TREATMENT DATABASE

Hypnosis involves inducing a trance-like state, somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, to produce greater suggestibility in a patient.

Although the technique of producing physiological and psychological effects by means of deep trances has been used by yogis, mystics, and oracles since earliest times, it was not until the eighteenth century that Europeans regarded the hypnotic trance as useful for medical purposes.

In the 1760s, Franz Anton Mesmer popularized hypnosis in Europe via a series of theatrical demonstrations of what he called "animal magnetism." Mesmer believed that illness was the direct result of an imbalance in animal magnetism and that hypnosis could correct these imbalances. Because Mesmer's subjects did rather silly things while "mesmerized," hypnosis initially acquired the reputation as a form of entertainment rather than as a therapy.

The current practice of hypnosis has discounted Mesmer's theory of animal magnetism and eliminated the theatrical aspects of hypnosis in order to provide a unique means of influencing normally inaccessible physiological functions, namely those controlled by the autonomic nervous system. By accessing the body's ability to produce heat, dilate or constrict blood vessels, speed or slow metabolism, and so forth, the hypnotist can utilize the body's own mechanisms to control pain, reduce anxiety, relieve phobias, and cure addictions.

USES IN ME/CFS: Hypnosis can be beneficial in reducing the effects of anxiety and stress brought on by illness. It can also help alleviate headaches, pain, insomnia, and some cognitive problems. Many people with ME/CFS describe hypnosis as "very relaxing."

Treatment rating for Hypnotherapy