Recovered from Three Chronic Conditions: 20 Years of Depression, High Blood Pressure, and Osteoarthritis

Mr. Vu Van An attended the "Igniting a New Vitality" course after suffering for many years from multiple concurrent health issues: depression lasting nearly 20 years, severe stress, high blood pressure, and neck pain due to cervical spondylosis. According to his sharing, after just 3 days of attending the course, he felt as if his body had a "miracle medicine cabinet" that could support him more promptly and accurately in self-regulating his health.

Before the course, his depression had lasted nearly two decades. He described his condition as very severe, with constant mental tension, prolonged stress, a heavy body, and his family also greatly affected by his health state. After the course, he shared that he felt lighter, more at ease, and more comfortable; when he returned home, his wife, children, and grandchildren all noticed that he was happier, more energetic, and more pleasant than before.

Prolonged depression and an overloaded nervous system

Depression is not just ordinary sadness. According to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, depression can severely affect emotions, thoughts, sleep, eating, and daily work ability; the disorder is often related to multiple factors such as biology, genetics, environment, and psychology. (NIMH) [https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression]

When a person lives with depression for many years, the nervous system is often in a state of overload. Patients may lose interest, experience prolonged fatigue, have difficulty sleeping, suffer from reduced concentration, become easily irritable, feel hopeless, or lose motivation for life. Chronic stress can also activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, increasing stress hormones such as cortisol and affecting blood pressure, sleep, immunity, digestion, and pain perception.

Therefore, when Mr. An says that after 3 days he felt lighter, happier, and more comfortable, this can be understood as a significant change in his neural-emotional state. Methods such as self-hypnosis, deep relaxation, EFT, slow breathing, positive suggestion, and emotion regulation practice can help some people reduce stress activation, shifting the body from a vigilant state to a recovery state.

Blood pressure more stable after practice

In addition to depression, Mr. An also shared that he had suffered from high blood pressure for a long time. Before the course, he had used many medications and had also practiced meditation, yoga, health cultivation, and qigong, but had not achieved the desired results. After the course, he stated that his blood pressure stabilized at around 125/80 mmHg, with a heart rate of about 65–70 beats per minute, and his body felt lighter.

Blood pressure is directly influenced by the autonomic nervous system. When stressed, anxious, or sleep-deprived, the sympathetic nervous system becomes more active, the heart beats faster, blood vessels constrict, and blood pressure may rise. Conversely, when the body relaxes, breathing slows, heart rate calms, and the parasympathetic system increases its activity, blood pressure may stabilize.

However, hypertension remains a medical condition requiring monitoring. Cardiovascular organizations recommend blood pressure control through a combination of medication when indicated, salt reduction, maintaining appropriate weight, physical activity, adequate sleep, reducing alcohol, quitting smoking, and stress management. The DASH diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, low-fat dairy, and limited in sugar, red meat, and saturated fat, has been studied and recognized to help lower blood pressure in people with hypertension. (Wikipedia) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DASH_diet]

Cervical spondylosis and improved pain

The third issue Mr. An mentioned was joint degeneration, particularly in his neck. He said that he had X-rays taken at Viet-Xo Hospital and was diagnosed with degeneration of 6 cervical vertebrae. Before the course, his neck was so painful that he could hardly turn it, making him pessimistic. After practicing the methods in the course, he felt that he could turn his neck back and forth easily, with no pain as before, and his body felt comfortable and pleasant.

Cervical spondylosis is a common condition with increasing age, involving changes in the intervertebral discs, joints, ligaments, and surrounding spinal tissues. However, the degree of pain does not always correspond completely to the imaging findings. A significant portion of chronic neck pain may be related to muscle tension, posture, stress, sleep deprivation, fear of movement, and nervous system sensitization.

In chronic pain, the brain not only receives signals from the painful area but also interprets those signals based on emotion, pain memory, fear, and the body's sense of safety. When patients are guided into deep relaxation, reduced fear, regulated breathing, shifted attention, and positive suggestion, the nervous system may reduce its amplification of pain. Therefore, pain perception and range of motion may improve quickly in some individuals, even though structural degenerative changes do not disappear immediately.

Why can three issues improve together?

Depression, blood pressure, and neck pain seem like three different conditions, but they share a common intersection: the autonomic nervous system and the prolonged stress response. When stress is severe, the body easily suffers from insomnia, increased muscle tension, elevated blood pressure, increased pain perception, and reduced emotional recovery ability. When pain persists, patients become even more stressed, more anxious, and have more difficulty sleeping. When blood pressure is high, patients fear complications, and the stress loop continues to intensify.

The mind-body methods in the "Igniting a New Vitality" course can target this very loop. When learners know how to bring their bodies into a relaxed state, release suppressed emotions, adjust internal self-talk, breathe slowly, reduce fear, and increase feelings of agency, multiple physiological systems can calm down together. This is why some people perceive simultaneous changes in mental state, blood pressure, musculoskeletal pain, and life energy.

Excerpt from Mr. Vu Van An's reflection

"After 3 days of striving to attend the 'Igniting a New Vitality' course, I felt very joyful and felt as if my body had a miracle medicine cabinet that could provide timely and accurate therapy."

"I have suffered from depression for nearly 20 years, and the level of depression was very severe, with very heavy stress."

"With just 3 days of learning, I already felt lighter, more at ease, more comfortable, and when I returned home, I was cheerful."

"Another very wonderful result is that I recovered from high blood pressure. My blood pressure is now stable at 125/80, and my heart rate is also stable, a light 65–70 beats per minute."

"I suffered from joint degeneration. Viet-Xo Hospital took X-rays and concluded that I had degeneration of 6 cervical vertebrae and pain that prevented me from turning my neck."

"Now it's different; I can turn my neck back and forth without any pain, very comfortable and pleasant."

Significance of this case

Mr. Vu Van An's case demonstrates the value of a holistic health care approach, in which a person is not seen through isolated individual symptoms but as a unified mind-body system. When stress, emotions, sleep, pain, blood pressure, and movement are placed within the same picture, patients can better understand why multiple health issues appear together and why regulating the nervous system can create broad changes.

The important point is not to view a single method as a "cure-all," but to recognize the role of self-regulation ability. When patients have knowledge, techniques, and proper beliefs, they can become more proactive in self-care, maintain practice, monitor health indicators, and cooperate better with medical treatment.

Scientific and safety note

Mr. Vu Van An's reflection is a personal experience after the course. Results may vary depending on the individual, severity of depression, underlying conditions, current medications, blood pressure, spinal condition, sleep, nutrition, physical activity, and level of practice.

Methods such as self-hypnosis, EFT, deep relaxation, qigong, slow breathing, and emotion regulation may support stress reduction, improve pain perception, support sleep, and help learners become more proactive in their health. They do not replace antidepressant medication, blood pressure medication, physical therapy, specialist evaluation in psychiatry, cardiology, or musculoskeletal medicine, or emergency intervention when necessary.

People with suicidal thoughts, severe depression, very high blood pressure, chest pain, shortness of breath, paralysis, numbness in limbs, neck pain after injury, or rapidly increasing pain should seek immediate medical evaluation. People taking blood pressure medication or psychiatric medication should not stop their medication on their own when feeling better; any medication adjustment requires a doctor's guidance.

Related course: Haruva – Igniting a New Vitality

Methods: Self-hypnosis, EFT, deep relaxation, emotion regulation, chronic pain support, stress support

Hotline: 0904.606.965

Email: chualanhkhongdungthuoc@gmail.com

References

- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Depression. [https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression](https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression)

- Wikipedia. DASH diet. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DASH_diet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DASH_diet)

- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). Relaxation Techniques: What You Need To Know. [https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/relaxation-techniques-what-you-need-to-know](https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/relaxation-techniques-what-you-need-to-know)

- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). Hypnosis. [https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/hypnosis](https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/hypnosis)

- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). High Blood Pressure. [https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/index.htm](https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/index.htm)

- American Heart Association. Managing Stress to Control High Blood Pressure. [https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/changes-you-can-make-to-manage-high-blood-pressure/managing-stress-to-control-high-blood-pressure](https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/changes-you-can-make-to-manage-high-blood-pressure/managing-stress-to-control-high-blood-pressure)

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