Hypnosis and Its Role in Treating Substance Abuse and Related Disorders

The American Journal of Clinic Hypnosis of July 2004 by Gregg Potter

Addiction hypnosis treatment is becoming a popular and viable treatment option. There are plenty of studies that show how hypnosis helps drug addicts have raised self-esteem, serenity, and lowered impulsivity.

Besides treating drug and alcohol addiction issues, hypnosis has been documented to treat various types of ailments.

A study was conducted on self-hypnosis and involved chronic drug users and alcohol users. The study sought to seek the relationship between self -hypnosis and relapse prevention.

The study involved 261 participants who were admitted to the SARRTPs program. Subjects who repeatedly did self-hypnosis twice for 3-5 weeks reported the highest levels of improved serenity and self-esteem seven weeks later after a follow-up.

Hypnosis for Cocaine Addicts

Cocaine addicts who took 5 grams of cocaine daily were able to overcome their addiction after a hypnosis treatment session successfully.

One of the subjects was a female in her late twenties who was a cocaine addict for eight years. She underwent hypnosis thrice daily for the next four months. Nine years later, she is drug-free. Hypnosis was her only possible intervention as she lacked a support network.

Hypnosis and Improved Healing

There are other case studies with fascinating statistics. A study conducted by Harvard University revealed that hypnosis significantly decreases the time required to heal.

Here are two case studies.

41 percent of patients who underwent a need surgery showed quick recovery after their hypnosis treatment session compared to their non-hypnosis counterparts.

1. following an ankle fracture six weeks earlier, patients in the hypnosis group showed quick recovery in 8 and a half weeks.
2. Three groups of people underwent a breast reduction surgery. The hypnosis group showed quick recovery compared to those in the support and control group.