Hypnotic psychotherapy: hypnosis in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome

By Cristiano Antonino On Oct 19, 2022

Irritable bowel syndrome is a predominantly female condition that affects the intestinal tract, alternating periods of constipation with periods characterised by diarrhoeal bowel, all associated with bloating and abdominal pain and other concomitant symptoms such as dyspepsia and meteorism

Treatment of irritable bowel syndrome

There is currently no univocal pharmacological treatment that cures the problem, as irritable bowel syndrome is a disease with multifactorial aetiology and must be treated by a set of complementary multidisciplinary interventions: diet, anti-diarrhoeal/lassic drugs, antidepressants, physical activity, psychotherapy.

One form of psychotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome is hypnotic psychotherapy, which has been the subject of numerous scientific studies (1) that have validated its efficacy at a scientific level.

The success rate of treatment with hypnotic psychotherapy is closely linked to the subject’s hypnotic susceptibility, which also varies from person to person depending on age.

Extensive scientific studies have shown that the only variables responsible for hypnotic susceptibility are imagery involvement (the ability to imagine, to daydream) and secondly the therapeutic alliance, i.e. a good relationship of trust between hypnotist and hypnotised subject.

In any case, longitudinal studies have shown that the effectiveness in the population in terms of symptom remission is between 68% and 85%, depending on the research.

A well-known British website (2) compiles a systematic review of the main treatments for irritable bowel.

It can be seen that hypnotic psychotherapy is at the forefront of psychological treatments, and stress management techniques are frequently mentioned, although comments from site users indicate that resorting to one strategy alone is often unsuccessful.

Research dating back to 1984 published in The Lancet, a leading international medical journal, demonstrates the decrease to disappearance of symptoms through hypnotic treatment over 12 weeks in a sample of 30 people (3).

While a research (4) (April 2013) published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, a leading medical journal, on a sample of 164 patients with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrom) diagnosed with Rome-III criteria,* and 100 patients with IBS refractory to medical treatment, concludes: physical and psychological improvements given by direct bowel hypnotherapy (GHT) combined with supportive talks & drug treatment (SMT) are greater than supportive talks & drug treatment (GHT) alone. To clarify: GHT + SMT > SMT.

This disproves the efficacy of monotherapy in the irritable colon, in favour of multimodal, multidisciplinary therapy

This shows that hypnotic therapy in medicine and psychotherapy is not only widely recognised by the international scientific community, particularly in pain and neuroscience5 , but that its efficacy is amply demonstrated by international clinical trials.

* The Rome criteria are diagnostic criteria established by an international commission to define the diagnosis and treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders, which include irritable bowel syndrome. In 2006, the third edition was published (hence Rome – III), which is the most recent and up-to-date edition.