The Possible Uses of Hypnosis in the Treatment of Depression - Essay Example

The Possible Uses of Hypnosis in the Treatment of Depression INTRODUCTION A patient entering into a state of hypnosis does so through the process of hypnotic induction. This process involves the therapist succeeding in manipulating the patient to focus on a specific object while suggesting diverse modifications in the patient’s perceptions. During the most successful processes, the patient will lapse into a state akin to a deep trance, but this is not always, nor even usually the case. Once the subject enters into a hypnotic state, the therapist then seeks to affect subconscious changes in behavior, address personality disorders, and even reduce the subjective experience of pain. Hypnosis remains one of the least empirically understood medical treatments and still remains subject to scepticism, in part because of its sordid history as a sideshow attraction that often appears to have more in common with magic than medicine. In addition, the true extent of hypnotic suggestion has been exaggerated by media representations in film and television. Even more troubling for some sceptics is that persistent inability to connect the results of successful hypnosis to a clear definition of what hypnosis really is and how it actually works. Hypnosis is actually one of the oldest practiced techniques for intervention, dating back to before the creation of modern psychology, perhaps even preceding the modernisation of medical treatment. Despite this long tradition of a process that at least tangentially resembles contemporary hypnosis, however, divisions still exist over explanations and definitions. Ernest Hilgard posits the notion that hypnosis achieves its desired effect through the creation of a state of altered consciousness in the individual (Hilgard & Hilgard, 1983). In order to achieve this altered state, it becomes necessary for the person to be successfully inducted. Alternative views focus on the concept of suggestibility and rely upon the subject’s level of such to be hypnotised without the necessity of induction (Barber, 1982.) Anxiety disorders ranging from obsessive-compulsive disorder to acute depression have all been subject to treatment via hypnotic suggestion, with varying degrees of success. Using hypnosis to treat depression is considered a viable option by many therapists, and when done it usually proves to be a particularly forceful method. Hypnosis is widely known, and perhaps misunderstood, as a technique to alter behavioral patterns and conquer reinforced negative habits. As such, hypnosis is viewed more as a more technique that succeeds in facilitating personality changes in those subjects eager, but unable to enforce those changes. Since many of the symptoms of depression are related to the incapacity of the afflicted to address their disorder, depression is considered moderately suitable for treatment though hypnotic techniques. SUMMARY OF CONDITION Depression is a chronic disease millions worldwide, though women are roughly twice as likely to be affected as men. Acute clinical depression should not be confused with merely being unhappy or melancholy and the disorder can manifest at any time and under any circumstance; even people who would seem to outsiders to have a nearly perfect life can be subject to clinical depression. The symptoms related to depression are manifested in the expression of emotions and behavior that are obvious signs of a depressed state of mind, including extreme ranges of behavior and a noticeable lack of normal social interaction. In addition, those suffering from emotional depress often suffer physical symptoms that include headaches or a decreased libido, as well as fatigue and lethargy, which can in turn result in sudden weight gain or weight loss.. Depression still has a certain social stigma attached to it, though not nearly to the degree as in the past when it was still viewed by many as a personal character flaw. The causes of clinical depression are still not completely known, but assumed to be the result of an imbalance of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals found within the brain that act to send messages throughout the organ. In concert with the internal causes are external factors related to one’s environment. It is also know that depression is subject to genetic predisposition; as a result, many families can trace depression back through their ancestral lineage. Indeed, it is believed that those whose family has a history of depression are potentially as much as three times more likely to develop the disorder themselves. However, depression is not transmittable, except in the case of genetic transmission through a gene that has been discovered that may be responsible for the development in some cases. Depression intensely afflicts enjoyment of life and often alters the life of the sufferer in intense manners. In addition, depression doesn’t just affect the patient but everyone around him, forcing lifestyle changes upon them as well. Many believe that depression is not completely treatable regardless of the approach; some experience tremendous changes upon initially taking antidepressant medication, only to relapse as the efficacy diminishes. The glut of medication to treat depression often make that kind of treatment almost worse than the disease. In order to fully comprehend whether a certain drug actually works, it usually must be taken for at least a month. Some depression sufferers may have to go through this process for over a year before they finally find a medication that helps. The frustration and expense and unpleasant side effects associated with these drugs very often lead patients to try alternative treatments including electro-convulsive therapy and hypnosis. MAIN BODY The history of modern hypnosis traces back to Franz Anton Mesmer, an Austrian physicist who conducted research into the subject during the 18th century that became the standard for the creation of contemporary hypnotherapy whose research in the 1700s became the basis for modern hypnosis. Mesmer engaged the use of magnetism, believing there was a magnetic element in air that could be ingested into the body through the act of breathing. Mesmer used the magnets to attempt to facilitate an uptick in the circulation of this magnetic element (Spiegel & Spiegel 2004). Hypnosis came back to earth later through modernisation and focusing on perceptual abilities as they related to psychological conditions. It would not be until the early 20th century that psychologist Clark L. Hull introduced the full aspects of human conditioning to the arena of hypnosis (Hilgard & Hilgard, 1983). Hypnosis is often thought to be a process in which the patient is actually asleep or unconscious, but this is not the case. The patient actually enters into a state of profoundly intense relaxation in which the patient is subject’s natural suggestibility is enhance and manipulated (Hadley & Staudacher, 1999). This process is called hypnotic induction, and when a patient gives in to it, the state is not akin to sleep, but is rather closer to a daydream. The importance of relaxation is related to suggestibility; the more relaxed the subject, the more resistant he becomes. Since the patient becomes very relaxed during the induction, he does not like to initiating actions. The result is that he becomes more malleable to accepting what the therapist might suggest. There are various methods of induction that can be utilised and the choice depends in great part upon the specific personality traits of the subject, as well as suggestibility. There are four steps in the induction procedure: Limiting outward sensory input, manipulating attention, the repetition of stimulation in a soothing, monotonous way, and creating an emotional relationship between the physician and the subject. The typical induction technique involves having the patient stand rigidly while the therapist gives suggestion, following by having the patient focus on a specific location while the hypnotist speaks in a slow, emotionless way, urging relaxation. Another technique for induction involves the use of medication to facilitate relaxation. Still another technique calls for the direction of the patient to focus on a certain stimulus such as the ticking of a clock while he reclines with closed eyes (Murphy, 2001). Studies have indicated that not everyone can be hypnotised, though roughly 80% of the general population are capable of entering into some kind of hypnotic state. It is believed that about 20% of the population can enter into a deep trancelike state in which they may be capable of actually hallucinating or withstanding pain that they would not otherwise. Age is also a factor in the suggestibility, with the height of susceptibility for most people occurring during childhood. There is also a division between genders, with women proving to be more suggestible than men. Of course, these are all flexible rules; the suggestibility of individual patients can fluctuate from session to session. This fluctuation is related at least in part to the emotional state of the patient (Karle & Boys, 1987). As indicated earlier, there are several varying levels of degree to the state of relaxation that a patient can enter. In order to determine before the procedure what the expectations might be, patients are first given a test that aids in determining their degree of hypnotisability. Although this test is intended merely to be a guide, it has proven surprisingly accurate in indicating just how deeply the subject may give in to the relaxation techniques. This level is important because in treating depression and other anxiety disorders. While a deep level is preferable for specific modification, a light trance has actually proven more reliable for treating depression and similar disorders. When a patient struggles against entering into a light trance even when his tests reveal him to be susceptible to entering a deeper trance, the therapist will often try a procedure known as paradoxical induction. The purpose of this method is to break past the patient’s resistance under a light trance to admitting to and understanding the connections of past trauma and his depressed state are heightened. In essence, paradoxical injunction might be termed a method of hypnotherapy in which the doctor confronts the patient to reveal why he is resisting hypnotic suggestion. The situation then becomes one where the patient can only resist slipping into a hypnotic state by resisting what the therapist is telling him to; the paradox is that by resisting the subject becomes more suggestible to relaxation. Hypnotherapy appears to be most effective when it is applied following a known trauma. While this can be a physical trauma such as sexual abuse, it also applies to long-term psychological trauma, ranging from verbal abuse to stress following an intensely unpleasant circumstance such as might be experienced by a soldier during war. Indeed, the patient suffering from depression need not necessarily be the victim of abuse, but the perpetrator. In addition, when dealing with suspected psychological trauma that has been repressed, hypnosis is often, and controversially, used to retrieve forgotten memories. One theory of depression treatment centers on the effect of releasing endorphins, the chemical that prompts, among other thing, the so-called runner’s high. Endorphin release typically results in a person experiencing a heightened sense of positive emotions; in certain cases people report feeling euphoric. One method of hypnotherapy is to give a verbal suggestion to the patient that are designed to release these endorphins. Contraindications related to hypnotherapy are primarily related to concerns about the efficacy of treatment. Despite the fact that most people are believed to have a high enough level of hypnotisability, it has been estimated that up to 40% of patients are not sufficiently susceptible to suggestion to make hypnosis a worthwhile treatment. Another concern is that many subjects have been urged toward hypnosis by family members or friends and do not really desire to undergo the kind of behavioral changes that may be suggested or desired by others. Finally, there is a contraindication specifically related to manic-depression. Hypnosis is generally discouraged as a treatment to those suffering manic-depressive episodes due to the tendency of the unstable variabilities of these individuals regarding the formation of interpersonal relationships. The primary concern has to do with the idealistic expectations of the manic-depressive and the potential for irreparable damage to the bond with his therapist should the hypnotherapy fail to fulfill the patient’s already high expectations (Brown & Fromm, 1986). CONCLUSION Resistance to hypnosis as a viable therapy technique to deal with clinical depression remains high. Not only is there resistance on the basis of not knowing exactly how it works, there is resistance due to the fact that suggestibility carries with the threat of altering the basic character of a patient by tampering not only with the cause and effect of his depression, but also unwittingly altering other natural aspects of his personality. There even remains significant debate over the actual role of the therapist with some arguing that any hypnotic state is actually self-induced, such as when one begins to drift off during a boring conversation or a relaxing environment. Taken from this perspective, the therapist acts merely as a kind of guide after the hypnotic state has been achieved. In this view, the hypnotist is only a guide who facilitates the process. And yet, medical technology has revealed that brain activity does change as a result of hypnosis. Electroencephalographs (EEGs) that measure electrical activity taking place within the brain reveal that the rhythms of brain waves undergo significant change dependent upon the mental state of the subject. EEGs that have been taken of patient while under the effect of hypnosis demonstrated a rise in those brain wave of a lesser frequency that are related to sleeping state, while revealing a reduction in the high frequency waves experienced during normal consciousness (Frank & Mooney, 2002). Brain waves alone are not enough to suggest that hypnosis actually affects change, but the evidence certainly indicates that something is taking place. The fact that nobody really knows what that something is only serves to raise more questions about the reliability of hypnosis as a means of treating depression. References TREATING DEPRESSION WITH HYPNOSIS. BY MICHAEL D. YAPKO. HYPNOSIS & COUNSELLING IN THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC ILLNESS. BY DAVID FRANK & BERNARD MOONEY. HYPNOSIS IN THE RELIEF OF PAIN. BY ERNEST R. HILGARD & JOSEPHINE HILGARD. TRANCE AND TREATMENT. CLINICAL USES OF HYPNOSIS. BY HERBERT SPIEGEL & DAVID SPIEGEL. THE POWER OF YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND. BY DR JOSEPH MURPHY. HYPNOTHERAPY A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK. BY HELLMUT KARLE & JENNIFER BOYS. HYPNOSIS FOR CHANGE. BY JOSIE HADLEY & CAROL STAUDACHER. HYPNOTHERAPY AND HYPNOANALYSIS. BY DANIEL P. BROWN AND ERKIA FROMM. Read More