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If you thought hypnosis was just about making people quack like a duck when you snap your fingers, think again. Hypnosis is being used more and more frequently to help people get through stressful and painful ordeals — like surgery and giving birth. You heard right: it’s called hypnobirthing, and according to British doctors, the technique produces “really chilled babies.” (Which is to say, cool, Daddy-o babies, not hypothermic ones.) What’s more, the mothers — who learn to induce self-hypnosis rather than having someone dangle a watch in front of their eyes and count backwards — often sail through the birthing process in only a few hours, with fewer complications than usual — and without so much as aspirin. One mother, who describes herself as “a worrier” who had been excessively nervous about giving birth, describes her experience with hypnobirthing this way: “I just breathed her out without drugs it was just great and I could not have wished for anything better.”
Meanwhile, on our side of the pond, a recent study indicates that hypnosis can help women going through breast cancer surgery. 200 women were recruited to undergo just fifteen minutes of hypnosis before surgery — during which they were instructed to relax, and given pleasant mental images to concentrate on — the majority of which reported markedly fewer side effects, pain, nausea or emotional distress after the operation.
If that wasn’t enough, doctors are also beginning to use hypnosis treat conditions as varied as hay fever, asthma, eczema, migraine headaches — and even to aid in the success rate of in-vitro fertilization (studies in Israel have found that hypnotized mothers-in-hoping have twice the chance of becoming pregnant as those not hypnotized).
All that sounds great, but selfish as I am I find myself wondering if I couldn’t use hypnosis to help get through more mundane trials, like having my teeth cleaned at the dentist or getting through a slower-than-molasses rush hour commute.
Have any of you ever been hypnotized? Did it work?
Comments (11)
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Sounds like the ol’ Lamaze Method, which has been around since 1970. I learned it in 1980, when my wife was pregnant with my son, and I’ve used it to varying degrees since for dealing with all kinds of unpleasantness.
posted by Frank on 8-30-2007 at 9:49 am
I use self hypnosis to cure my migraine headaches. Works like a charm. I’ve been doing it since about 8th grade, when a series of migraines kept me out of school for months.
posted by jen on 8-30-2007 at 9:58 am
I used hypnobirthing for my son’s birth, and it went perfectly! While not exactly pleasant, it was peaceful — and no drugs, no pain, no knives. I’ve tried it since for headaches, but it’s not the same. It takes practice — an hour a day for weeks beforehand. That’s a lot of time to put in for a teeth cleaning!
posted by Jen on 8-30-2007 at 10:21 am
My wife used hypnobirthing for 2 of our children. The first one she nearly slept through. Seriously. She woke up with “back pain”, we called the hospital and they said “Sounds like early signs, get some sleep and call us in the morning.” Two hours later she gave birth right there in the bed (which was not our original plan).
For the next, she was induced on schedule (no more babies at home for us). I watched her go through the entire labor, and the only sign of pain or discomfort she ever showed was to twitch her foot. Once again baby came so fast and easy that the doctor literally had one glove on.
posted by Duane on 8-30-2007 at 10:46 am
My wife used hypnobirthing for our child as well. The process takes a lot of concentration and meditation. But it definately helped my wife. We found it to be very natural and peaceful. It’s an excellent alternitave to the westernized medicine approach to child birth.
This method, although compaired to Lamaze, is actually quite different. The methods share some similarities, but Lamaze teaches different breath control and emphsizes pushing. Hypnobirthing never recommends “pushing” or forceing the child. It utilizes different kinds of breath control, and gives the mother mental “scripts” to follow on her path to child birth.
posted by Joseph on 8-30-2007 at 11:53 am
I’ve never actually been hypnotized, but I was once brought up on stage by one of those entertainer-hypnotists. He claimed to be sending anyone who was faking back into the audience, but for some reason he kept me up there the whole time. What you’ve described sounds to me more like willful dissociation or meditation than actual hypnosis.
posted by Jack on 8-30-2007 at 12:30 pm
I have had a few sessions with a hypnotherapist. My reason, I am embarrassed to say, I wanted to have a boyfriend who had just dumped me erased from my mind a la “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” That part didn’t work, because I still remember Joseph Robert Dalton, the malignant narcissisist.
Anyhow, that said, I found it very helpful for replacing some old thought patterns. It worked better than traditional therapy where you just talk until you are supposed to feel better (I could do that with a wall). I mean, at least suggestions are being given to you. But frankly I think that CBT works just as well for the “mind over matter” stuff. Lots of my friends have had great experiences with hypnotherapy for eating disorders and quitting smoking. There is however, no cure in sight for “egomaniacal jackass addiction”, so I had to quit. (Those sessions are $100 a pop by the way!)
posted by Allison on 8-30-2007 at 2:51 pm
I was a dedicated, every-day-all-day nail-biter until my senior year of high school. I had one session with a hypnotist and haven’t bitten a nail since (that was nearly twenty years ago!). Obviously, nail-biting isn’t childbirth, but it worked for me.
posted by LS on 8-30-2007 at 3:16 pm
I have tried to be hypnotized twice, both times with no success. I don’t know if it’s because I basically can’t give up control of myself or something else. I’ve have some success with self-hypnosis, although it’s really more meditation.
posted by Barbara on 8-30-2007 at 8:35 pm
I did hypnobirthing too and it was fantastic. Barbara all hypnosis is self hypnosis it’s nothing to do about giving up control. A good hypnotherpist will explain that to you so you understand how it works and are willing to participate. It feels like going to see a movie – you decide if you want to become engrossed in the movie or not…nobody can make you. I’ll definitely be using it again for my next baby.
posted by Louise on 8-31-2007 at 3:32 am
My sister and I were both born through hypnobirthing (1978, 1981.) My Mother was calm, collected and says that she had regular conversations while undergoing the labor. An added bonus: she says the sensation of childbirth felt similar to an orgasm.
posted by Sara on 9-4-2007 at 11:12 am