If a patient knows he has a secret weapon in his mind, as it were, which can enable him to let ordinary worries and anxieties of life bounce off him like water off a duck s back then tremendous confidence in himself is developed. It is impossible to avoid situations which could cause worry and anxiety in modern life, but It is possible by hypnotism to make sure that they cannot upset the nervous system and so indirectly cause stress diseases. It is not necessary to change a patient s business or double his income in order to cure his duodenal ulcer. Such methods, besides being completely impracticable, savour too much of the defeatist attitude shown by people who, for instance, give a baby a dummy to suck to keep it quiet . We cannot all go through life wrapped up in cotton wool.
Few people escape worries and anxieties under conditions of modern civilization.
Many, however, manage to survive very well without developing stress diseases, because they take the right attitude towards their worries and troubles. Those who are unable to adopt this attitude naturally can be taught to do so by hypnosis.