A highly effective — and largely unknown — treatment for chronic illness
And what it reveals about the power of mind over matter
Image from New Africa on Shutterstock
Introduction
As a neuroscience student in college, I read a paragraph from a New York Times article that made me question everything I’d been taught about the connection between body and mind:
“WHEN Timmy drinks orange juice he has no problem. But Timmy is just one of close to a dozen personalities who alternate control over a patient with multiple personality disorder. And if those other personalities drink orange juice, the result is a case of hives.
The hives will occur even if Timmy drinks orange juice and another personality appears while the juice is still being digested. What’s more, if Timmy comes back while the allergic reaction is present, the itching of the hives will cease immediately, and the water-filled blisters will begin to subside.
Such remarkable differences in the same body are leading scientists to study the physiology of patients with multiple personalities to assess how much psychological states can affect the body’s biology, for better or worse.”
The idea that a psychological switch could create not only profound, but instant, changes in physiology fascinated me. But as I went looking for more research, I found there was none. My professors had no clear answers for me on how the mind influences the body and so for the next few years I forgot the topic.
Until my last doctor’s visit a few weeks ago.
I went to see my doctor because as my stress levels rose over the past few months, gut issues (IBS) and arthritis pain suddenly reared their heads again. Despite my anti-inflammatory diet and exercise routine, I was being regularly woken up at night by pain shooting down my right leg and feeling the familiar stiffness in my joints. As I discussed the treatment options with him — an even stricter diet, steroids, or further tests — I knew I needed to try something different — something that would address my mind and emotions as well.
I began searching for the most effective mind-based treatments for IBS and arthritis and was amazed by what I found.
The Triumph of Mind Over Matter
As it turns out, one of the most successful, underrated, and even unknown treatments for both IBS and arthritis is hypnosis.
As Australia’s Monash University health blog shares:
“Multiple well-controlled studies, including our own work here at Monash University, have shown that gut-directed hypnotherapy improves gastrointestinal symptoms in people with IBS by 70–80% and these improvements are maintained in the long-term.”
An article from a medical clinic offering hypnotherapy adds:
“…Hypnosis has substantial therapeutic impact on IBS, even for patients unresponsive to standard medical interventions. The median response rate to hypnosis treatment was 87%. Bowel symptoms improved by about half, while psychological symptoms and life functioning improved after treatment. In addition, therapeutic gains were well maintained for most patients for years after the end of treatment.”
Interestingly, the mechanism by which hypnosis impacts the gut is not entirely clear. While many researchers assume hypnosis works primarily by reducing levels of stress and anxiety, it has also been shown to improve digestive motility and decrease gut sensitivity in IBS patients.
To put the results in perspective, gut-directed hypnotherapy has been shown to be as effective as the low FODMAP diet in improving gastrointestinal symptoms.
Though research on the effectiveness of hypnotherapy for arthritis patients appears to be more limited, studies and meta-analyses indicate that more than 75% of arthritis patients experience significant pain relief through hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy is not only effective in improving subjective and objective measurements — including C-reactive protein, hemoglobin, and leukocyte numbers — but in continuing to improve those measurements in patients who practice hypnosis regularly.
Conclusion
The effectiveness of hypnotherapy as a treatment for chronic illnesses is just one more sign of the disappearing divide between our minds and bodies.
Currently, the medical field acknowledges the significant power the mind can have over the body. The placebo effect is well-established — and ironically considered a nuisance because of its disruptive effect on objective measurements. But its positive implications are gaining recognition. As Robert Buckman, clinical oncologist and professor of medicine, shares in an article for Medical News Today:
“Placebos are extraordinary drugs. They seem to have some effect on almost every symptom known to mankind, and work in at least a third of patients and sometimes in up to 60 percent. They have no serious side-effects and cannot be given in overdose. In short, they hold the prize for the most adaptable, protean, effective, safe and cheap drugs in the world’s pharmacopeia.”
If we accept what research on hypnotherapy and the placebo effect tell us about the power of positive belief and programming, many new avenues of mind-based healing open up.
Rather than relying on cutting-edge technology or drugs, mind-based healing allows us to harness our innate power to heal. It gets stronger the more regularly — and intentionally — we practice it. And maybe best of all, it empowers patients to transform all areas of their lives.
