Today hypnosis is used for various medical conditions. Several researchers define hypnosis as a state of “trance”, a mental state of focused attention, concentration, and inner absorption, accompanied by a loss of awareness of the other things around you.
The American Psychological Association and the National Institute of Health presently promote hypnosis as part of a standard care for pain. Several studies have shown that it can improve a variety of chronic problems, such as lower back pain and side effects of cancer treatments, often offered for more relief than that of physical therapy and cognitive behavioral therapies alone.
Anxiety disorders are some of the most impairing and common conditions in the US reaching 40 million people in 2019. This year, in the first analysis of its kind, Keara Valentine, a doctoral candidate at the University of Hartford, Connecticut, quantified the effects of hypnosis for reducing anxiety by analyzing all of the controlled studies of this intervention. The results were impressive: the average participant receiving hypnosis showed more improvement than 84 percent of people who did not receive it.
Does hypnosis work for everybody? No. You could try a session with a licensed professional such as a clinical psychologist and evaluate the results. Also, there are a few books that could teach you how to hypnotize yourself for free and it comes with no risks at all.
Renzo J. Bustamante-Wendorff, B.S., M.S.
Research & Development
References: New Scientist, November 9 – 15, 2019
