How hypnosis can assist in neurological disorders?

Posted by Dr. Maheen Javed August 31, 2023

Hypnosis, often known as hypnotherapy, is a profound relaxation and focused attention condition. It falls under the category of mind-body medicine.

With verbal cues, repetition, and images, a skilled and qualified hypnotist or hypnotherapist takes you to this profound level of attention and relaxation. When under hypnosis, this intense degree of concentration and focus helps you disregard common distractions and be more open to guided recommendations to make adjustments to enhance your health.

How Does Hypnosis Work On The Brain?

The exact mechanism of hypnosis is unknown. However, it is widely assumed that in the profound state of focus and relaxation induced by hypnosis:

  • Your conscious mind becomes silent.
  • You may access the area of your brain that generates ideas, beliefs, perceptions, feelings, emotions, memories, and behaviors.
  • You’re more open to gentle instruction from your hypnotherapist in this condition, which can help you alter or replace the unconscious thoughts that are driving your present behavior.

Functional Neurological Disorder

Functional neurological disease (FND) is a condition when the nervous system fails to operate properly. It is not a physical condition, but it impacts how the brain and body send and/or receive messages. No physical illness is discovered when tests such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans are done on the patient.

It is fairly frequent in Neurology departments worldwide, and in this country, the figure is approximately 16% (ResearchGate).

What are the symptoms of FND?

The symptoms of a functional neurological disorder can include:

  • non-epileptic seizures
  • weakness
  • blindness
  • spasms
  • blackouts and sensory difficulties

Other conditions similar to FND are:

  • non-epileptic seizures
  • somatization disease
  • conversion illness (where the stress in the body gets converted into physical symptoms, first described by the Psychologist Freud).

Freud was among the first psychologists to recognize that trauma might result in ‘hysteria’ or bodily manifestations. FND is thought to be the outcome of some kind of trauma, such as an accident or emotional stress. The trauma has caused the neurological system to malfunction in some way. The diagnosis can be extremely upsetting to the patient, who may assume that no one believes them or that it is all in their brain. This is, of course, not true because the symptoms of FND are extremely real and debilitating.

Why Does Trauma Cause These Symptoms?

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been characterized in Bessel Van Der Kolk’s book, The Body Keeps the Score, as being triggered by an occurrence of peril when we believe we cannot escape or express fight or flight. The fight or flight energy can get stuck in the body, resulting in persistent illnesses. Rape, an accident, witnessing a relative die or suffer, childhood traumas, humiliation (which we cannot avoid as children) – the list keeps going.

Unlocking The Mind: The Potential Of Hypnosis In Assisting Neurological Disorders

The human brain is a sophisticated and intricate organ that controls all of our physical and cognitive activities. However, neurological abnormalities can disturb this delicate balance, resulting in a variety of devastating ailments that impact millions of people worldwide. While standard medical therapies have made tremendous progress in treating these problems, supplementary techniques such as hypnosis are increasingly being investigated for their potential to help with neurological disorders.

Understanding Neurological Disorders: A Complex Challenge

Neurological illnesses include a wide range of nervous system ailments, including epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, as well as migraines and multiple sclerosis. These illnesses frequently impact a person’s quality of life significantly, impacting mobility, cognitive ability, emotional well-being, and other factors. Traditional therapies such as medicine, surgery, and physical therapy have long been used to manage these illnesses. Still, researchers and doctors are always looking for new ways to supplement current treatments and enhance outcomes.

How Hypnosis Can Assist In Neurological Disorders?

Both hypnosis and Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) operate on the basic concept of dissociation, characterized by fainting/passing out, functional seizures, and a general sensation of being disconnected. In FND, dissociation is an involuntary part of the disorder. In contrast, in hypnosis, dissociation is voluntary (i.e., returning a sense of control), so hypnosis is used to develop an awareness of this by creating a relaxed state and rebuilding neural pathways with new subconscious associations to control current symptoms.

There is much evidence to support the use of hypnosis in this approach. Dr. Jason Price, a Neuropsychologist at South Tees NHS Hospital, firmly believes that hypnosis may play an important part in the rehabilitation of FND. FND Hope is a global organization that conducts research, raises awareness of the disorder via patient experiences, and conducts substantial research through professional endeavors to help individuals with FND.

Unfortunately, treatment is restricted in the NHS due to a lack of research and funding for treatments such as psychiatric therapies and physiotherapy. Waiting lists are lengthy, and there are few specialist FND departments nationwide. The few FND departments that exist have extremely large waiting lists.

In a cash-strapped NHS, patients may seek assistance from private providers. Hypnotherapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) are two treatments that can aid with FND.

Hypnotherapy can assist by removing trauma from the mind and body and teaching the subconscious to think more positively and outwardly. It is quite beneficial in hypnosis to have the client picture themselves as healthy and free of symptoms because the mind cannot discern the difference between something imagined and something tangible. As scientifically shown by MRI scans, the mind and body may learn new methods of doing things in this manner.

EMDR is a well-studied therapy for PTSD. When used in conjunction with hypnosis, it can help the mind and body learn that the trauma or traumas that are the source of the FND are gone and are in the past and that they are safe now—returning the body and mind to a secure and peaceful state and, thereby, restoring normal nervous system function.

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