Hypnosis: Is it Real or is it a Placebo?

Many remain sceptical about hypnosis, particularly within medical circles, citing a supposed lack of scientific validation. However, the facts tell a different story.

Another common belief is that hypnosis might be nothing more than a placebo. To examine this, we must first understand what a placebo is.

placebo | pləˈsiːbəʊ |
a medicine or procedure prescribed for the psychological benefit to the patient rather than for any physiological effect

Drs. David Frank and Bernard Mooney, in their book Hypnosis & Counselling in the Treatment of Chronic Illness, discuss the powerful influence of the placebo.

A terminally ill cancer patient heard that a new drug (Krebiozen) was being tested in the hospital where he was lying, not expecting to live. He begged for the new medication, and eventually he was given some. Ten days later there were no traces of the tumours, which had been as big as oranges. He was discharged. Two months later he was back in hospital, his faith shattered by unfavourable press reports of the drug, and his cancer reactivated. A doctor then gave him an injection of pure water, telling him it was a new type of double-strength Krebiozen, whereupon the patient recovered even more rapidly than before and again was discharged. Two months later he again learned that the American Medical Association had declared Krebiozen to be worthless. Within two days of returning to hospital, he was dead.

In numerous other instances, patients who received sugar pills or saline injections have shown remarkable improvements. In the Krebiozen case, the suggestion of the drug’s effectiveness was enough to eradicate the illness entirely.

The Placebo Effect in Practice

Placebos are frequently used in medical trials, not as mere controls, but to determine whether a new drug performs better than the placebo.

The following italicised paragraphs are extracts from Hypnosis & Counselling in the Treatment of Chronic Illness:

Between 1959 and 1962, Researchers Lowinger and Dobie tested the placebo response rate in four separate double-blind drug studies. The subjects of each study included 30 to 40 per cent schizophrenic patients, with the remainder being divided between those with personality disorders and psychoneurotics.

In the first study, … placebo improvement rate was 24 per cent of the patients, while 30 per cent of the mephanoxalone patients responded.

In the second study, … 25 placebo patients showed a 74 per cent improvement, while the 20 captodiame hydrochloride subjects showed a 60 per cent improvement, and the 18 amobarbital patients were 78 per cent improved.

In the third study, … results showed a 35 per cent placebo improvement rate in one month, while the trifluoperazine rate was 32 per cent, chlordiazepoxide 16 per cent and meprobomate 29 per cent.

The fourth study was a repetition of the third study, with double doses of the medication. In one month the 19 placebo subjects had an improvement rate of 76 per cent. The rate of the 15 trifluoperazine patients was 67 per cent; the 15 chlor-diazepoxide subjects had a rate of 87 per cent, while the 16 meprobamate patients had a rate of 44 per cent.

These results highlight that placebos often match or even outperform the active drugs tested in clinical trials.

Lowinger and Dobies, then compared 15 different studies. Results showed significant therapeutic effects, ranging from 26 per cent to 58 per cent, with an average of 35 per cent. The conditions included wound pain, angina pectoris, headache, nausea, cough, seasickness, the common cold and anxiety.


The placebo effect… can also be observed in surgical procedures. Researchers led by Edmunds G. Dimond of the University of Kansas Medical Center in the late 1950s investigated the effectiveness of the then routine arterial ligation surgery to treat angina pectoris. The doctors performed the surgical procedure in one set of thirteen patients; with a second group of five patients, they made only a chest incision but did no further surgery. Among the patients who received the actual surgery, 76 percent improved. Notably, 100 percent of the placebo group got better.

A 1996 BBC television programme investigating headache tablets showed that the placebo was 50 per cent effective. The actual medication was also only 50 per cent effective. However, the placebo did not cause a headache as the medication did.

These examples illustrate how psychological expectations can override physical symptoms. This mechanism, known as the placebo effect, offers immense healing potential and merits further research.

Is Hypnosis a Placebo Effect?

Could hypnosis simply be a more elaborate placebo?

The researchers C J Peek and J D Frank have studies to show the non-placebo nature of a treatment. Further research into pain control using hypnosis, compared with pain control with placebo, has shown consistently that hypnosis produces much longer actual pain reductions than those achieved with placebo.

Hypnosis actually has a much more lasting effect on pain reduction compared with placebo. The main reason is hypnosis leverages on the individual’s imaginative powers to reduce the pain, or even for anxiety and depression. It’s for this reason that self-hypnosis has a profound effect on individuals who practice it regularly.

1. A person, whose self-confidence was low for many years, had not been able to obtain a job appropriate to her abilities.
   After a self-hypnosis course, her confidence increased. Later, she informed us that she had completed a successful interview for a prestigious job.
2. One woman, who came on the course out of general interest, later reported to us her success in reducing eczema, overcoming her fear of heights and having a comfortable child-birth. She concluded that the course had changed her life.

In the self-hypnosis I teach, I guide individuals to visualise their desired outcome with as much clarity as possible. Using a car analogy, thoughts are likened to the steering wheel, while emotions are the accelerator. The more emotionally invested one is in the positive thought, the quicker it becomes a reality. A healthy and vivid imagination plays a big role in kindling these positive feelings.

During my hypnotherapy sessions, I build upon this foundation by revisiting past adverse events. Through guided visualisation, clients relive these moments, releasing pent-up emotions that continue to affect them. In a mentally secure space, they “converse” with those who wronged them, which often brings about a cathartic sense of closure.

Parting Words

So, is hypnosis real or merely a variation of the placebo effect?

The placebo effect, proven time and time again in drug trials, is undeniably effective. It has tangible value; we should celebrate the placebo effect and encourage its use. Hence, if hypnosis were merely a placebo, this should only encourage its wider use in therapeutic contexts, just as doctors help their patients with dud pills and injections.

One challenge lies in scientifically proving hypnosis because there is no universally recognised medical definition for a hypnotic trance. At best, brainwave patterns during hypnosis resemble those of experienced meditators. Clinical hypnotherapists have methods to assess a patient’s state, though they remain subjective.

Despite these challenges, research and countless case studies show that hypnosis performs better than placebo, especially in alleviating emotional and psychological distress. Many people have resolved long-standing issues through the power of their subconscious.

I’m doubtful that the medical community would pay any more attention to hypnosis for the reason described by researcher Walter A Brown:
The very effectiveness of a placebo is troublesome to us doctors and to other medical experts. It impugns the value of our most cherished remedies, it hampers the development new therapeutics, and it threatens our livelihood.

If the placebo effect is troublesome, just imagine how much more hypnosis would be. While I look forward to more research, I’m not holding my breath. The science may lag, but the art of hypnotherapy is already well-established.

There are many areas where conventional medicine trails behind alternative approaches. As we await scientific validation, hypnotherapy offers healing today.

 

Photo credits: Diana Polekhina