Guided Imagery Treatment in India

Anika Nair, a 17-year-old high school...

Anika Nair, a 17-year-old high school senior, was preparing for college entrance exams under tremendous familial and cultural expectation. She developed severe psychosomatic symptoms: chronic tension headaches, stomach aches, and episodes of dissociation where she felt 'outside her body.' A child and adolescent psychiatrist identified severe somatic symptom disorder driven by performance anxiety. Anika felt trapped in her own physical distress. The doctor recommended Guided Imagery to help her reconnect her mind and body in a positive way and manage test-related anxiety. Anika, being creative, was open to it. The experience was a relief; she enjoyed the structured escape. The therapist guided her to visualize a 'calm, wise version of herself' successfully navigating a test day. She practiced daily. Post-treatment, her physical symptoms decreased markedly. She sat for her exams feeling nervous but present, using brief imagery to center herself. The outcome was not just better scores, but a regained sense of agency. Her emotional journey shifted from being a victim of her symptoms to becoming an active participant in her own mental and physical well-being.