Obesity (overweight) has assumed epidemic dimensions in the USA wherein the adult obesity rates have doubled from 15% in 1980 to 30% in 2011 and in the case of children it is all the most alarming because it had tripled during the same period.
Obesity is known to cause a variety of health problems as it induces diabetes, increases the scope for blood pressure etc and surprisingly it is higher in lower income groups, and ethnic minorities. However, It is negatively associated with educational levels.
Hypnosis is an age old practice of healing a variety of problems including diseases of individuals in drugless methods of treatment. Those who lived in ancient times believed more in anecdotes of its positive effects but as science has advanced scientific evidence are emerging confirming its disease/problems relieving abilities and the methods by which such actions in the human mind and body takes place. The brain activity in the subjects involved in scientific experiments was found to change and such changes also differed according the hypnotic susceptibility of such individuals. In other words, all the people are not found to be endowed with the same ability in getting hypnotized and in those who revealed a higher hypnotibility, a corresponding faster activity on the left hemisphere was observed when they were in a waking state which switched to the right hemisphere of the brain when they were hypnotized. In virtual realty hypnosis, a relatively advanced technique, it was found the electroencephalographic (EEC) coherence and power spectra changed faster in those who could adopt themselves to such a technique. Stated otherwise, high coherence groups showed a decreased coherence whereas it was opposite in the low susceptibility groups.
The pace of scientific pieces of evidence connecting the positive association of hypnosis with wieghtloss is only emerging in a gradual manner but even this limited evidence confirms anecdotal beliefs that hypnosis can bring about weightloss. As early as in the year 1955, Herman had applied a technique to his client to enter trance wherein he/she was alternated to visualize themselves with feelings associated with sadness, discontent and unhappiness, satisfaction, happiness and peace of mind, wherein in the first case they do not adhere to and in the second case adhere to diet control program respectively signifying the role hypnotic imagery can play in bringing about the weightloss in the subjects. While only this is demonstrated with a sample size of four, yet in terms of the results, it was significant because in all the four cases the desired change of weightloss using hypnosis was reported. In a larger study in 1959, Winklestein experimented hypnosis role in a group hypnotherapy program on 42 female subjects. The hypnotic suggestive technique took into account the problems of the subjects in addition to the diet control and it was found an average weightloss of 27 pounds occurred in all the subjects, within a period of 4 months. Traditional hypnotherapy, individualized methods, group methods, associating hypnosis with prevention of incurable diseases, teaching clients to eat slowly, gradually, adopt methods to decrease appetitive, increased confidence and self-esteem have all been tried in one way or another to bring about weightloss. More success in weightloss was observed in those experiments which applied two separate hypnotic approaches to weightloss. The first one applies the ‘explorative technique’ developed by Check and others in the year 1968 to uncover the issues underlying weight problem and second one followed it up with a re-education program wherein suggestive hypnotic techniques were used to create deprivation feelings and achieve desired levels of weightloss. Kiline in the year 1980 successfully applied hypnotherapy to the cognitive ability of the obese individuals to bring about weightloss in them. This means changes in the behavioural patterns can be altered and shaped up to treat obese individuals wherein hypnotic techniques via perceptions, sensations and imagery can produce the requisite outcomes in bringing about the weightloss.
While so far we have discussed in a generalized manner about the ability of hypnosis to bring about weighloss, a natural question that would arise in your minds is: are there any specific predictors that could objectively assess the outcome of such programs? While there are very few research conducted with such a perspective. We could identify one research conducted by Tallant Beverlea. Since this happens to be thesis, one can rely on the results with an amount of credibility. Besides, as it was done in Canada it can be applied to conditions in the USA because of economic and life style similarities between the two countries.
Five variables, viz, hypnotic susceptibility, motivation, body image estimate and body image attitude were taken up for assessment as possible factors predicting success. The participants consisted of 57 individuals a majority of whom were females and who answered the criterion of being overweight by an average of 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds). They were treated through audio cassettes which used Hearland’s ego enhancing instructions and Stanton’s Weight Loss Suggestions. After a three month’s follow up, 12 clients were reported to have shed 4.5 kilograms of weight. Motivational factors accounted for 81.8% while the self-efficacy factor accounted for 79.5%., whereas the rest of the factors were found to be irrelevant. Nonetheless, it needs to be noted the fact other factors were not found to be relevant does not mean that they are redundant for each factor has its own relevance depending upon the type of program for which it is applied. Thus, hypnotic susceptibility is reported to be more useful to control pain and asthma. Moreover, hypnosis when used as an adjunctive therapy along with standardized treatments is found to be more effective as against a standalone treatment. Again research suffers from limitations in the sense that there are no systematic follow up to assess the changes even though the entire blame for such a situation cannot be apportioned to only researchers for the reason in many cases they need the sustained cooperation of the individuals participating in such programs.
By way of conclusion it may be pointed it is all the more the case with weightloss programs which are torturously time consuming in nature making the participants to leave the program at some part frustrated because of high expectations they create through advertisements and due to the proliferation facilitated by the introduction and advancement in the Internet where in it is difficult to distinguish between genuine and bogus ones. Weighloss programs like another one say quitting smoking need bilateral cooperation between the client, the hypnotist which should also have been structured according the individualized needs of the individuals.