Hypnosis Shows Spectacular Results In Treating Many Health Problems
From anxiety to pain to addiction, hypnosis is part of the future of health.
What comes to mind when you hear the word “hypnosis”?
Did you picture a stage performer casting mind-control spells or putting an audience to sleep with a finger-snap? Then, like most people, you still hold outdated stereotypes about hypnosis.
Medical hypnosis is nothing of that sort. It’s helping people deal with all kinds of health problems, such as:
- Phobias, anxieties, insomnia, depression, stress, PTSD, and even grief.
- Chronic pain, such as post-surgery pain or back pain.
- Quitting bad behaviour, such as smoking, substance abuse, or even nail-biting.
In fact, hypnosis is so effective that surgeons are using it instead of anaesthesia. And the patients still undergo painless surgeries!
According to David Spiegel, a world-renowned psychiatrist, hypnosis is remarkably underused and misunderstood. We really ought to give hypnosis the attention it truly deserves.
What exactly is hypnosis? And what happens in the brain when you’re hypnotised.
Hypnosis impacts two things: your perception and your behaviour — in that order. It does so through the power of suggestion.
Hypnosis has two stages: “induction” and “suggestion.”
In “induction”, the goal is to enter a deep state of relaxation — both physical and mental. Often the therapist would ask you to focus on their voice entirely. The induction phase is crucial. That’s because you’re more open to suggestions when deeply relaxed.
The second phase is “suggestion”. The therapist will tell imaginary events and scenarios. They will ask you to make these imaginations as real as possible. The suggestion phase helps you confront unhelpful behaviours and emotions, then counteract them.
Hypnosis is like that beautiful feeling you get when absorbed in a book, movie, song, dance, prayer. Those times when time and space fade away, and your mind is fully engaged in what you’re doing.
Not everyone responds to hypnosis with the same intensity. Some get easily hypnotised; others don’t. Still, everyone can benefit from a mix of hypnosis and other forms of therapy. In fact, it’s often a mix of both that delivers the best results.
In one study, scientists pressed hot objects on subjects palms. Those hypnotised felt 40 to 50% less pain than those just resting or recalling happy memories. Hypnosis acts as pain relief. If you suffer from chronic pain, hypnosis might be perfect for you.
In the US alone, roughly 200 people die from painkiller overdoses a day. Through hypnosis, people with chronic pain can lower dosage or completely relinquish painkillers.
No more anaesthesia for some. Dentists are instead hypnotising patients before surgery. Here are six surgeries where hypnosis is the only anaesthetic:
- Surgical third-molar removal.
- Implant surgery.
- Maxillary bone augmentation.
- And mucogingival surgery.
Patients had no pain during each of these surgeries. They also reported a state of extreme relaxation and well-being.
Hypnosis lowers activity in brain areas that deal with sensory input. As a result, the brain gives less attention to pain signals and shift that focus elsewhere.
“I wondered whether I was giving birth, because surely it was meant to be more painful,” reports a British mom. She is among a growing number of women flocking to hypnobirthing.
The results of hypnosis on anxiety are impressive. Scientists scanned the brains of hypnotised people. The scans show more stimulation in areas linked to emotional control. At the same time, brain areas related to feelings of self-consciousness got quiet.
Hypnotised people remember memories more vividly than those who just try to remember. People can even retrieve lost memories or remember events they thought never occurred. That’s why those with trauma and PTSD can use hypnosis to confront the root cause of their problem. Doing so is often the first step towards healing.
If you seek to lose weight, hypnosis is a great tool to achieve that. Hypnosis help subjects improve their self-esteem and let go of stress-eating. In one study, those who practised hypnosis lost twice as much weight as those who didn’t. What’s more, those who learned hypnosis stayed fit longer than those who didn’t.
Hypnosis helps addicts reduce their cravings. That’s why hypnosis is critical to treat drug addiction, alcoholism and smoking.
Other problems that hypnosis help with are:
- Migraine and IBS (irritable bowel syndrome).
- Depression and sleep disorders.
- Relief from the side effects of powerful treatments such as chemotherapy.
- Helping people cope with the loss of a loved one.
- Manage surgery-related or treatment-related anxiety.
“If hypnosis was a medication, doctors would prescribe it daily,” says David Spiegel.
Medical hypnosis has nothing to do with mind control or brainwashing. It’s helping people quit smoking, lose weight, manage anxiety and deal with pain.
While some experts say one shot can be effective, a single hypnosis session is often not enough. Like any skill, hypnosis needs regular practice. Only then you can get serious results and reap all the benefits.
If you want to try hypnosis, seek a licensed psychologist, psychiatrist, or therapist.
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