22/03/2010

Study investigates power of hypnotherapy on pain

A recent study on how cancer patients can best deal with their pain and suffering has used hypnotherapy as a treatment.

The study "Effects of supportive-expressive group therapy on pain in women with metastatic breast cancer" was published in Psychology Health earlier this year. In the study, researchers examined the effects of group sessions with hypnotherapy and advice on pain control for women suffering from the effects of metastatic breast cancer.

124 women in total were followed for 12 months as part of the study. They were divided into two groups, one which was given group hypnotherapy and advice on pain management and another 'control' group which only received clinical advice. Each group was given interviews at four month intervals to ascertain if their treatment had had any effect on the frequency of pain, their degree of constant pain and their overall subjective levels of pain and suffering.

Although the hypnotherapy group didn't report any effect on the frequency or constancy of episodes of pain, they did note that the treatment did help manage their levels of pain in comparison to the control group, reporting that the intensity of their discomfort didn't increase as time went on.

Another finding of the study revealed that patients who were more susceptible to hypnosis and hypnotherapy, referred to as demonstrating "high hypnotizability" actually benefited more from the treatment. According to the study's abstract, these people reported that they employed self-hypnosis techniques to treat other symptoms than pain. Although the abstract does not detail which symptoms, it possibly refers to the itching or increased sensitivity experienced by breast cancer patients.

The authors of the study, from the department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Sciences at Stanford University's School of Medicine, concluded that "These results augment  the growing literature supporting the use of hypnosis as an adjunctive treatment for medical patients experiencing pain."

Dr Lisa D. Butler, head of the study, said "The results of this study suggest that the experience of pain and suffering for patients with metastatic breast cancer can be successfully reduced with an intervention that includes hypnosis in a group therapy setting."