Is Hypnotherapy The Best Treatment For Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
Irritable Bowel Syndrome is very common and it is estimated that as much as twenty percent of the global population has or had IBS. It is the most common gastrointestinal condition seen by the family doctor and Gastroenterologist. In addition, it is not just a heavy burden on the patient, but also to the Health Professionals, the Health Providers and Industry in general. In IBS, there is no abnormality of the gut, yet there are distressing symptoms.
Of all the treatments available for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, hypnotherapy is the only one that produces the best long term benefits. The majority of Gastroenterologists think hypnotherapy should be reserved for severe or refractory IBS. I disagree.
To understand why hypnotherapy is effective in Irritable Bowel Syndrome, you must understand how hypnotherapy actually works. During hypnotherapy, the hypnotist attempts to create a trance state. The main intention is to put the subject into theta brainwave state. Awake and alert you are at Beta state.
When you are at Theta brainwave state, you are hyper-suggestible. In other words what ever the hypnotist says is likely to reach the Subconscious Mind because the filters that are likely to reject this information are relaxed.
REM sleep occurs in Theta brainwave state. When you dream during sleep, it is as a result of dropping into Theta state. The hypnotherapist has access to the REM state. In the REM state is the Reality Generator. In this state, the hypnotherapist can now produce powerful visualisation and it will be as real as in a dream. The brain in this state cannot tell the difference between what is real or unreal.
Visualisation and post hypnotic suggestions are ineffective unless the subject is at Theta brainwave state. In Irritable Bowel Syndrome there are layers upon layers of negative information stored in the Subconscious Mind. The hypnotherapist can gradually remove them and replace them with positive ones. It is only when this happens that the Irritable Bowel Syndrome sufferer changes belief, perception and expectation. This is when symptoms begin to improve.
Although there is likely to be excellent results following hypnotherapy, in IBS patients relapse can happen if doubts creep in that symptoms are going to return. Once thoughts are channelled in this direction, it is like giving the go ahead for symptoms to return. When symptoms return, more and more negative thoughts take residence in the Subconscious Mind and you are back to the same old familiar IBS.
It is my belief that hypnotherapy should not only be offered to difficult to treat or severe IBS patients but to everyone with IBS. Severe or refractory IBS usually develop after some time. Most refractory IBS sufferers have IBS for as long as twenty years and when whatever they tried failed, it anchors another negative thought until nothing works any more. Such patients have layers upon layers of negative information and become more difficult to remove by the hypnotherapist.
Patients with severe or refractory IBS will need at least twelve weeks of hypnotherapy and often supplemented by self hypnosis at home. Research has shown very good results in these cases. There may be several explanation why hypnotherapy works in such cases but the simplest one is that the hypnotherapist is replacing negative information with positive ones in the minds of the IBS patients. It therefore makes sense that hypnotherapy should be offered as early as possible and thereby reduce several years of unnecessary distress in a condition where there is no real disease process.
Of all the treatments available for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, hypnotherapy is the only one that produces the best long term benefits. The majority of Gastroenterologists think hypnotherapy should be reserved for severe or refractory IBS. I disagree.
To understand why hypnotherapy is effective in Irritable Bowel Syndrome, you must understand how hypnotherapy actually works. During hypnotherapy, the hypnotist attempts to create a trance state. The main intention is to put the subject into theta brainwave state. Awake and alert you are at Beta state.
When you are at Theta brainwave state, you are hyper-suggestible. In other words what ever the hypnotist says is likely to reach the Subconscious Mind because the filters that are likely to reject this information are relaxed.
REM sleep occurs in Theta brainwave state. When you dream during sleep, it is as a result of dropping into Theta state. The hypnotherapist has access to the REM state. In the REM state is the Reality Generator. In this state, the hypnotherapist can now produce powerful visualisation and it will be as real as in a dream. The brain in this state cannot tell the difference between what is real or unreal.
Visualisation and post hypnotic suggestions are ineffective unless the subject is at Theta brainwave state. In Irritable Bowel Syndrome there are layers upon layers of negative information stored in the Subconscious Mind. The hypnotherapist can gradually remove them and replace them with positive ones. It is only when this happens that the Irritable Bowel Syndrome sufferer changes belief, perception and expectation. This is when symptoms begin to improve.
Although there is likely to be excellent results following hypnotherapy, in IBS patients relapse can happen if doubts creep in that symptoms are going to return. Once thoughts are channelled in this direction, it is like giving the go ahead for symptoms to return. When symptoms return, more and more negative thoughts take residence in the Subconscious Mind and you are back to the same old familiar IBS.
It is my belief that hypnotherapy should not only be offered to difficult to treat or severe IBS patients but to everyone with IBS. Severe or refractory IBS usually develop after some time. Most refractory IBS sufferers have IBS for as long as twenty years and when whatever they tried failed, it anchors another negative thought until nothing works any more. Such patients have layers upon layers of negative information and become more difficult to remove by the hypnotherapist.
Patients with severe or refractory IBS will need at least twelve weeks of hypnotherapy and often supplemented by self hypnosis at home. Research has shown very good results in these cases. There may be several explanation why hypnotherapy works in such cases but the simplest one is that the hypnotherapist is replacing negative information with positive ones in the minds of the IBS patients. It therefore makes sense that hypnotherapy should be offered as early as possible and thereby reduce several years of unnecessary distress in a condition where there is no real disease process.
About the Author:
Dr. Phil Hariram, after over twenty years of treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome, has produced The Healing IBS Program. This treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome is as good as or even better than treatment with hypnotherapy.
By Dimas Prast
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