As fantastical as Liz's story sounds in the last post, successful outcomes are actually quite common for people who use hypnotherapy to address not only habits like smoking and overeating but also a variety of other health issues ranging from insomnia to gastrointestinal disorders. Preliminary studies suggest that hypnosis strengthens immune response, lowers blood pressure, reduces stress and eases symptoms of asthma, irritable bowel syndrome and certain skin conditions.
The greatest body of research on hypnosis shows it reduces the perception of pain. In one large clinical trial, people who used hypnotic relaxation techniques during surgical procedures needed less pain medication, had more stable vital signs in surgery and left the operating room sooner. Functional MRI scans of people's brains under hypnosis confirm that there's reduced activity in the pain network.
By Leslie Kramer