9 November 2019 | New Scientist | 37information about sensory stimuli and is
linked to areas that organise an appropriate
emotional, behavioural response. Lower
activity in this area may mean that pain
signals are given less attention than normal.
Other research suggests that hypnosis
gets people into a state of mind where the
associated brainwaves – patterns of neural
activity – are similar to those seen during deep
meditation. In a small study of people with
multiple sclerosis who underwent hypnosis
to treat chronic pain, Mark Jensen at the
University of Washington, Seattle, and his
colleagues found that enhancing the theta
brainwaves generated during a hypnotic trance
increased the potency of the pain relief. That
may be because the brainwaves generated
during a hypnotic trance aid the brain’s ability
to learn and adapt to the new information it is
receiving during the therapy.
Despite this progress, there remain
challenges: not least convincing doctors to
keep an open mind. According to Montgomery,
many trainees ask: “Do we have to call it
hypnosis? That word may scare patients off.”
The short answer is yes. When people undergo
the same procedure labelled either hypnosis or
relaxation or suggestion, it works better when
called hypnosis. Motivation to be hypnotised,
as well as believing it is a credible therapy, can
also increase the likelihood that it is effective.
As with the placebo effect, it may be that your
belief hypnosis will make a difference is in fact
a critical part of the success of the treatment.
Giving hypnosis a fair shot in mainstream
medicine could have big pay-offs. Studies show
that people with chronic pain can lower their
use of painkillers through hypnosis. In the
US, more than 130 people die every day from
overdoses involving addictive prescription
painkillers, most notably opioids. Speaking
at last year’s World Economic Forum,
psychologist David Spiegel at Stanford
University in California pointed out that
hypnotism isn’t addictive and doesn’t kill
people, yet it can have a considerable effect on
pain, and is therefore worth taking seriously.
Does hypnosis work for everyone? No.
But you can try it on yourself for free and
it comes with minimal risks, says Marcou.
“That’s what’s so nice about hypnosis – the
results can be really good, you just need to
be willing to give it a go.” ❚or otherwise – the more easily they can be
incorporated into a learned behaviour.
When it comes to controlling pain,
hypnotism seems to help in a different way.
Pain perception is generated by the brain, and
we know that it can be influenced: consider
the gymnast who breaks their leg halfway
through a routine and carries on, or a mother
who saves her child from a burning building
before noticing her own injuries. Hypnotism
seems to allow us to do something similar.On your wavelength
When Faymonville hypnotised volunteers
before pressing a warm or painfully hot
stimulus on their palm, it lowered the
perceived unpleasantness and intensity of
the pain by about 50 per cent compared with
subjects who were just resting, and by about
40 per cent compared with those told to
distract themselves with a pleasant memory.
A closer look at the brain in this context
shows that hypnosis lowers activity in the
anterior cingulate cortex, a region that receivesHelen Thomson is a consultant for
New Scientist. She is the author of
Unthinkable: An extraordinary journey
through the world’s strangest brains“ For treating anxiety, self-hypnosis or
guided hypnosis were equally good”
hypnotism’s potential, there remain many
questions regarding how it actually works.
But that too is starting to change.
“I don’t think anyone should say ‘yes we
know exactly what hypnosis is’,” says Laurence
Sugarman at the Rochester Institute of
Technology in New York, “but we have some
ideas.” First, he says, we shouldn’t think about
hypnotism as something that induces a single
state, but as a discipline that influences the
brain’s ability to adapt and learn. “It’s a skill
we can use to help us change our mind.”
This adaptability – which is also known as
plasticity – lets the brain modify its neural
connections and rewire itself so that we can
perform novel behaviours, remember new
information and adapt to the variety of
experiences life throws at us. There are
times when the brain is more plastic – the
first few years of life, for instance, or when we
experience strong emotions. It is likely that
hypnosis puts our brain in a state that is
conducive to remoulding, not in one specific
way, but in many different ways depending
on the individual and the therapy involved.
For instance, imaging studies show that
the relaxation part of hypnotic induction
significantly suppresses activity in our frontal
cortex, the brain area responsible for planning,
decision-making and attention. This releases
the brake that it normally puts on other areas
involved in filtering and integrating salient
information from inside and outside our body,
which we use to generate new memories, ideas
and behaviours. Something similar happens
when we drink alcohol, a time when you might
also feel more suggestible.
It seems that while in the hypnotic state,
we can generate more intense sensations in
our mind. Marie-Elisabeth Faymonville, head
of the pain clinic at Liège University Hospital
in Belgium, has found that people who are
hypnotised and asked to imagine a pleasant
memory show more activity in brain areas
responsible for movement and sensations
than people who are merely imagining the
same scene without hypnosis.
“There was no real stimulation coming
from the outside world, but those who were
hypnotised were seeing as if their eyes were
open and information was coming in. It was
similar to real perception,” she says. The
stronger such sensations are – imaginedStart with 5 minutes of calming imagery,
such as imagining your favourite colour
washing over you, or thinking about
floating in a pool of water, while
concentrating on your breath.
Next, imagine yourself in a happy
place – somewhere peaceful that stirs
your senses; you can smell, touch, hear
and see the different aspects of the
images around you. If you are imagining
a day at the beach, for instance, you can
visualise the bright sky above you, feel
the warmth of the sun on your skin, taste
and smell the salt in the air and hear the
sounds of the waves rolling in and out.
Next, it is time to go deeper. To
make yourself feel even more relaxed,
think about descending a spiral staircase,
for instance.
Now repeat affirmations that help you
achieve your desired outcome.How to hypnotise
yourself