| Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Myalgic | | | | experimental group, the higher the NK (natural |
| Encephalomyelitis (ME) is not a psychological | | | | killer) and LAK (lymphokine activated killer) white |
| condition. So how can hypnotherapy help a | | | | blood cell activity after chemotherapy. This points |
| physical condition? Is there proof that mental | | | | to imagery on its own having an effect on |
| states can affect physical ones? | | | | immune response. Hypnotherapy is widely |
| To start with, it is quite clear that affecting the | | | | acknowledged as a tool to create the most vivid |
| body can cause positive or negative effects upon | | | | of imagery. |
| the mind. Starving the body of nutrition can cause | | | | The fact that the mind has some control over |
| the mind to suffer in many ways. Conversely | | | | the body and specifically our health has been |
| eating a healthy diet keeps the brain and hence | | | | known for a long time. Whenever the |
| the mind, working in the best possible manner. | | | | pharmaceutical society brings a new product onto |
| So how about the mind affecting the body, | | | | the market, it must test its efficacy against that |
| though. What proof is there? | | | | of a placebo. Medical trials and experiments also |
| One of the clearest reactions is that caused by | | | | need to carry out what are known as double-blind |
| stress. Stress causes the body to produce | | | | trials to take the placebo effect into account. A |
| cortisol. One of the effects of cortisol is to | | | | placebo is something made to look like the |
| reduce the immune system response. This can, in | | | | medicine, but that is inactive, made out of a |
| the main, be viewed as a negative effect. Just | | | | neutral substance without any curative ability |
| using this model, it can be seen that a relaxed | | | | whatsoever. Yet when people are given a placebo |
| person will have a more effective immune | | | | believing it to be a real medicine, a percentage of |
| response as compared to a stressed person. This | | | | them recover over and above those that are |
| was confirmed in an experiment carried out by | | | | given nothing. The fact that they think that |
| Fawzy, Cousins, Fawzy, et al./Fawzy, Kemeny, | | | | something is helping them triggers a healing |
| Fawzy, et al. in 1990. | | | | response within them. It is this healing response, |
| So on the simplest of levels, hypnotherapy can be | | | | which seems to be held within all of us, that may |
| used to aid relaxation in the face of stress, | | | | be 'switched on' through the use of guided |
| something that it is very effective at doing. | | | | imagery within hypnotherapy. |
| In 1999 an experiment was carried out by | | | | This information is useful to people with all sorts |
| Walker, Walker, Ogston, et al. upon a number of | | | | of long-term illnesses and particularly useful to |
| cancer patients. Guided imagery was used to | | | | those with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or |
| increase immune response and it was shown that | | | | myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). |
| the more vivid the imagery used by the | | | | |