue-controlled method of relaxation. It is evident from the above discussion that relaxation techniques consist of different methods which have originated at different points of time. However, they share many common features among themselves and thus are grouped under one single classification. (Musuante,2007, p.208; Linden, 1984, p.79). Treatment Sessions of Relaxation Techniques Patients suffering from different medical conditions like “nausea, headache, high blood pressure, fatigue, gastrointestinal problems” etc. choose to undergo treatment following the relaxation techniques. First, the patients are required to consult a doctor to ensure that these symptoms are not being caused by any underlying disease. Physicians consider the medical history of the patients and make them undergo elaborate physical examinations to ascertain the reasons behind the abnormal conditions. Even if the patients are diagnosed with a serious ailment, the doctors may still recommend certain relaxation techniques as a secondary treatment to the main medical management of the disease. Relaxation methods have proved to be helpful is relieving the pain associated with many serious ailments. A typical treatment session of relaxation techniques can last for any duration of time. It can take just a few minutes to even as long as an hour. Here, the patients are taught to practice a series of methods to calm their mental state. Usually, they are instructed to practice these techniques for 20-30 minutes, per day. As patients gain control over these methods, they are then taught to integrate the relaxation processes into their everyday activities. According to Dr. Herbert Benson, there are four elements that have been found to be common among all the relaxation techniques: 1. Serene and calm environment 2. Relaxed body position causing minimum tension to the muscles and the closing of eyes to avoid distraction 3. Avoiding interfering thoughts 4. Using a mental instrument like a certain groups of sounds or words, which are repeated regularly to channelize the mind away from the surrounding cues. (Anderson, 2004, 468-469). Types of Medical Conditions treated under Relaxation Techniques Relaxation techniques have been recommended by physicians to treat patients suffering from different types of diseases. These have included physical ailments as well as stress-related disorders. Anxiety: Patients suffering from phobias and forms of panic disorders are regularly advised to practice the methods of calming their minds. Persons undergoing a medical process often suffer from anxiety when they are advised to practice relaxation techniques to divert their minds away from the operation. Depression: The Relaxation Response has been used to treat patients suffering from depression. They have generated some positive results although not as much as the congnitive-behavioral theory has in case of this condition. Headache: Relaxation techniques have been very effective in reducing migraine-related headaches and relieving tension symptoms in patients. In certain cases, these methods were more useful than usual medicines in reducing the regularity and severity of headaches. Apart from these conditions, physicians have often prescribed certain relaxation techniques to treat the stress in patients suffering from other serious medical conditions. However, the effectiveness of the techniques in these cases, have still not been established emphatically. These medical symptoms include: Asthma: Patients suffering from asthma are taught to practice certain specific techniques like guided imagery. These methods have helped to improve the functioning of lungs and relieve the anxiety in such patients, thus providing them with a better quality of life. Relaxation techniques are also thought to improve the immune functions in asthmatic patients, although nothing has been confirmed in this respect. Heart Disease: Doctors have often recommended the practice of relaxation techniques to treat angina conditions (heart disease symptoms) in patients. In many cardiac rehabilitation programs, people detected with these symptoms are taught the techniques of relaxation responses. These responses have been found to be helpful in improving the medical condition of the patients by decreasing their blood pressure, reducing their lipid levels and improving their general psychological functioning. It is considered that regular practice of relaxation techniques together with changes in lifestyle and proper medical attention can prevent heart attacks from recurring in heart patients. However, it is difficult to state anything definite in this respect and more research will be required to prove this fact. High Blood Pressure: Relaxation techniques usually advocate the progressive relaxation of muscle groups in the human body which have been found to lower the level of blood pressure by a small amount. However, it is yet to be ascertained whether this was helpful in reducing the possibility of a heart attack, a cerebral stroke and other diseases caused by high blood pressure. In elderly people suffering from hypertension, the regular practice of relaxation responses for 8 continuous weeks was found to have decreased their systolic blood pressure. As a result, some patients from this group were able to reduce their intake of hypertension medicines without experiencing any increases in their level of pressure. Insomnia: Patients suffering from chronic insomnia who have difficulty getting to sleep at night have often been advised by their physicians to practice some relaxation techniques to alleviate their condition. The relaxation response helps in calming the mind and the internal anxieties and has generated positive results in reducing the insomnia symptoms in some patients. Irritable Bowel Syndrome: The methods of relaxation have also been used for the treatment of the irritable bowel syndrome in certain patients. Medical research has suggested that self-hypnosis might be helpful in treating this condition in patients and reduce the difficulties caused by this symptom. If patients can be taught the practice of self-hypnosis, this can prove to be effective in eradicating this displeasing ailment. (Stress and Relaxation Techniques, 2011) Evidence Reflecting the effectiveness of the Relaxation Techniques Medical researchers have undertaken numerous studies to determine the effectiveness of Relaxation Techniques in the treatment of the different medical conditions. These research evidence can be considered with respect to the various ailment symptoms. According to the findings of the medical studies, relaxation techniques have proved to be extremely effective in the treatment of persons suffering from conditions of anxiety, depression and chronic headaches. In the case of anxiety, various researches have confirmed the effectiveness of these techniques in treating patients suffering from phobias, panic disorders. Studies have also shown that these methods are also helpful in dealing with the anxiety of persons undergoing a medical procedure like a surgery. In fact, patients who have been regularly practicing techniques of relaxation before a major operation have been found to have had a faster recovery than those who have not been exposed to the benefits of these techniques. In the case of depression, a major research conducted in 2008 exhibited the usefulness of the relaxation response in the treatment of depression. The results of the research showed that it was always better to bring a patient of chronic depression under the treatment of relaxation techniques rather than just leaving him/her on the effect of medicines. When practiced regularly, these methods have found to produce some positive responses in case of such patients. However, the studies also revealed a limitation of these techniques: these methods were not as effective as the cognitive behavioral therapy in dealing with depression. In case of patients suffering from recurrent headaches caused by migraine, medical studies have revealed that certain relaxation methods like biofeedback have been effective in relieving the pain. In fact, according to certain studies the techniques of relaxation were more useful than medicines in providing some degree of relief to the patients. (Stress and Relaxation Techniques, 2011) According to the medical researches, the relaxation responses have been comparatively less effective in dealing with symptoms of serious physical ailments. The studies which have been conducted in this field have generated unclear results. It is a general consensus in the medical field, that further research is required in this area before any conclusive opinion can be formed. In case of asthma, the accounts of certain specialists have revealed that relaxation techniques may provide some temporary relief to the patients. They have specified certain techniques like guided imagery which have achieved some success in improving the condition of the asthma patients. Recently, researchers have implemented a randomized clinical trial on asthma patients which exhibited positive results in the case of improving the immune function of the patients. However, researchers themselves suggest that more studies are required to reach a definite conclusion in this area. For patients inflicted with cardio-vascular disease and those suffering from symptoms of angina, researchers have found that relaxation techniques have helped to improve their overall health condition. Studies have been conducted on patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation programs because these programs teach the patients some relaxation techniques as a form of secondary treatment to that of medicines. Although, majority of the findings of the studies have mostly generated positive results, medical specialists agree in declaring that more conclusive results are needed to prove the usefulness of relaxation techniques in this domain. In 2008, a team of researchers conducted a study on hypertensive patients who were undergoing instructions in the relaxation responses. The study found that after practicing the techniques of relaxation the blood pressure levels of the patients had reduced by a small degree. However, the extent of reduction was so meager, that the researchers were not sure whether it was sufficient to reduce the possibility of heart attacks, cerebral strokes and other related ailments in the patients. After this study, recently researchers had implemented a randomized controlled trial of the relaxation techniques on another group of persons suffering from symptoms of high blood pressure. The results of this study have also generated positive results: the patients showed a decrease in their blood pressure levels and were also able to reduce their regular intake of medicines without deteriorating their health. Moving on, there is limited information about the usefulness of relaxation techniques in the treatment of patients suffering from symptoms of insomnia. However, the studies which have been undertaken in this field have underlined the positive effects of the relaxation response in dealing with insomnia. Medical research has further exhibited that these methods of relaxation have achieved some success in the treating patients experiencing the irritable bowel syndrome. It is evident from the above discussion that there is considerable evidence in the medical world to suggest that relaxation techniques have contributed significantly in the treatment of a variety of medical conditions (Stress and Relaxation Techniques, 2011). Conclusion The paper has tried to exhibit the positive effects of relaxation techniques as a successful example of complementary and alternative medical treatment method. There are a various number of techniques included in this broad classification which have originated at different points of time in history. Since these methods have a lot of common features among themselves they have been classified under this head. There have been numerous medical studies and researches which have exhibited the effectiveness of the relaxation techniques in treating patients suffering from mental as well as serious physical ailments. References 1. Chandra, A. (2001) Relaxation Techniques, India, Pustak Mahal 2. Feursten, G, Payne, L. (2010) Yoga for Dummies, USA, Wiley Publishing 3. Lazarus, J. (2000), Stress Relief and Relaxation Techniques, USA, Contemporary Publishing Group 4. Linden, W. (1984) Psychological Perspective of Essential Hypertension, Switzerland, Karger 5. Martha, D. (2001) The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook, USA, Accessible Publishing Systems 6. Musuante, G.J, (2007), The Structure House Weight Loss Plan, New York, Fireside 7. Payne, S.A, Bellamy, K. (2005) Relaxation Techniques; a practical handbook, USA, Elsevier Churchill Livingstone 8. Robinson, S., Segal, R., Segal, J., Smith, M. (2011), Relaxation Techniques for Stress Relief, Helpguide, available at http://helpguide.org/mental/stress_relief_meditation_yoga_relaxation.htm 9. Select Committee on Science and Technology, Sixth Report (2000), Parliament available at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldselect/ldsctech/123/12303.htm#a2 10. Stress and Relaxation Techniques (2011). NCCAM clinicaldigest available at http://nccam.nih.gov/health/providers/digest/relaxation-science.htm Read More