Applied hypnosis can work against pain and anxiety disorders

Hypnosis can work against pain and anxiety

Clinical hypnosis and self-hypnosis can relieve the pain and anxiety of critically ill palliative patients. This is the result of an Italian study.

Palliative patients often suffer not only from pain, but also from fears that are usually treated with medication.

Italian scientists from the University of Verona have now investigated whether long-term treatment with hypnosis and self-hypnosis as an adjunctive therapy for the regular palliative treatment of seriously ill patients has an effect. Outpatient palliative care patients with advanced cancer and severe chronic neurological and rheumatic diseases participated in the study. It was open to the patients whether they were treated exclusively pharmacologically or in addition also hypnotherapeutic.

At baseline, after one and two years, pain intensity, perceived anxiety and consumption of opioids and analgesics were recorded. The pain intensity was lower in both groups than at baseline, but significantly lower in the hypnosis group than in the control group. Regarding anxiety, adjuvant hypnotherapy was also superior to the sole pharmacological treatment. Opioid consumption was significantly lower in hypnotic patients than in purely pharmacologically treated patients.

After two years, the pain in the remaining patients was reduced once more, with a smaller reduction in the hypnosis group than in the control group. Sensitivity scores were also slightly lower in the hypnosis group than at one year, while control subjects returned higher averages. Due to the high drop-out rate (including late-onset patients), the opioid consumption after two years could no longer be compared statistically with the previous measurements.

Adverse effects could not be observed by hypnotherapy. However, patients in the hypnosis group reported improved well-being. Source: Carstens Foundation