Hypnotherapy used to be associated with swindlers and black magic, but what many people still don't know is that scientific communities have long proven and accepted it as a valid method of improving health. No less than the American Medical Association and the APA approved hypnosis as a form of therapy in 1958.
So what are the exact scientifically proven benefits of hypnosis? Here are five:
Improves Quality of Sleep
In many earlier studies on hypnosis and its effects on sleep, subjects were simply asked to tell the researchers how they felt about the quality of their sleep after hypnosis. Later on, Swiss researchers started using a hypnotic suggestion tape, which they played in the background while participants, a group of young and healthy females, slept for an hour and a half. It was found that those who listened to the tape before falling asleep spent around 80% more time in deep, restorative sleep (slow-wave sleep) than those who listened to typically spoken text. To learn more on the benefits of Hypnotherapy, just go to https://www.youtube.com/user/MichaelSealey.
Helps Manage Irritable Bowel Syndrome
According to the APA, 71% of 204 patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) noticed an easing of symptoms after undergoing hypnotherapy for one hour a week over twelve consecutive weeks in a 2003 study. Among those who said they felt better, 81% said they continued to enjoy this benefit of hypnotherapy even up to six years following their last session. In 2012, a study found 85% of its IBS patient subjects reporting significant improvements up to seven years after their last treatment. Know How to stop feeling anxious here!
Controls Hot Flashes
In 2013 a study was conducted on postmenstrual women at least 50 hot flashes a week. After five weekly hypnosis sessions, the subjects reported they experienced 74% less hot flashes within the 12-week period following the therapy. On the other hand, women who did not undergo hypnotherapy but met with a clinician once a week, experienced a mere 17% reduction in hot flashes. Learn how to overcome jealousy here!
Helps Manage Pain
Perhaps the most researched benefit of hypnosis is pain management. In 2000 and 2009, studies were conducted, establishing hypnotherapy's pain-relief benefits to those who suffered from cancer, arthritis and fibromyalgia. Unfortunately, at that time, this treatment was rarely used by psychologists, and those who did administer hypnotherapy did so with little standardization.
Relieves Anxiety
Finally, with the treatment's ability to empower the mind, hypnotherapy has often been used to ease medical procedure-related anxieties. Whether it helps regulate general anxieties is still being explored through research, although initial studies seem to point to the possibility that hypnosis can be used to treat depression.
