Hypnotherapy

[Wedgie]

I recently went to the Doctor when I had a day off due to migraine and he asked if I was intered in a side effect free way of curing them.
I said SURE having suffered from them for 24 years.
He said he'd book me in for a hypnotherapy session. I thought WTF?
Now Im the biggest skeptic of all things in the world but as it was free and could be done at a convenient time I said I'd give it a go, it would involve a 1 hour session each week for 4 weeks and VOILA my migraines would be over.
I went to my first appointment on Friday, he had me lay down and then told me to imagine my body was turning to red jelly, then to green jelly, then to blue jelly, etc working my way up from feet and after I'd completed imagining each colour jelly to count down from 300.
Did this to about 255 from memory, the then suggested all this stuff (clench fist and say yes when you remember this good memory, etc) and said I was in a deep hypnosis when in fact I was wide awake.
I walked away thinking it was a complete waste of time and a total rort.
He gave me some "homework" to listen to a CD or two and repeat this every night, stuff that.
I'm going to probably cancel the last 3 appointments.
Anyone else been involved in hypnotherapy and had it actually work?
I was skeptical before and I'm even more skeptical now.
How does this witch doctor non medicine get funded through medicare?

[bayman]

it only works if the 'doc' has a watch on the end of a chain & has you watching it swing left to right & back again & while this is happening says ''your getting sleepy, sleepy" etc etc

[Wedgie]

it only works if the 'doc' has a watch on the end of a chain & has you watching it swing left to right & back again & while this is happening says ''your getting sleepy, sleepy" etc etc

lol, yeah I was waiting for the watch to come out! I was disappointed!
The kids were also disappointed that when I came home I wasn't clucking like a chicken or something similar!

[Q.]

It's illegal, but psilocybin will cure your migranes

[Dogwatcher]

I've been hypnotised - on stage.
Funny stuff.
I was a sceptic too and went up on stage with the intention of being off early, having proved it was rubbish. Was proved wrong.

[GWW]

I think there is a difference between clinical hypnotherapy and hypnotherapy for entertainment.

[Pseudo]

There might be something to it. At the very least I'd expect something like a placebo effect; if you went to hypnotherapy with the belief that it would work and the desire that it would work, then it might stand a better chance of working.

Anyhoo, it worked for this lass:

http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/20090521/9 ... he-ha.html

[Hondo]

i've heard that it's harder to get the sceptics hypnotised and, if so, i'd be probably be the same as Wedgie lying there counting up the different colours of jelly LOL

However, I have never tried it and actually don't know anyone who has so can't comment much more than that. Other than to say it makes for a very funny story Wedgie. Sorry to hear you get migraines regularly. There's nothing much worse than a splitting headache.

[Q.]

It's illegal, but psilocybin will cure your migranes

Just in case you didn't think I was being serious:

Sewell RA, Halpern JH, Pope HG Jr.
“Response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD”.
Neurology. 2006;66(12):1920-2

[Dogwatcher]

I think there is a difference between clinical hypnotherapy and hypnotherapy for entertainment.

Of course. Don't disagree.

[Psyber]

Hypnosis works with some people and not others, and so of course hypnotherapy has the same problem.
One of the problems is that enthusiasts for a particular "cure" tend to have a religious fervor for it, and think it works for everyone and everything..
It is possible for hypnosis to have some effect without you feeling "hypnotised".
On the other hand the practitioner can delude themselves that it worked.

Medicare accepts hypnotherapy as part of a GP consultation, just as they do acupuncture, or writing a prescription, because they cannot [yet] tell doctors how to practice medicine.
But if they pick up that it is becoming the dominant practice of the practitioner and is not just an incidental part of the overall medical approach they may investigate it.
They rang me once because I had been lab testing vitamin levels on a few patients, to ask whether I was practising "Orthomolecular Medicine" which would not attract benefits.
They were satisfied when I pointed out there had been 6 patients in 3 months with itchy eyes as part of the picture, and 2 of them had been proven to be mildly vitamin A deficient, and one Vitamin A toxic, because she had been given massive doses by a Naturopath.

[Psyber]

It's illegal, but psilocybin will cure your migranes

Just in case you didn't think I was being serious:

Sewell RA, Halpern JH, Pope HG Jr.
“Response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD”.
Neurology. 2006;66(12):1920-2

LSD and other hallucinogens were being legally used by Psychiatrists for "abreaction" as part of therapy in SA and all over the world in the 1970s.
The side-effects - like psychotic episodes - tended to outweigh the benefits...
Same problem with Cannabis as an analgesic.

[A Mum]

My grandmother smoked for about 30 years and wanted to give up, so someone suggested hypnosis.
She went and from that night onwards did not pick up another cigarette for the last 20 years of her life.

So it definitely worked in her instance.

[Q.]

It's illegal, but psilocybin will cure your migranes

Just in case you didn't think I was being serious:

Sewell RA, Halpern JH, Pope HG Jr.
“Response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD”.
Neurology. 2006;66(12):1920-2

LSD and other hallucinogens were being legally used by Psychiatrists for "abreaction" as part of therapy in SA and all over the world in the 1970s.
The side-effects - like psychotic episodes - tended to outweigh the benefits...
Same problem with Cannabis as an analgesic.

Well, you would only take baseline doses in a comfortable setting. Unlikely to be of any harm at all, although there are obvious contraindications. I think the research has come a long way since the 70's despite the legal barriers that impede progress.

[Psyber]

Well, you would only take baseline doses in a comfortable setting. Unlikely to be of any harm at all, although there are obvious contraindications. I think the research has come a long way since the 70's despite the legal barriers that impede progress.

I agree we may well find we can extract or construct useful variants for clinical use from these sources and that the research is worthwhile.
However, even commonly used and apprently safe medications can trigger nasty effects in vulnerable individuals, so we need to be careful.
We should always look for options - I have some nice winter weight Hemp shirts - I'm wearing one now - and Opium poppies are such a pretty flower.

[Q.]

I agree we may well find we can extract or construct useful variants for clinical use from these sources and that the research is worthwhile.
However, even commonly used and apprently safe medications can trigger nasty effects in vulnerable individuals, so we need to be careful.
We should always look for options - I have some nice winter weight Hemp shirts - I'm wearing one now - and Opium poppies are such a pretty flower.

I agree. With all points

[Booney]

Well, you would only take baseline doses in a comfortable setting. Unlikely to be of any harm at all, although there are obvious contraindications. I think the research has come a long way since the 70's despite the legal barriers that impede progress.

I agree we may well find we can extract or construct useful variants for clinical use from these sources and that the research is worthwhile.
However, even commonly used and apprently safe medications can trigger nasty effects in vulnerable individuals, so we need to be careful.
We should always look for options - I have some nice winter weight Hemp shirts - I'm wearing one now - and Opium poppies are such a pretty flower.

I had a couple of Hemp shirts, could never bring myself to wash them. Hey,someone had done all that drying...

[Ronnie]

I've never heard of a medical GP advising hypnotheraphy, news to me that this is on the menu.