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OutaSync ... many years ago... oh maybe 16 years ... I tried a hypnotist for quitting smoking.

He made me a cd also and I'm so glad he did.

After that session ( just had one session ) I was smoking before I got home.

Just wasn't my time to quit ... wasn't ready somewhere in my psche.

Anyway, when they retired me I was laying there and could hear fluid in my lungs gurgle and decided I wanted to live to get my money.
I put in 33 years and I wasn't going to go die after 18 months like our average retiree used to.

So I got some of those patches and some hard candy and listened to that cd twice a day and was able to quit cold-turkey.

I had smoked 2 packs or better for 40 years and used to swear they would buy me with a carton and a lighter.

I don't believe any of those things would have been enough by themselves or if any one element had been missing.

I think it took the hypnotist cd and the patch especially and the candy helps break the habit of doing something with your hands.

I still have that CD but haven't played it since maybe Jan of 97.

Self-hypnosis can be helpful for some people for some things too. I used to do relaxation therapy quite a bit with the self-hypnosis thing.

Unfortunately, not every one can be hypnotized.

But ... for a life saving thing like CPAP therapy ... it's worth giving it a shot. The hypnosis helped me when I was REALLY ready and REALLY motivated.

If he went to a hypnotist and had a cd to play every night before going to bed it might well help him deal with the panic of the mask on his face.

Or he could just pretend he is a fighter pilot

I think you have been given some excellent suggestions. I also don't think your idea of videotaping yourself is bad either. You might learn something about why you're ripping off the mask from watching the video and trying to correlate it to your CPAP machine data. Good luck. I can't imagine how frustrating this must be for you.

I am in no position to be giving help, as I am only a one month user so far and have stretched my time now to 4 hours, awake, get something to drink, and then 3 hours.
However, my personality type, and past life experiences have left me somewhat anxious. Doesn't sound like something that could interfere with your life so strongly. Anxiety comes in many forms and often you do not know you are experiencing anxiety even at the height of your anxiety. Also, people talk about an anxiety "attack". Well, I never had an "attack". But I did live my life ridden with anxiety...examples:if I had a stuffy nose, I had to get to the pharmacy to make sure I had several nasal sprays, creams and whatever; if one of my children was on a sports team and they didn't perform well, I had to go out and buy the best equipment, tapes, and find a mentor;if I read that there was a product used in building my home that might be harmful, I was ready to call someone in the middle of the night to correct it;if I decided I needed a new sofa, I had to find some place that would sell me one off the floor, or use a company that could get it to me in a week; if one of my children called and mentioned he had trouble with headaches, I would spend hours and hours and hours on the computer looking for answers and print out volumes of info to send to him.........

Soooooo, I am on neurontin and zoloft, but I think that my attitude is helping in my one month use....
Here is what I mean:
~Finally told my doc that I just couldn't be this tired unless something was wrong with me...had done all and every test.
~Sleep clinic was prescribed and Pow, I was ready to do my thing.
~I decided then that I would do this sleep clinic thing with a relaxed attitude.
~I was casual about making the appt.
~I was casual about my first night.
~Saw that my results indicated med-high apnea...almost got to me, but
~I scheduled titration...had a chance to go to NYC to visit my daughter and canceled and rescheduled
~went for titration and didn't even ask the next morning for the results
~Got my prescript in the mail and waited a week to call equip provider
AND AT THIS POINT I WAS GOING INTO FULL BLOWN ANXIETY MODE
~stopped my self
~casual about the trip to provider
~didn't run around cyberspace looking at everything on cpap
~didn't try mask first night that I got home
~Again, panic about to set in...what if I can't do this...what am I going to do...
~Calmed myself and used the gear for about an hour
~at this point I would normally have called myself a failure, called my doc, looked on line for a specialist, called everyone I knwe and asked for advise and on and on
~didn't do any of the above
Anyway, tried several masks and didn't panic and it is now a month later and I have graduallly increased my time and just came to this forum a week ago and am reading some online.
I just wanted to let you know that anxiety has many faces.....

Best advice so far here....try the mask in the daytime when you are not tired and feel like you have to go to sleep and put the mask on 15 or 20 min. before bedtime and read, watch tv and then lights out...
Sorry for the long post, Phyl