Note to self…never test the psychotic side effects of medication and try hypnosis at the same time.

This week, in an attempt to keep our malaria medication costs down, we have been trying a ‘loading dose’ of Mefloquin to see if we would suffer the psychotic side effects. Side effects include (but are not limited to) bad dreams, anxiety, headaches, suicidal ideation and hallucinations. Fun eh?

One has to wonder that, if both of us are on the medication, how will either of us know if the other is going crazy!? So, of course, all week we’ve been bantering back and forth accusing each other of crazy talk and then assuring each other that, no, we are not crazy.

To add to this I had a consultation visit with a hypno-therapist to help me deal with my fear of flying.

I’ve had a fear of flying (and other transportation) for years, and it seems it’s getting worse as I get older. As our departure date gets closer I am determined to overcome it and not have it harangue me for the next year. And so, after hearing from a coworker how well hypnosis works, I decided to give it a try.

And that’s how I found myself sitting in a hypnotherapists office listening to him explain how hypnosis and the theory of quantum mechanics go hand in hand… how we are all an illusion…and that it is just our ‘consciousness’ that creates our reality.

Yeah, I know…kook-a-lukey! But, although it was one of the strangest situations I’ve ever found myself in, I truly believe that this man can erase the fear from my subconscious and I will be free.

During the consultation he explained to me the process that we will go through during the actual hypnotherapy session –  I swear he put me in a hypnotic trance right then! I had the weirdest, indescribable feeling come over me and I sat there thinking that somehow he was in my head and could read my thoughts! Yeah, I know…kook-a-lukey!

Remembering the stage hypnosis shows I’ve seen that have the participants believing they are glued to their seats, I made sure to shift around in my seat to make sure I could still move. I could, and the weird sensation slowly disappeared. We finished up, said our goodbyes, and I left – only imagining how the actual session could possibly top that.

And so I am left, trying to sleep, waking up every few hours to check if I’m having any bad dreams, then wondering if I am crazy and telling myself that there is no man in my head. Yeah, I know…kook-a-lukey.

I’ll let you know how it goes.