Hypnosis: Focusing Subconscious on Change

Forget the stage-show stereotypes. Hypnosis has helped people cut back on pain, anxiety, and depression medications, resolve intestinal problems, quit smoking, even have less stressful childbirth.

There's no pocket watch involved. Hypnosis is simply a state of concentration and focused attention -- focused on a mental image. It's a skill that must be learned from a trained therapist. With practice, hypnotizing yourself comes easily. Self-hypnosis is the path to training both mind and body to make a desired change.

"People who are able to do self-hypnosis can use that focus for a variety of purposes," Stan Chapman, PhD, a psychologist in the Center for Pain Medicine at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, tells WebMD. "For example, someone who is very depressed may realize on one level that life is not hopeless and pointless. But if he focuses on a thought contrary to that, the idea becomes deeply embedded in his subconscious."
Here's what happens: Guided by a therapist's words, you slip deeper and deeper into a very relaxed, very focused state -- into your subconscious. That's when a suggestion, a thought that will help you solve a problem, is introduced by the therapist. When the mind is intensely focused, these so-called post-hypnotic suggestions have a powerful impact, Chapman says.

Don't worry, you won't lose consciousness. You won't do anything against your will. Afterward, you are very much aware of what happened while you were "under." You will recognize and remember the post-hypnotic suggestion. And, with practice, you can learn to hypnotize yourself to reinforce the suggestion.

Pain Control Through Hypnosis
Marc Oster, PsyD, a Chicago psychologist, relies on self-hypnosis when he gets dental work done. "I get Novocain just like other patients, but I don't need as much of it because I'm under hypnosis. Afterward, I can go back to work for a full day. When the Novocain wears off, I don't have the pain, the jaw ache, or the headache that other people have," he told WebMD, in a previous interview.

No one knows exactly how hypnosis works, but scientists have theories. Hypnosis helps change our expectations. When a suggestion is made during hypnosis, the mind gains control over the body. Focus your attention on an image that blocks the perception of pain, for instance, and you feel less pain. Your subconscious has grabbed hold of that message, replaying it time and again.

Research from Harvard Medical School and other institutions is showing evidence that hypnosis is indeed a process of mind over body. Studies are documenting the physiological changes that occur under hypnosis -- activating certain parts of the brain, including the portion that focuses attention.

In fact, studies have shown pain related to cancer, surgery, back injuries, and migraines may respond well to hypnosis.

Hypnosis has been blessed by many mainstream medical institutions, says Oster, who heads the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. In 1958, the American Medical Association officially recognized hypnosis as a form of treatment. The American Psychological Association has endorsed hypnosis for a number of years. In 1995, the NIH announced its support of hypnosis for cancer pain and other pain conditions.
Growing numbers of insurance companies, including Medicare, have begun covering hypnosis therapy for pain or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Pain control is just one use for self-hypnosis. Among the others:
Digestive Problems: Chronic indigestion and other symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have been treated with hypnotherapy. Recently, a large, long-term study showed that hypnosis provides sustained improvements in significant numbers of IBS patients. Hypnosis eased abdominal pain, distention, diarrhea, constipation, and other stomach upsets for many years -- even after the patients quit doing self-hypnosis.

Most of the patients took no medication or other treatments for their IBS symptoms. And, since only a couple of medications are approved for IBS, the drug treatment can be expensive long-term. But for those who tried hypnosis, the payoff was having a better quality of life. The procedure also dramatically cut medication expenses.
Hypnosis can also help kids who have chronic stomach pain -- the type of pain that is real, but unexplained. The problem results in lost time at school, frequent doctor visits, as well as anxiety and depression, and can last into adult years. But through a combination approach -- relaxation, guided imagery, and hypnosis -- it's possible for kids to gain control over their pain.

Panic Attacks: The onset of a panic attack has a cluster of symptoms: the feeling of intense fear, sense of doom, feelings of unreality, racing heartbeat, difficulty breathing, sweating, shaking, dizziness, nausea, fear of losing control, tingling or numbness in the hands. Hypnosis has been shown to help some people find relief from panic attacks.
Hypnosis can strengthen the effect of mind over body, researchers say. It can change the way you perceive sensations. By narrowly focusing your attention, you're not overwhelmed by panic attack symptoms when they begin. You are able to relax physically. The attack fades away.

Childbirth: It's known as "hypnobirthing" -- women learning how to hypnotize themselves to manage their labor. It helps them to relax and let their bodies take over. The theory is that, in the absence of fear and tension, severe pain does not have to accompany labor. In this calm state, endorphins -- naturally occurring pain-relieving chemicals -- replace the stress hormones that contribute to pain. Even women choosing more traditional methods, such as painkilling drugs, can still benefit from the stress-relieving power of hypnosis.

Quit Smoking via Hypnosis?
Smoking Cessation: The American Cancer Society advocates hypnosis as one of many stop-smoking techniques -- helping some smokers stay off tobacco for six months or longer. They suggest it might be helpful for some people.

For many people, hypnosis is a way to change beliefs and attitudes that stand in the way of quitting. Hypnosis might enhance confidence, promote a general sense of well-being, decrease withdrawal urges, and help people focus on the importance of quitting. Best results come when hypnosis is simply used as an aid -- combined with other stop-smoking methods, such as the nicotine patch, researchers say.

SOURCES: Stan Chapman, PhD, psychologist, Center for Pain Medicine, Emory Healthcare, Atlanta. WebMD Feature: "Hypnosis Goes Mainstream." WebMD Medical News: "Hypnosis May Be Useful IBS Treatment." WebMD Medical News: "Hypnosis Soothes Indigestion." WebMD Medical News: "Researchers Target New Ways to Stop Chronic Pain." WebMD Medical News: "Hypnosis for Pain," WebMD Feature: "Natural Panic Attack Treatments." WebMD Medical News: "Hypnosis in the Delivery Room." WebMD Feature: "You Are Getting Skinny, Skinny."

Edited by Louise Chang, MD on March 01, 2006
© 2005 WebMD, Inc.

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Hypnosis to Prepare for Succesful Operations

No one enjoys operations and it is perfectly natural and understandable that someone will feel some fear or at least apprehension at the thought of having an operation.

I know from my own experience how hypnosis can help with preparing for an operation. I was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2001 and told that whilst it was not immediately life-threatening, if left in place it would probably kill me within 5-10 years. I would also continue to experience epileptic fits, need to have someone with me at all times and would not be allowed to drive. Alternatively, there was no guarantee of success from having the tumour removed and I could expect one of four outcomes:
1. Complete success without side-effects.
2. Speech damage.
3. Partial motor damage, even paralysis.
4. Death.

So not much of a choice. A very restricted short life with possible death looming or post-operative damage, even not surviving the operation. I still chose to have the operation.

On the morning of the operation, I was a bundle of nerves. My surgeon was very busy and had no time to reassure me. When I went down to theatre, my blood pressure was the highest it had ever been. I burst into tears because I seriously thought I would not survive.

Well I did survive but two days after the operation a sort of electrical reaction occurred in my brain leaving my speech slow and slurred and I suffered paralysis down my left side. I also had a mini-stroke five months later and shingles on my face. I did eventually recover fully but only after lots of physical therapy.

In October 2006 I had to have a new brain tumour removed from the same location but this time with a different surgeon who made time for me. On the morning of the operation, with a candula already inserted in my hand linked to a saline drip, I lay on my bed and took myself into self-hypnosis to ensure that I left for theatre in a calm and relaxed way.

I had been told I would be in ICU for four days but stayed only two and my expected hospital stay of two weeks was cut to six days. This was because of my fast recovery. My convalescence period was also short and I suffered no side-effects. I credit my quick recovery to hypnosis and the power of my own unconscious mind which prepared me for a successful operation and fast recovery.

Another hypnotherapist told us about Stan who was visibly shaking as he talked about his forthcoming operation. He was due to have a hernia operation but was totally convinced that he would not come out of it alive. Under hypnotic regression, the hypnotherapist found that Stan’s fear went right back. “Well I know exactly what it was, and I’d completely forgotten about that incident,” he went on to explain, “I was at the dentist with my mother, she was having an extraction and she suddenly started screaming and screaming. I was terrified.” Stan laughed, “to think all these years that’s what’s been bothering me. I feel so good now, I know I’ll be fine.”

The hypnotherapist had Stan project his mind into the future and see himself recovering well after his operation. Stan rang the hypnotherapist a few days later. He’d enjoyed being in hospital and getting all the attention and the operation went smoothly. He felt he’d completely overcome his fear, in just one session of hypnotherapy.

Before surgery, hypnotherapy can be used to lead the person into a deep state of mind and body relaxation in which positive suggestions are given straight to the unconscious mind to relieve anxiety, reduce bleeding during the operation, eliminate post surgical discomfort and even reduce the level of anaesthetic required. Many operations are even conducted under hypnosis without anasthesia. Many women choose for natural childbirth using hypnosis to control the pain rather than an epidural or drugs.

Fear raises adrenaline levels which means that more chemicals are needed to overcome the natural "fight or flight" reaction of the body and produce the state of anesthesia.

Hypnotherapists often use "safe place" imagery, in which the client begins by imagining him/herself in a location that feels safe and secure. Once the "safe place" is established, the feelings of safety and security are anchored in – an NLP technique – and the client watches the whole process of the surgery repeatedly but in a detached way, a bit like watching a film whilst sitting in a cinema seat. The person then rehearses successful surgery and recovery with suggestions for comfort, rapid healing and a positive attitude.

Again positive imagery aids in the rapid healing process, shortening recovery time, reducing swelling, bleeding and with a positive reduction in post-operative pain. Ideally the person would have several sessions with the hypnotherapist to maximize the beneficial effects.

How does hypnosis help control pain after surgery? Have you ever been engrossed in a conversation and bumped into a chair, felt nothing but noticed a bruise later on? The preoccupied mind does not notice the pain. The nerves send pain signals but they never registered in consciousness and that is how the unconscious treats post surgical pain.

Personalized hypnotherapy sessions for your particular operation and circumstances are always best but if not possible, you can also download a hypnosis mp3 to prepare for surgery and a hypnosis “Prepare for Surgery” script is available for professional hypnotherapists.

© Antonia Harrison 2009 is the leading English Hypnotherapist in Belgium and recommends Download Hypnosis Mp3s for immediate access to positive life-changing hypnosis sessions.