Hypnosis improves irritable bowel disorder

The severity of symptoms and the quality of life for people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) improves substantially with hypnotherapy. Researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, included seventy-five patients with IBS - 55 women and 20 men – in a study. The subjects received 5 to 7-1/2 hours of hypnotherapy over a three-month period. Hypnotherapy was induced by eye fixation and this was followed by conventional deepening and relaxation techniques. Patients were encouraged to visualise the gut as a river, which they perceived as motionless, for example, if they suffered from constipation, and then as a free-flowing river. The opposite imagery was evoked for patients with diarrhoea. The participants were instructed in self-hypnosis and given audiocassettes to use at home to reinforce the effects of hypnotherapy. Patients recorded IBS symptoms for seven days prior to undergoing the treatment. Abdominal pain was reported by 61 percent, altered bowel habits by 38 percent and abdominal distension or bloating by 7 percent. An IBS-specific quality-of-life questionnaire was administered to assess emotional and mental health, sleep, physical function, energy and social function. Psychological well-being was also assessed, focussing on symptoms of anxiety and depression. It was found that there was a statistically significant improvement in severity of symptoms after hypnotherapy, which was administered by a nurse. Significant improvements were reported for six of the eight items on the quality-of-life questionnaire. Gut-directed hypnotherapy has a very positive impact on health-related quality of life with improvements in psychological well-being and physical symptoms. It appears most effective in patients with abdominal pain and distension. However, further research is required before this can be used in clinical practice.