Relax Visualization

For centuries, people in the community and those who are working in the health care system have been employing relax visualization or medically termed as “Imagery” in the relief of both physiological and psychological disorders. This method has been effective in its purpose to assuage pain and decrease anxiety levels.

It is best defined as the construction of mental illustrations of an object, place, event, or situation that is perceived through the senses. Although most people have known this intervention as visualization, its other name (imagery), however, is more appropriate to use, since it does not only utilizes a single sense, but multiple of sense in forming an image that could provide relief to the patient.

Reduction of stress is the foremost scientific basis for the uses relax visualization and research works have elucidated that this type of therapy can alleviate pain perception by altering and improving psychoimmune interactions, thus giving relief to a person’s psychological and physiological inconveniences.

Here is a summary of conditions in which imagery is indicated:

• Pain reduction, such as for those who have undergone surgery or those who are suffering acute and chronic pain like bone pains and cancer pains.
  
• Reduction of nausea and vomiting, especially among pregnant women, who are experiencing morning sickness during the first and second trimester of pregnancy, as well as those who are suffering from eating disorders that are psychological in nature, like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
  
• Decreasing anxiety, whether mild, moderate, or panic anxiety; such as in persons who will undergo a certain operation, or for those who have experienced physical and psychological trauma.
  
• Promoting comfort during treatment of cancer, or for those who are undergoing chemotherapy in which a person is frightened, disturbed, or has a difficulty falling asleep.
  

There are many techniques that can be utilized to aid individuals to use their senses in forming images. In relax visualization, the client is given images or stimulated by the health care professional, family member, friend, or with the use of a tape. He is then asked to calm down.

When the client have showed relaxation signs, such as slower respiratory rate and unperturbed muscles, the person initiating the process should give more concise suggestions for imagery, such that the client may be asked to choose a place where he enjoys, and to imagine the sights, tastes, smells, and feelings associated with the place. In the process itself, the person is reminded that once he leaves the place, he can return to it at any time he wants (especially if the depicted image of the place has provided him relief). The entire process will ideally lasts for 15 to 20 minutes, but time allotment for a certain session can vary.

The use of relax visualization has a few risks, such as it is not indicated for patients who have been diagnosed of schizophrenia and other mental disorders that precipitates symptoms of hallucinations, delusions or illusions, because it can worsen the client’s condition. The intervention is stopped at once when the patient experiences difficulty in breathing while the entire process takes place.

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