Struggling with uncontrollable scratching? Find out what to look for in a hypnosis session in order to be effective and safe and what kind of results you can realistically expect.
Hypno-Bogus?
Many people still doubt whether hypnosis is a valid form of therapy. This isn’t such a big surprise, because there are in fact many myths and misconceptions about hypnosis. Sadly hypnosis is also quite popular in the form of stage hypnosis, that serves purely for entertainment purposes. In stage hypnosis, susceptible people are usually put in hypnotic trance states and then perform all kinds of silly acts to make the audience laugh.
This has led some people to believe that in the state of hypnosis, a hypnotist has complete power over the hypnotized person and can order him or her to do anything, or tell all their secrets. This simply isn’t the case.
There has been much research into the subject, and it is known that “hypnosis can be used to help control harmful habits such as scratching”, concluded Philip D. Shenefelt in his 2003 study Biofeedback, cognitive‐behavioral methods, and hypnosis in dermatology: is it all in your mind?
In general, hypnosis is a just an altered state of consciousness which makes it easier to perform certain changes. Its use for medical purposes has been confirmed in recent years by an ever-growing body of scientific research. Particularly interesting are applications in the field of dermatology and behavior change – including hypnosis against scratching.
Click here to download the Hypnosis Against Scratching MP3
Hypnosis Against Scratching
Studies have shown that hypnotic suggestions can be very effective in reducing pruritus and prevent people from scratching themselves.
It is widely known that both physiological as well as psychosomatic factors play a role itching and scratching. Training yourself not to scratch can be difficult (and sometimes next to impossible) if all you have at your disposal is willpower though.
Oftentimes the psychosomatic issues aren’t apparent on a conscious level, but can best be accessed via your subconscious mind.
Many scientific studies have confirmed that with hypnosis several autonomic functions can be consciously controlled. Just to give a very simple example: the blood flow in a certain body, for example the left hand, can be increased or decreased through the help of hypnotic suggestions.
Even immediate immune responses can be influenced with hypnosis. For example, the histamine prick test can lead to intense flare reactions – when a group of volunteers did they same test in their normal state of consciousness and while in hypnosis, they showed drastically reduced flare reactions when hypnotized.
Self hypnosis against scratching should contain both suggestions to reduce the itching, and also to stop the scratching habit.
Self Hypnosis doesn’t mean that you try to hypnotize yourself by talking to yourself, but simply that you listen to a hypnosis download MP3 or a CD. There is no need for a hypnotherapist to be conducting your session if you are open minded and allow yourself to relax while listening. You should set aside half an hour for each listening session to fully enjoy the benefits of this hypnosis download.
Training yourself not to scratch doesn’t have to be a fight against yourself. When you utilize the power of your subconscious mind and hypnotize yourself not to scratch, you can finally get rid of that habit and not cause any more harm to your skin.
There’s a strong mind-body connection, and I can definitely tell that my mental state affects the impulse to scratch. The more stressed I am, the more likely I am to scratch. Certain foods also have an impact, for me it’s anything spicy and deep-fried, but I know this is different from person to person.
Thanks for commenting, Mitchell. I agree with you regarding both the strong mind-body connection, and that the foods you eat will affect you. There are many other factors that can play into this as well, and ultimately, I believe that everyone needs to find their own way to manage their impulse to scratch themselves, and oftentimes that means establishing different routines and utilizing a combination of different methods.