Can
Hypnosis Help People With Diabetes?
By
C. Devin Hastings, Hypnotist
This
is a re-print of an article in the
November 1999 issue of Diabetes
Interview.
Hypnosis.
For many, the word conjures up images
that make a person uncomfortable. Many
fear hypnosis because they fear a loss
of control, yet a person is actually
more in control of their body when he or
she is in a state of trance. This fact
should interest people with diabetes,
because control is exactly the issue
that concerns them: controlling blood
sugar levels.
Hypnosis
has been a medically recognized
phenomenon for well over four decades.
In 1958, the American Medical
Association and the American Dental
Association made resolutions recognizing
hypnosis as an accepted form of
treatment in medicine and dentistry.
This was three years after the
British Medical Association passed a
formal resolution approving hypnosis as
a valid therapeutic technique for
treating neuroses and for relieving pain
in surgery and childbirth.
One
example of hypnosis helping people with
diabetes to change their insulin
requirements and sometimes eliminate
them, is illustrated in a case study
found in the book, "Mind-Body
Therapy," by Ernest L.
Rossi, PhD and David B. Cheek, M.D.
"A 33 year-old diabetic woman was
seen in the fourth month of her third
pregnancy in consultation with two other
physicians who felt that her pregnancy
should be terminated because of severe
toxemia and two serious episodes of
diabetic come which had occurred in her
second pregnancy."
Dr.
Cheek then noted that: "With the
hope of understanding her psychological
reactions better, I talked with the
patient and her husband about using
hypnosis to help control pain and thus
help control her insulin needs. Their
interest and response was favorable.
During a two-hour session, the patient
was trained in achieving complete
anesthesia of her abdomen. She was
taught to awaken from hypnosis if a
nurse or physician should enter her room
in order that she might not give a
danergous impression of being in a
diabetic coma. She was much impressed by
her ability to produce anesthesia. On
admission to the hospital she was taking
180 units of insulin a day, using 60
units of protamine zinc, and filling out
her requirements with Regular insulin.
The response to the surgery was
remarkable. She maintained a normal
temperature, pulse, and respiration
after a total hysterectomy under spinal
anesthesia. Her blood sugar never went
over 117 mg. / 100 cc. although she was
eating a regular hospital diet from the
day of surgery. A 3-plus glycosuria on
the day of operation dropped to zero on
the second day. No insulin was used
during the hospital stay. During the
next 11 months, she used only an
occasional dose of insulin during
periods of emotional stress."
If
some people have already realized the
benefits just illustrated, then
doesn’t that open the door to the idea
that many others can also benefit? Think
of it this way: the Wright brothers
started out by flying a mere 11 feet.
And now we have landed people across the
globe and on the moon.
So,
what are some of the ways that a person
with diabetes benefit from hypnosis?
I
discovered that there are 7 ways in
which hypnosis can powerfully help.
Let’s
look at a couple in this article by
starting with this question: what are
some of the areas that cause problems
for diabetics? First and foremost of
course is diet and exercise. Hypnosis
has a long history of helping people to
attain and maintain an ideal and healthy
weight. In other words, hypnosis can
help the diabetic to more easily comply
with the recommendations of their
doctor. In their book, "Clinical
Hypnosis: Principles and Applications,
doctors Harold B. Crasilneck, PhD and
James A. Hall, MD state:
"Hypnotherapy can often help in
treating obesity, an observation that is
one of the most clinically confirmed in
all the literature on hypnosis."
This
brings us to a very important point:
Hypnosis is not meant to, nor could it
ever, replace standard medical
treatment. In fact, hypnosis is most
effective when used in conjunction with
traditional health care. It is also
important to note that hypnotists
are not licensed as medical
practitioners. Therefore, a hypnotist
must always have a doctor's referral
before helping anyone in any manner that
is medically related.
How
can you tell a certified hypnotist? The
first rule, when seeking health care
in any form, is your feelings about your
health consultant, be it a doctor,
herbalist, acupuncturist or hypnotist.
The second qualification, which is
equally important, is the hypnotist's
experience. Training is a bit of a
misnomer. Car mechanics can have all the
training in the world, but they can
still be inept, and have no value to a
consumer. National hypnosis
organizations can help find skilled
hypnotists. There are several bona fide
organizations which exist, but the
largest and oldest by far is The
National Guild of Hypnotists. It has
the largest data base for
experienced hypnotists. Additionally, it
has an annual convention that is
unmatched in its educational scope or
variety by any other hypnosis organization.
Its Web site is www.ngh.net.
So
now you know where to find a qualified
hypnotist, but what can he or she
do for you as a diabetic?
Well, you know that food management is
crucial in diabetes.
Visit any physical therapist who is
helping an amputee to rehabilitate and
you'll understand. Many of those who
have suffered amputations did so because
of their out of control and
indiscriminate eating habits. The
results are horrifying. This is just one
of the many devastating diabetes
complications brought on by a
destructive diet.
Can
people with diabetes avoid this outcome
without having to suffer a lifetime of
denial? Yes. Through the use of
hypnosis, people can actually change
their inner motivations, to decrease
their desire for unhealthy food, and
change bad eating habits. At the same
time, they will actually increase their
desire for healthier foods, and develop
better eating habits.
How
does this occur? The method is complex,
but it can be described concisely.
Hypnosis is your ability to convince
yourself that something is true. When
you believe something, that belief is
reflected in your thoughts, feelings and
actions. So, once you use hypnosis to
convince yourself that you prefer
healthier foods and activities, then it
becomes a habit to think and behave that
way. Think of hypnosis as a lever, a
simple tool that can help people to
remove blocks in their lives that they
were previously impossible to budge. For
each individual, the blocks are
different. The mechanism by which
hypnosis removes these blocks is that
while in trance you have the ability to
perceive things differently. When you
see or think of something differently,
its effect on you is changed.
Do
you have to do it on an ongoing basis?
Some people have been able to
become nonsmokers after one session. For
others, it takes a little while longer.
Changing a belief is as personal and
fickle as getting over a cold. But know
this: it is absolutely proven that it
can be done. The reason I am pioneering
this approach to diabetes management is
because I have successfully used it in
my life. I have changed my eating and
exercise habits and have lost over 40
pounds of weight. My sugars have gone
from 400 to normal ranges with
considerably less oral medication.
Additionally, I have had 9 fillings
drilled and replaced using only
self-hypnosis for anesthesia.
Here's
an example of how you can use the power
of hypnosis right away. The next time
you are faced with a difficult food
choice, such as finishing off all the
food on your plate even though you are
not hungry, close your eyes and take
five deep, belly breaths. With each
breath you inhale, tell yourself that
you feel very full. With each breath you
exhale, tell yourself that it is okay to
not be a member of the clean plate club.
Think about the fact that, whether or
not you eat the food, it ultimately ends
up as waste, either at the restaurant or
in your toilet. By realizing this, you
are releasing yourself from the hypnotic
command that you must eat everything on
your plate. Practice this technique at
least 10 to 15 times and you will notice
a change.
How
else can hypnosis help? Another area in
which hypnosis can help the person with
diabetes is exercise. The hypnotist's
specialty is motivation. In fact, as
defined by The National Guild of
Hypnotists, a hypnotist is a
stress-management consultant and a
motivational coach. Think of the
benefits of being motivated to see
exercise as something you want to
do rather than something you have to do.
In
conclusion, there is overwhelming
evidence that hypnosis can help people
with diabetes because it is a proven
safe and powerful and method of helping
people to change.
For
the interested therapist, Devin is
conducting a 2 day seminar in May of
this year on the applications of
Hypnosis, NLP and Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy to diabetes. This seminar
is being held in England. For more
details about this intense one-of-a kind
seminar, please click
here or call Devin at 612-730-2789.
Thank
you.
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