Be A Quitter With Hypnosis ~

I shared many times before that when it comes to quitting cigarettes, this time I tried hypnosis. I’ve had tried to quit so many times in the past using so many different techniques I just felt it was time to do something more unconventional or radical. If I were going to do it again, the only other change I would have made would be to get an anti-anxiety medication like Welbutrin two weeks prior to visiting the hypnotist.

If you are somewhere in the neighborhood of my age you may have the misconception that a hypnotized person will walk around in his sleep doing all sorts of bizarre behavior like Gilligan did when the Professor hypnotized him. However that’s not the case. Although I cant fully explain how hypnosis works I have read that anywhere from 75 to 90% of people can be hypnotized.

Psychologist describe hypnosis as an altered state of mind in which one's normal skepticism is largely suspended, allowing a patient to focus attention on a single image and be open to suggestions posed by a trained guide. Some practitioners call it daydreaming with purpose. It's similar to the absorption you experience when reading a good novel, watching an engrossing movie, or listening so intently to the car radio that you arrive home without a clue as to how you got there.

New brain scan technology shows that hypnosis can alter the way sensory messages are received in the brain and experienced in the body. In a recent brain-imaging study conducted at the University of Iowa, researchers found that hypnosis actually blocks pain signals from getting to the part of the brain responsible for conscious perception of discomfort.

"Fantasy can preempt pain," explains Linda Thomson, PhD, a nurse practitioner and clinical hypnotherapist in Bellows Falls, VT. And because pain isn't good for you, reducing it can produce profound benefits.

The Limits of Hypnotic Suggestion:

Ironically, the two uses for which hypnosis has gotten the most attention--smoking cessation and weight loss -- are the areas in which its performance is weak.

Smoking:

Hypnosis has helped people quit, with some impressive initial results: In two studies with 160 participants, 81 to 88% stopped smoking for 12 months. But other studies have failed to come close to that level of success, and the long-term failure rate appears to be the same as for other techniques.

Weight Loss:

Though people have trimmed down using hypnosis, it's been useful only in conjunction with other methods. In a University of Northern Colorado study of 109 participants undergoing behavioral modification, the group that also received nine weekly hypnosis sessions lost 15 more pounds. In another study, patients on a diet who also employed self-hypnosis lost more weight. But it's unclear whether hypnosis works well as a stand-alone treatment for losing weight.