Every year Tom Deluca comes to the University for a public hypnosis show, and every year it's an unforgettable display. But what is his secret, and is hypnosis real?
Here is what hypnosis is not: a state of sleep or a loss of free will.
According to a study titled "Increased Cerebral Functional Connectivity Underlying the Antioceptive Effects of Hypnosis," (Faymonville, Marie, et al, "Cognitive Brain Research"), hypnosis allows a person greater control over his behavior choices, emotions and life. It is a wakeful, relaxed state that facilitates optimal use of the imagination.
This uninhibited imagination visualizes life. It understands what an individual -- a smoker trying to quit, for example -- would do, see and feel as a non-smoker, once she has reached her goal.
There is therapeutic hypnosis, like that practiced by Ph.D. student Jennifer Gage, and there is hypnosis for entertainment, like that featured in Tom Deluca's annual show.
The kind that Jennifer practices takes longer, is patient-centered, and is conducted for the purpose of treating a part of a patient's life that she wants to change, usually for health reasons.The top four uses of therapeutic hypnosis are, in order, weight loss, stress reduction/management, smoking and pain control.
Hypnosis, however, also provides almost limitless alternatives to conventional medicine.
Hypnosis has been used by dentists instead of anesthesia, by obstetricians and midwives instead of epidurals, and as a vehicle of problem solving by psychiatric professionals for patients with mental illness.
Walter Mason, a psychiatric clinical nurse specialist at U.Va., said he frequently uses conversational induction to hypnotize his clients, thus making them more open and willing to identify goals and ways to achieve them.
Biologically speaking, what is hypnosis? According to a 2003 study conducted by Faymonville et. al., in the specific context of hypnosis the midcingulate cortex plays a critical role "in the modulation of a large cortical and subcortical network underlying its influence on sensory, affective, cognitive and behavioral aspects of nocioception."
In other words, in a hypnotized state, a part of the central nervous system, called the midcingulate cortex, shows greater activity and influence on a person's senses, feelings and thoughts, and in their study particularly on the sensation of pain.
Though the use of hypnosis as an alternative and complimentary form of traditional medicine is gaining popularity among health care providers, there are still some who have their doubts.
Perhaps they are too quick to judge. Gage, who said she enjoys Deluca's show "immensely," attested to the validity of Deluca's method, calling it "rapid induction." The reason his volunteers are so easily hypnotized is because he makes sure that he chooses students who are "highly suggestible," meaning they have personalities which will make it easier to put them under his "spell."
Hypnosis was approved by the American Medical Association in 1958 as an alternative form of medicine. Other forms of alternative medicine include massage, yoga, aromatherapy and meditation.
"Every one is an individual and will respond differently," said Lindsay Donovan, a psychiatric nurse practitioner at the University Medical Center. Gage became interested in alternative medicine after she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 11 years ago. She since has become certified by the American Board of Hypnotherapy. The training can take weeks to months and typically involves class work, observation and a final certifying exam.
Faymonville et. al. claim that "hypnosis, compared to the resting state, reduced pain perception by 50 percent."
So what if you don't smoke and are a healthy weight? Hypnosis can still help students reduce stress, thereby increasing their productivity and positive decision making. Hypnosis can be used to effect learning and change; it is very successful in enhancing academic and athletic performance.
Local nurse Maura Rodriguez said, "Being in the medical field I'm a tough sell.I can attest that I am sold on this process."
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