Geopolitical tensions are increasing, and with them the need to strengthen our military and veteran care. While Defense is forging plans with mental health institutions for scaling up in times of crisis, a glaring reality remains: the current, often months-long, waiting lists for mental health help.
This raises a crucial question: how can we apply innovation in veteran care to shorten already existing waiting lists so that no one suffers unnecessarily?
The thought that thousands of military personnel and veterans have been waiting a year for much-needed mental health care as we prepare for an increase is painful. It is a paradox that calls for creative solutions.
This blog article explores the potential of hypnotherapy for veterans.
We dive into their effectiveness, acceptance within mainstream care, and concrete opportunities for implementation. For healthcare professionals, policymakers and veterans open to new perspectives, this offers a glimpse of hope and pragmatic ways forward.
Waiting lists in veteran care
The Dutch veteran community has been struggling with significant mental health challenges for years. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, depression and other trauma-related symptoms are unfortunately no exception.
Regular Mental Health Services (GGZ) is the cornerstone of treatment, but the current infrastructure cannot handle the demand. Waiting times are mounting, sometimes up to a year or more, resulting in a vicious cycle of deterioration and despair.
This situation is made even more complex by recent discussions about scaling up healthcare capacity for military scenarios. How to anticipate future needs when current ones are already unmet?
It is essential to shorten the waiting list in caring for veterans, not only out of compassion, but also to ensure the resilience of our society. These long wait times mean not only personal suffering, but also a societal cost through attrition and reduced participation.
We need to look beyond the standard paths.
Alternatives and complementary therapies
Alternative and complementary therapies include many approaches that go beyond traditional talk therapies and medication. They often focus on activating internal resources, processing trauma through nonverbal methods, or offering a holistic view of well-being.
This is not a replacement for regular care, but a complement that can accelerate, deepen or broaden the recovery process.
Examples of such methods include:
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): Already fairly well established, but can be used even more widely.
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR): Aimed at reducing stress and increasing self-awareness.
- Body-oriented therapies: Such as somatic experiential therapy or trauma-informed yoga, which focus on the physical manifestation of trauma.
- Virtual Reality (VR) therapy: Increasingly used for exposure therapy for specific phobias or PTSD.
- Hypnotherapy: A method that is the focus of this article, aimed at harnessing the power of the subconscious mind.
These complementary treatments are gaining ground due to growing scientific evidence and positive patient experiences. They offer potential to relieve mental health care capacity through faster results, shorter treatment times or addressing clients who are less responsive to traditional therapies.
Hypnotherapy for veterans
Hypnotherapy is a promising form of psychotherapy. It is a therapeutic approach that uses a state of deep relaxation and heightened concentration: the hypnotic trance.
In this state, the subconscious mind is more receptive to suggestions aimed at positive behavior change, trauma processing and symptom relief.
For veterans with PTSD, chronic pain, anxiety disorders or sleep problems , hypnotherapy can offer several benefits:
- Direct approach to trauma: Hypnotherapy can help process traumatic memories by reducing their emotional charge, without necessarily reliving the traumatic event in detail.
- Pain management: It can affect the perception of chronic pain, which is a major secondary complaint in many veterans.
- Anxiety and stress reduction: Working on the underlying causes of anxiety and learning relaxation techniques can help reduce anxiety attacks and general stress.
- Improved sleep: Many veterans suffer from sleep problems; hypnotherapy can help restore a healthy sleep pattern.
Although research specifically on hypnotherapy in mental health care for Dutch veterans is still limited, international studies show its effectiveness in treating PTSD and related disorders.
A 2016 meta-study shows that hypnotherapy helps against PTSD and the effects are also quite large[1].
A 2006 study that specifically examined whether hypnotherapy helps veterans also shows it helps against chronic PTSD, improving sleep and reducing depressive symptoms. Here, hypnotherapy helped significantly reduce symptoms. This was even compared to the effect of zoldipem[2]. The effect of zoldipem on PTSD was not named, so it will not have been significant.
A dissertation also compared hypnotherapy for veterans with hypnotherapy for "normal" civilians. From this it was concluded that hypnotherapy specifically for veterans may work even better than for normal citizens because they respond to authority and schema[3].
Other researchers also indicate that alternative therapies, such as hypnotherapy, may certainly be explored and used to reduce PTSD symptoms in veterans[4].
So the potential is already scientifically proven to be reasonable.
Potential of hypnotherapy
The integration of therapies such as hypnotherapy into mainstream veteran care offers tremendous potential, namely:
- Faster results: For some clients and conditions, hypnotherapy can lead to faster improvement, allowing other people on the waiting list to get to it faster.
- Accessibility: Online hypnotherapy sessions can lower barriers for veterans who live far away or have difficulty with physical appointments.
- Cost savings: Shorter, more intensive courses lead to lower healthcare costs.
- Wider reach: It can appeal to veterans who are reluctant to use traditional talk therapy or who previously did not benefit from other methods.
- Increasing capacity: Qualified hypnotherapists can be a valuable addition to the existing mental health workforce.
This innovation in mental health care requires an open mind, focusing on what works and how to incorporate it in a safe and effective way.
Hypnosis as part of the solution
The long waiting lists for psychological help are an urgent and unacceptable problem within the Dutch veteran care system. While preparing for future scenarios, we cannot ignore the current need. The search for efficient and effective solutions is more important than ever.
Hypnotherapy, offers a promising route to alleviate current capacity problems. These methods can not only reduce wait times, but also provide new treatment options for veterans who may not benefit as much from standard therapies.
It requires an open, scientific and pragmatic approach from policymakers, healthcare professionals and the veteran community itself. Through collaboration, quality assurance and ongoing research, we can create a future where every veteran receives the timely care they deserve. It is time to push the boundaries of mental health care and invest in the well-being of our military and veterans.
Help with helping veterans
Are you already a professional helping veterans, and want to be able to do this even better? Then knowledge of hypnosis is indispensable. Come to a free master class for an introduction.
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