Friday, July 11. 2008
Under the knife with Hypnosis
"At a hospital in Peterborough, Bernadine Coady, has been having routine knee surgery.
But unlike most patients, she was not given any anaesthetic - instead, the 67-year-old claimed she used self-hypnosis to control the pain.
She told surgeon Ahmed Shair of the private Orthopaedics and Spine Specialist Hospital in Cambridgeshire that she could feel only tugging and pulling.
Despite much research, nobody knows exactly how the technique works but Mrs Coady says anyone is capable of using self-hypnosis to control pain if they train their mind."
(BBC News - Monday, 7 July 2008 (Video available))
What a shining example of the power of self-hypnosis, and hats off to Bernadine, not only for doing it all on her own - but also having a film crew in the operating theatre with her every step of the way.
Hypnosis has been used as a form of pain control for centuries, but fell out of popular use when modern anaesthetics were developed. However, some progressive modern surgeons (notably Irish surgeon, Dr Jack Gibson) have continued to use it in their work. Dr Jack, now 92 (and still working!), has performed over 4000 procedures using hypnosis instead of anaesthetic.
Modern neuroscience suggests that hypnosis works the same way as an anaesthetic - by blocking or altering the way the mind processes the pain signals coming from the body. MRI scans show the physical brain activity actually changes as a person goes into self hypnosis. Unlike anaesthetic, however, Hypnosis has no side effects, and studies show that patients actually recover much faster.
From our perspective, it is great to see yet more unquestionable proof that hypnosis works - helping to dispel further the hollywood myths and stage show shenanigans that have dogged its past. The mind is a powerful thing, and hypnosis allows each one of us to tap into its full power to make change in our lives - if we will allow ourselves to do so.
But unlike most patients, she was not given any anaesthetic - instead, the 67-year-old claimed she used self-hypnosis to control the pain.
She told surgeon Ahmed Shair of the private Orthopaedics and Spine Specialist Hospital in Cambridgeshire that she could feel only tugging and pulling.
Despite much research, nobody knows exactly how the technique works but Mrs Coady says anyone is capable of using self-hypnosis to control pain if they train their mind."
(BBC News - Monday, 7 July 2008 (Video available))
What a shining example of the power of self-hypnosis, and hats off to Bernadine, not only for doing it all on her own - but also having a film crew in the operating theatre with her every step of the way.
Hypnosis has been used as a form of pain control for centuries, but fell out of popular use when modern anaesthetics were developed. However, some progressive modern surgeons (notably Irish surgeon, Dr Jack Gibson) have continued to use it in their work. Dr Jack, now 92 (and still working!), has performed over 4000 procedures using hypnosis instead of anaesthetic.
Modern neuroscience suggests that hypnosis works the same way as an anaesthetic - by blocking or altering the way the mind processes the pain signals coming from the body. MRI scans show the physical brain activity actually changes as a person goes into self hypnosis. Unlike anaesthetic, however, Hypnosis has no side effects, and studies show that patients actually recover much faster.
From our perspective, it is great to see yet more unquestionable proof that hypnosis works - helping to dispel further the hollywood myths and stage show shenanigans that have dogged its past. The mind is a powerful thing, and hypnosis allows each one of us to tap into its full power to make change in our lives - if we will allow ourselves to do so.
Tuesday, November 7. 2006
Science finally tackles hypnosis
It seems hypnosis has been nearly everywhere over the past few centuries: onstage with entertainers swinging fat, gold watches; on couches with reclining psychoanalysis patients; in movies, books, and even children's cartoons. But the one gig hypnosis couldn't get was the scientific laboratory.
Until now.
The long-controversial practice of inducing a trancelike state through suggestion is getting a modern makeover by scientists armed with the latest neuroimaging tools and techniques. These researchers are beginning to offer evidence that, neurologically at least, hypnosis is entirely real.
"It makes sense that we are using modern tools of neuroscience research to understand what is a fascinating phenomenon," said David Spiegel, a psychiatrist at Stanford University. "It's good for hypnosis, and it's good for neuroscience."
Read the full article - (Seed Magazine - 20th October 2006)
Until now.
The long-controversial practice of inducing a trancelike state through suggestion is getting a modern makeover by scientists armed with the latest neuroimaging tools and techniques. These researchers are beginning to offer evidence that, neurologically at least, hypnosis is entirely real.
"It makes sense that we are using modern tools of neuroscience research to understand what is a fascinating phenomenon," said David Spiegel, a psychiatrist at Stanford University. "It's good for hypnosis, and it's good for neuroscience."
Read the full article - (Seed Magazine - 20th October 2006)
Sunday, November 27. 2005
This Is Your Brain Under Hypnosis
An article in the New York Times highlights recent brain studies which indicate that when people are acting under hypnotic suggestions, their brains show profound changes in how they process information. The suggestions, researchers report, literally change what people see, hear, feel and believe to be true.
(New York Times - 22nd November 2005)
(New York Times - 22nd November 2005)
Continue reading "This Is Your Brain Under Hypnosis"
Monday, September 12. 2005
You won't feel a thing
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) a team of neuroscientists at the University of Pittsburgh have seen hypnosis actually working on the brain. In a study to be published this year, a group of patients with the painful rheumatic condition fibromyalgia were hypnotised to imagine a dial controlling their pain levels and the brain activity monitored by the scan.
(The Times - 12th September 2005)
(The Times - 12th September 2005)
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