Impact of hypnotic safety on disorders of gut-brain interaction: A pilot study, 2020, Damis and Hamilton

Andy

Andy

Retired committee member
Functional gastrointestinal disorders, i.e., abdominal conditions without identifiable structural etiologies, are seen frequently in primary care and specialty practices. As subtle physiological processes have been identified as potential contributing factors to these functional disorders, these disorders have been recently relabeled, Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction (DGBI).

Moreover, some of these processes, e.g., sympathetic nervous system activity and inflammation, are being increasingly related to psychosocial factors such as situational stress and histories of trauma, abuse, and neglect.

As the activity of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) has been long considered to be a contributory factor for DGBI, the present study utilized a theory-driven model based on the Polyvagal Theory to optimize ANS activity for the promotion of healthy digestive activity. Specifically, a hypnotic intervention to increase neuroception of safety was employed with three female college students diagnosed with functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome in a single-subject design.

This intervention was found to be associated with increases in the experience of safe/warm positive affect and decreases in symptoms of functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome as well as depression and anxiety. The hypnotic intervention for the promotion of a sense of safety is recommended for the treatment of other functional somatic disorders as well as trauma-related conditions. Potential complications related to individuals with prolonged trauma and attachment issues also are reviewed.
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Paywall, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00029157.2020.1794434
Sci hub, https://sci-hub.se/10.1080/00029157.2020.1794434
 
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optimize ANS activity for the promotion of healthy digestive activity
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This is plain argle-bargle, gobbledygook and a thesaurusful more. Tune your chakras. Line up your humours. Maximize your Thetans. Synergize your vibrational antenna energy. Or whatever.

The BPS model is basically bringing an alternative medicine approach into formal medicine, giving it the same weight as actual medicine but none of the accountability, oversight or burden of evidence. Well, congratulations, you have so fully embraced alternative medicine that you now think and speak like them, unironically. Bravo.

Truly remarkable in this day and age to actually manage to take an actual field of science and regress it. No small feat. It should be impossible but here it is, unique in all the professions, where it truly is impossible to do this, because no other profession is so completely lacking in oversight and accountability. Not even close.
 
This is just vomit-inducing.

And what on earth is "hypnotic safety"?

This intervention was found to be associated with increases in the experience of safe/warm positive affect
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Yuck, yuck, YUCK.

Many years ago I paid to see a hypnotist to try and get help to stop smoking. In just a few minutes it turned into a terrifying experience. The hypnotist was male. [Edit: And I'm female.] He told me what was about to happen and that I should get on the bed. Then he turned the lights off (he hadn't mentioned that was going to happen) in a room with no windows. It was pitch dark and I could see absolutely nothing. This man was sitting very close to me as well. I hadn't taken much notice of the geography of the room and wasn't sure what furniture was between me and the door. I asked him to turn the lights on. No response. I said it louder. Still no response. In the end I screamed at him to turn the f*****g lights on or I was going to scream my head off calling for the police. He then turned the lights on and I left.

I would never visit a hypnotist ever again!
 
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As I also have an IBS diagnosis, my mother informed me that the local radio station was about to air a segment titled "hypnotising the gut". Hypnosis was being touted as a way to treat IBS, Crohn's and other GI illnesses.

Fearing for my blood pressure, I decided not to listen to it. I did take a quick look at the literature on hypnosis and GI conditions. From what I could see, there were only uncontrolled, unblinded trials using subjective outcome measures. I wish I could say that I was surprised.

I recall this quote from a gastroenterologist in Australia on treating the after-effects of covid:
Post-infectious IBS, at least the kind caused by viruses that have been around longer than the new coronavirus, is tricky but not impossible to treat, Dr Ho says.

"We know that modification of brain chemistry, of neurochemistry can be helpful," he says, adding that mindfulness, cognitive therapy and hypnotherapy have all been shown to help, in addition to dietary measures.
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https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/...zBxQm0-oVUWy3hPjq5T5ri1ltUv0H3hCqctWEteCbE6rs

I would say this is a mainstream view amongst Australian specialists. How can supposedly intelligent, well-educated people believe this drivel?
 
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