Research In to The Effectiveness of Hypnosis

Asthma

Hypnosis has been shown to alleviate the subjective distress of patients with asthma: there were less frequent attacks, and less medication was required. (1)In another study comparing Hypnosis and relaxation therapy the improvement with the Hypnotherapy group was much greater. And only Hypnosis subjects showed an improvement in physiologic measures of respiration. (2)

References:(1) Maher-Loughnan, G.P. (1970). "Hypnosis and AutoHypnosis for the Treatment of Asthma." International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 18, 1- 14.
(2) Maher-Loughnan, G.P., MacDonald, N., Mason, A.A. & Fry, L. (1962). "Controlled Trial of Hypnosis in the Symptomatic Treatment of Asthma." British Medical Journal, 2, 371-376.

Arthritis: Following Hypnotherapy, patients with arthritis achieved significant decreases in pain, anxiety, and depression, and an increases in beta-endorphin-like immunoreactive material. 

References:Domangue, B.B., Margolis, C.G., Lieberman, D. & Kaji, H. (1985). "Biochemical Correlates of Hypnoanalgesia in Arthritic Pain Patients." Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 46, 235-238.

Cancer: Women with metastatic breast cancer who received group Hypnosis therapy were able to reduce their pain experience by 50% compared to a control group. (1)At a 10-year follow-up of these same women, the Hypnosis treatment group had double the survival rate of the control group.(2) 

Both adolescent and adult cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy have fewer symptoms of anticipatory nausea and vomiting following Hypnotic interventions. (3)

References:(1) Spiegel, D. & Bloom, J.R. (1983b)."Group therapy and Hypnosis Reduce Metastatic Breast Carcinoma Pain." Psychosomatic Medicine, 45, 333-339.

(2) Spiegel, D., Bloom, J.R., Kraemer, H.,C. & Gottheil, E. (1989a) "Effect of Psychosocial Treatment on Survival of Patients with Metatastic Breast Cancer." Lancet pp. 888-891.  

(3) Zeltzer, L.; LeBaron, S. & Zeltzer, P.M. (1984).The Effectiveness of Behavioral Intervention for Reduction of Nausea and Vomiting in Children and Adolescents Receiving Chemotherapy." Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2, 683-690. Cotanch, P., Hockenberry, M. & Herman, S. (1985). "Self-Hypnosis Antiemetic Therapy in Children Receiving Chemotherapy." Oncology Nursing Forum, 12, 41- 46. Zeltzer, L., LeBaron, S. & Zeltzer, P.M. (1984).

Childbirth:

In Britain 55% of birthing women using hypnosis required no medication for pain relief, compared with 22% of women in non-hypnosis groups. In two other reports 58% of women using hypnotic analgesia required no medication. And five other reports quoted 60-79% of women using hypnosis required no medication. In another study subjects given hypnosis reported reduced pain, shorter stage 1 labours, less medication, higher Apgar scores, more frequent spontaneous deliveries than other group. Some had lower depression scores after birth than the other groups.(2)

References:(1) Schwartz, M. (1963) The Cessation of Labor Using Hypnotic Techniques." American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 5, 211-213.

(2) Harmon, T.M., Hynan, M., &

, T.E. (1990). "Improved obstetric outcomes using hypnotic analgesia and skill mastery combined with childbirth education." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 58, 525, 530, 1990.

Depression

Alternative Treatments for Long-Term Depressed Mood: Meditation and Hypnosis The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness to two alternative treatments for long-term depressed mood: mindfulness meditation and hypnosis. The need to find effective treatments for those suffering from long-term low-to-moderate level depression has been known for over a century. Although, there have been some recent advances in the types of drug and psychotherapy treatments available for this condition, some people do not respond to such interventions, have considerable side effects (from the drugs), or are not satisfied for other reasons with these treatment options.

The present study represents an innovative investigation into two alternatives to traditional treatments for long-term depressed mood: mindfulness meditation (plus gentle hatha yoga) and hypnosis in a group therapy format. Although both meditation and hypnosis have shown success in treating stress, anxiety, and pain in studies of non-clinical populations, neither has been systematically investigated as a possible treatment for long-term depressed mood. (2)

References:(1)  Assen Alladin and Alisha Alibhai (2000) The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis; Volume 55, Number 2 - April 2000.

(2) Spiegel, D. MD; Butler , L.D.  Ph.D. Xin-Hua Chen; Abramson, M. DDS, Waelde, L. Ph.D. Mental Insight Foundation

Dermatitis

References:

(1990).Stress and psoriasis. Psoriasis Research Institute,

Haemophilia

References:Swirsky-Saccetti, T.; Margolis, C.G. (1986)."The Effects of a Comprehensive Self- Hypnosis Training Program on the Use of Factor VIII in Severe Hemophilia." International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 34, 71-83.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Hypnotherapy is one of the most successful treatment methods, giving 80+% success rate for abdominal pain and distension. It often results in assisting with other problems such as migraine and tension headaches. With patients who have severe chronic IBS, it was Hypnotherapy patients that showed dramatic improvement in all measures, and they maintained that improvement at a two year follow-up. (1)

Cognitive Behavioral Hypnotherapy in the Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome–Induced Agoraphobia

There are a number of clinical studies and a body of research on the effectiveness of hypnotherapy in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Likewise, there exists research demonstrating the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in the treatment of IBS. However, there is little written about the integration of CBT and hypnotherapy in the treatment of IBS and a lack of clinical information about IBS-induced agoraphobia. This paper describes the etiology and treatment of IBS-induced agoraphobia. Cognitive, behavioral, and hypnotherapeutic techniques are integrated to provide an effective cognitive-behavioral hypnotherapy (CBH) treatment for IBS-induced agoraphobia. This CBH approach for treating IBS-induced agoraphobia is described and clinical data are reported. (2)

 References:(1) Whorwell P.J; Prior A; Faragher E.B. (1988 & 1987). Whorwell, P.J., Prior, A. & Faragher, E.B. (1984). "Controlled Trial of Hypnotherapy in the Treatment of Severe Refractory Irritable-Bowel Syndrome." Lancet, pp. 1232-1234. Whorwell, P.J., Prior, A. & Colgan, S.M. (1987). "Hypnotherapy in Severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome: Further Experience." Gut, 28, 423-425.

(2) Golden W.L. (2000) The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis; Volume 55, Number 2 - April 2000

Migraine and Headaches

Review of the Efficacy of Clinical Hypnosis with Headaches and Migraines

The 12-member National Institute of Health Technology Assessment Panel on Integration of Behavioral and Relaxation Approaches into the Treatment of Chronic Pain and Insomnia (1996) reviewed outcome studies on hypnosis with cancer pain and concluded that research evidence was strong and that other evidence suggested hypnosis may be effective with some chronic pain, including tension headaches.  This paper provides an updated review of the literature on the effectiveness of hypnosis in the treatment of headaches and migraines, concluding that it meets the clinical psychology research criteria for being a well-established and efficacious treatment and is virtually free of the side effects, risks of adverse reactions, and ongoing expense associated  with medication treatments. (2)

 References:(1) Anderson , J.A., Basker, M.A, Dalton , R.(1975). "Migraine and Hypnotherapy." International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 23, 48-58.

(2) Hammond C. (2000) The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis; Volume 55, Number 2 - April 2000

 Painassociated with repeated unpleasant medical interventions in a study of chilHypnosis was found to be effective in reducing pain and discomfort dren with cancer. (1)

A significant reduction of pain and dysphoria was found following Hypnosis in a study of 19 patients with a variety of musculoskeletal disorders. (2)

References:

(1) Hilgard, E.R. (1977). "Divided Consciousness: Multiple Controls in Human Thought and Action". NY: John Wiley. 1977

(2) Domangue, B.B., Margolis, C.G., Lieberman, D. & Kaji, H. (1985). Biochemical Correlates of Hypnoanalgesia in Arthritic Pain Patients." Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 46, 235-238

Phobias

Student test anxiety

Students taught self-hypnosis showed a significant reduction in anxiety scores (maintained at 6-month follow-up) then a control group. (1)

Public speaking

The group who received hypnosis had a greater expectation for change and that change was achieved, than those who had non-hypnotic treatment.

Fear of flying

50% of patients afraid of flying were improved or cured after Hypnosis treatment.

References:

(1) Stanton, H. E. (1994)

(2)  Schoenberger, N. E.; Kirsch, I.; Gearan, P.; Montgomery, G.; Pastyrnak, S.L. (1997).

(3) Spiegel, D. (1998) Report in the Harvard Mental Health Letter, September 1998, vol. 15, p. 5-6

Smoking Cessation

In 1992 a large research project into stop-smoking methods was undertaken at the University of Iowa,USA, using almost 72,000 subjects. This comparison of over 600 studies put hypnosis right at the top.This was reported in the New Scientist which claimed that Hypnosis is the most effective way to stop smoking (1)

References;

 (1) New Scientist (1992) 

Stress and Hypertension

A trial compared Hypnosis with biofeedback or a combination of both. All groups had significant reduction in blood pressure. (1)

However, at six-month follow-up only patients receiving Hypnosis had maintained the reduction. (2)

References:

(1) Friedman, H. & Taub, H. (1977). "The Use of Hypnosis and Biofeedback Procedures for Essential Hypertension." International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 25, 335-347.

(2) Friedman, H. & Taub, H. (1978). "A Six Month Follow-up of the Use of Hypnosis and Biofeedback Procedures in Essential Hypertension." American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 20, 184-188

Surgery Recovery

References:

(1) Rapkin, D.A., Straubing, M., Singh, A. & Holroyd, J.C. (1988). "Guided Imagery and Hypnosis: Effect on Acute Recovery from Head and Neck Cancer Surgery" Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Asheville, N.C. Spiegel, D, (1998). Report in the Harvard Mental Health Letter, September 1998, vol. 15, p. 5-6.

Warts

There was a particularly interesting report of hypnosis used to treat a 7-year-old girl who had 82 common warts. The warts had been present for 12-18 months and were not amenable to any of the routine medical treatments. Hypnotic suggestions were given for the facial warts to disappear before warts from the rest of the body. After 2 weeks, eight of 16 facial warts were gone, with no other changes. After three additional biweekly sessions, all 82 warts were gone. This was, to our knowledge, the first reported case of systematic wart removal in children and the researchers concluded that there is an intimate relationship between psychological mechanisms and the immune system. (2)

References:

(1) Ewin DM Hypnotherapy for warts (verruca vulgaris): 41 consecutive cases with 33 cures.

Am J Clin Hypn (UNITED STATES) Jul 1992, 35(1) p1-10

(2) Hypnotherapy of a child with warts.Noll RB Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, Michigan State University,East Lansing 48824.J Dev Behav Pediatr Apr 1988, 9 (2) p89-91

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