PAIN REALLY IS ‘ALL IN THE MIND’ …. says who?

• 22:00 23 June 2003
• New Scientist.com news service
• Journal reference: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1430684100)

Doctors and nurses have known for many years that some people are more sensitive to pain than others. Now brain scans of people experiencing the same painful stimulus have provided the first proof that this is so. But the scans also suggest that how much something hurts really is “all in the mind”.

“We saw a huge variation between responses to the same stimulus,” says project leader Bob Coghill of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “The message is: trust what patients are telling you.”

Coghill tested the pain tolerance of 17 healthy volunteers by applying heat to the back of their calves. He varied the heat from around body temperature to 49 °C, the temperature of very hot washing-up water.

Volunteers asked to rate the pain on a scale of zero to 10 showed huge variations. One resilient volunteer rated pain at the hottest temperature at just over one, whereas another could scarcely bear it at all, rating it at almost nine.

The Power of the Mind - Illnes overcome

Milton Erickson was a medical oddity in that he contracted 2 of the 3 possible strands of Polio at different points of his life. The first was when he was still in high school. 

The disease took such a hold that his physician did not believe he would survive that night. Later accounts say that Erickson said that "he should not have said that; it upset my mother", he requested that his mother move the bureau with its mirror so that he could see outside as a reflection of the mirror. After Erickson saw the sun rise that first morning he slipped into a coma for 3 days. I mention this story because, when he eventually recovered, he needed to learn to walk and talk again, which he achieved by watching his young sister learning these things for herself.

Because of this early experience, I believe it is safe to say that Erickson was a master of observation. It was said that he could pace his hypnotic work by watching the pulse of the small vein at the side of a client's head by the eye.

Erickson is considered by many to be the father of modern hypnotherapy, he was a psychiatrist and psychologist who brought hypnosis to the attention of the medical and psychological establishment.

Erickson was unique in that he was both a qualified psychologist as well as being a psychiatrist. He was also the product of his generation, he had very strong opinions as to who should be allowed to practice the art. In his opinion, only people with a medical or psychological background should be allowed to practice hypnotherapy. Sadly I believe he was misguided by this opinion in that he lost an opportunity to bring the two "wings" of the profession together in co-operation rather than the distrust and in some cases hostility that exists between the licensed hypnotic practitioner and the professional hypnotic practitioner.

 Taken from: "Milton H Erickson: The Greatest of All Time?"

by Shaun Brookhouse, GCGI, MA, PhD, CertEd, CMI, FNGH.

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When I am in pain what can I do?

Many people, including health professionals as a means of improving or enhancing the quality of life, are increasingly accepting hypnotherapy. It is an effective and proven aid that can assist with all sorts of life-affecting issues. If you are wondering how hypnosis can help with your pain management, then look no further.

Thankfully, we can effectively “switch off” or “turn down” pain almost as easily as we would switch off light or turn a dimmer switch, how is this possible? Because pain is a sensation which is dependent on the consciousness, so remove the conscious awareness of pain and you have … no pain. Too simple?  Not at all, hypnosis takes the conscious and puts it aside to ask the unconscious to help, and there you have it, both these are only going to act in your best interests, the self preservation factor again. It is a well know fact that distraction may temporarily remove many sensations including that of pain.

But first to we have to take into consideration what purpose that pain is serving, is it a warning to stop doing something before it harms a person, either physical or mental pain comes to serve this purpose. For this reason your hypnotherapist will want to know who your doctor is if s/he can contact him / her and what is the diagnostic cause of the pain.

Pain is an unconsciously controlled signal and hypnosis works best in helping us to exert some level of control over our unconscious mind and those functions, which run ‘beneath’ our conscious awareness.

Thought Field Therapy [TFT] though sounding rather scientific, is simply using acupressure points to remove upsets in our bodies many systems, it is sometimes called ‘tapping therapy’, and is proven very effective with the trauma of operations and serious illness for both patient and their families, and has been pioneered in war-torn countries and also the victims of disaster.

TFT or ‘tapping’ as it’s become known as, can help with the stress of pain but not mend a broken bone!

You might have already tried several different “alternative” therapies and have found that they have perhaps given you some temporary relief but the problems returned and could now seem even worse than before. Perhaps you have heard about the significant difference hypnotherapy has made to other people’s lives, but still can’t decide if it is right for you.

Hypnotherapy is not an alternative, but a complementary therapy, the majority of doctors are more than willing to train in this interesting science, and actively encourage their patients to employ this form of self-help.

Looking at this website is your first step to achieve positive change in your life. The latest techniques are employed to help you achieve your desired state.

Don’t be Sad

Don’t be Nervous

Don’t Smoke

Don’t Think of a ‘Pink Elephant’

If you read those words without just scanning across them and still managed to do all those things, then you’re superhuman, because you see, it’s practically impossible to not think of something without exactly that exact thing springing to mind.

Pain is just like this, an intrusion into the thoughts, as I’m sure you don’t need to be told! The only way to permanently make any change in the system is to firmly implant the new thinking into the subconscious and make it your new way of life permanently, and that’s where hypnotherapy comes in.

So, all this talk about using the power of positive thinking and will-power to stop smoking or get out of a depressed mood is balderdash. Your imagination and inner feelings and thoughts will always win hands-down against will-power.

That’s not to say that making affirmations would not work. If you repeatedly say to yourself that you are getting better with each day that comes, it will soon become accepted deep-down and will inevitably become a new part of your being.

HYPNOSIS is an altered state, a special psychological state, resembling sleep only superficially, and marked by the functioning of the individual at a level of awareness other than the ordinary conscious state. The state is characterised by a degree of increased receptiveness, during which a therapist can suggest that a client changes their perception of their reality in a way that improves their lives.

The hypnotic context is generally established by an induction procedure. Although there are many different hypnotic inductions, most include suggestions for relaxation, calmness, and well-being. Instructions to imagine or think about pleasant experiences are also commonly included in hypnotic inductions.

People respond to hypnosis in different ways. Some describe hypnosis as a normal state of focused attention, in which they feel very calm and relaxed. Regardless of how and to what degree they respond, most people describe the experience as very pleasant.

Some people are very responsive to hypnotic suggestions and others are less responsive. A person’s ability to experience hypnotic suggestions can be inhibited by fears and concerns arising from some common misconceptions. Contrary to some depictions of hypnosis in books, movies or television, people who have been hypnotised do not lose control over their behaviour. They typically remain aware of who they are and where they are, and unless amnesia has been specifically suggested, they usually remember what transpired during hypnosis. Hypnosis makes it easier for people to experience suggestions, but it does not force them to have these experiences.

Unlike some drugs and treatments, hypnotherapists say “hypnotism has no side effects, causes no allergic reactions, is not addictive” and is relatively cheap, since patients can be taught to hypnotise themselves. Moreover, hypnotic effects are real as some studies involving brain scans have shown changes in brain activity during hypnosis.