Relaxation Therapy for Psychological Disorders

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Learn about Relaxation Therapy and whether it's really helpful for anxiety, stress, depression, OCD, PTSD, insomnia, fibromyalgia and chronic pain.

Before engaging in any complementary medical technique, you should be aware that many of these techniques have not been evaluated in scientific studies. Often, only limited information is available about their safety and effectiveness. Each state and each discipline has its own rules about whether practitioners are required to be professionally licensed. If you plan to visit a practitioner, it is recommended that you choose one who is licensed by a recognized national organization and who abides by the organization's standards. It is always best to speak with your primary health care provider before starting any new therapeutic technique.

Background

Numerous relaxation techniques and behavioral therapeutic approaches exist, with a range of philosophies and styles of practice. Most techniques involve repetition (of a specific word, sound, prayer, phrase, body sensation or muscular activity) and encourage a passive attitude toward intruding thoughts.

Methods may be deep or brief:

Deep relaxation methods include autogenic training, meditation and progressive muscle relaxation.
Brief relaxation methods include self-controlled relaxation, paced respiration and deep breathing.

Other related techniques include guided imagery, passive muscle relaxation and refocusing. Applied relaxation often involves imagining situations to cause muscular and mental relaxation. Progressive muscle relaxation aims to teach people what it feels like to relax by comparing relaxation with muscle tension.

Relaxation techniques are taught by many types of health care professionals, including complementary practitioners, medical doctors, psychotherapists, hypnotherapists, nurses or sports therapists. There is no formal credentialing for relaxation therapy. Books, audiotapes or videotapes are sometimes used as teaching tools.

Theory

During stressful situations, the sympathetic nervous system increases activity, leading to the "fight-or-flight" response. Heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, blood supply to the muscles and dilation of the pupils often increase. It has been suggested that chronic stress may lead to negative effects on health such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, upset stomach or gastrointestinal distress, and weakening of the immune system.

Harvard professor and cardiologist Herbert Benson, M.D., coined the term the "Relaxation Response" in the early 1970s to describe a state of the body that is the opposite of the stress response. The Relaxation Response is proposed to have the opposite effects of the stress response, including reduced sympathetic nervous system tone, increased parasympathetic activity, decreased metabolism, decreased blood pressure, decreased oxygen consumption and decreased heart rate. It is theorized that relaxation may counteract some of the negative long-term effects of chronic stress. Proposed relaxation techniques include massage, deep meditation, mind/body interaction, music- or sound-induced relaxation, mental imagery, biofeedback, desensitization, cognitive restructuring and adaptive self-statements. Rhythmic, deep, visualized or diaphragmatic breathing may be used.

One type of relaxation called Jacobson muscle relaxation, or progressive relaxation, involves flexing specific muscles, holding the tension and then relaxing. The technique involves progressing through muscle groups one at a time, beginning with the feet, up to the head, spending about one minute on each area. Progressive relaxation may be practiced while lying down or sitting. This technique has been proposed for psychosomatic disorders (those originating in the mind), pain relief and anxiety. The Laura Mitchell approach involves reciprocal relaxation, moving a part of the body in a direction opposite of an area of tension and then letting it go.