A diagnosis of mesothelioma can be emotionally shattering. Because the mesothelioma life expectancy from the time of diagnosis is, on the average, between 4 and 18 months, it is common for patients to become distraught or depressed. Complementary therapies, including hypnosis, can sometimes help to improve the quality of life for these patients.
Hypnosis is a state of relaxed and focused awareness in which the subject is receptive to suggestion. Hypnotic suggestion can sometimes help cancer patients better cope with the pain associated with the disease and its treatment and to face an uncertain future more stoically.
The National Institutes of Health performed studies of the benefits of hypnosis in cancer treatment and found that when it is used to complement traditional medical treatment it can be helpful in lessening pain, calming fear and anxiety, and controlling bleeding during surgery. There is no evidence to suggest that hypnosis can prevent cancer or alter the progress of the disease. It does not appear to improve survival rates of cancer patients.
Not everyone can be hypnotized, and among those who can, some can reach deeper levels of hypnotic trance than others. Therefore, hypnosis is not equally efficacious for all cancer patients. For those who are willing and able to be hypnotized, it can be a tool to improve quality of life in the face of a devastating diagnosis.
Hypnosis creates a state of deep relaxation. The conscious mind becomes calm and undistracted, while the unconscious mind becomes focused and open to suggestion. The therapist may suggest that the patient feels peaceful, without fear, tension, or anxiety, and that pleasant sensations flood the body, overwhelming all pain.
The hypnotherapist is not able to control the subject, nor can a person under hypnosis be made to do anything against his will. Rather, hypnosis helps subjects have more control over feelings, behaviors, and attitudes toward their disease.
Hypnosis can be used instead of traditional anesthesia during some surgeries and medical and dental procedures. In addition to reducing the amount of pain and anxiety the patient experiences, it can reduce the amount of bleeding. It appears to reduce recovery time after surgical procedures and may even stimulate the body’s immune system.
While hypnosis can often improve the quality of life for cancer patients and may even hasten recovery from necessary surgeries, it is not a treatment or cure for the cancer itself, and should not be used as a stand-alone treatment, but to complement standard medical treatment, not substitute for it.
