Hypnosis had a ‘significant, large and beneficial effect on reducing emotional distress related to a medical procedure,’ according to this article.
The analysis is the most extensive review of trials on the impact of hypnosis on reducing distress, and indicates that about 82% of patients who received hypnosis had less emotional distress going into surgery than those who didn’t. Reducing distress is important because it causes direct suffering to the patient before a procedure and has been related to many adverse post-procedure outcomes.
The authors conclude that the data strongly supports using hypnosis as a non-pharmacological method to reduce the emotional stress associated with medical procedures and suggests that more widespread use of hypnosis could improve patients’ quality of life.
American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute.
The full research article is available from the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Health:
