Gut Directed Hypnosis – Hypnotherapy for IBS

Hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome has several advantages. First, it is meant to relax the body and mind.  Just that can have an amazing effect on the gut.  Additionally, gut-directed hypnosis, the technical term for hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome, has been proven in research to be between 70 to 90% effective in reducing the severity of symptoms.  That, for any type of treatment, is a fantastic track record.  And best of all, it works for those patients that don’t respond to the standard medical care of IBS.

Definition of IBS

IBS is a disorder of the digestion and gut.  Symptoms of IBS include discomfort and pain in the gut, constipation, diarrhea, and gas or bloating.  It can produce significant physical discomfort and disrupt your normal life. It can get to the point that many chose to stay home to avoid activities and environments that might lead to loss of control or risk public humiliation.

It is estimated that up to 20% of the Western populations experience gut issues.  The majority are women.

Though irritable bowel syndrome can be chronic and disruptive, is not a disease.  It is a functional disorder of the lower gastrointestinal tract. IBS is a group of symptoms that have no physiological or anatomical cause identified.  What this means is that, though IBS symptoms are incredibly distressing, there is no physical damage causing these symptoms. and that is a good thing.

What is causing these physical discomforts are functional processes of the gut:

• Digestive motility (how the muscles in the gut move food through). With IBS, it can be blocked, slowed down, or be sudden.
• Gastrocolic reflex (the speed at which taking food in and needing to go to the restroom). With IBS this reflex is sped up to where it appears to be almost simultaneous.
•  Sensitivity. Some sufferers of IBS are extremely aware of the sensations of the gut and can experience severe pain during normal gut processes.

How is IBS Diagnosed?

Before starting any alternative treatments such as gut-directed hypnosis, you must first be diagnosed by a doctor that what you are experiencing is indeed Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).  The diagnosis is made by excluding other conditions (as there are no specific tests for IBS).  Most conditions tested can be ruled out by blood tests as long as there are no red flags of serious conditions that require immediate medical attention. Additionally, your doctor needs to rule out celiac disease.

If you’ve been diagnosed with IBS, your doctor will have already checked and found that you do not have any of the red flags for diseases of the gut area.  That means that what you are experiencing is functional and, fortunately, that can be managed very well with hypnotherapy!

If you’ve been diagnosed with Functional Abdominal Pain (FAP), it means that you experience recurrent abdominal pain with no other symptoms.  If you have other symptoms such as abnormal bowel movements (diarrhea, constipation or both), it is considered IBS.  Both are considered functional disorders and both respond very well to therapies that address how the GI system functions and the effect of stress. Hypnotherapy can do both.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Causes

There is no known cause of IBS.  The current consensus is that most patients experienced gut changes after a strong emotional trigger (such as grief or sexual abuse), high density of life stressors (a change in school or an ongoing stressful job), or an illness such as a violent stomach bug.  And after these events, the symptoms did not go away.  Also, it seems to run in families (though in this case, it’s more of a family focus of tummy troubles than a genetic predisposition).  There are also incidents in which people find no obvious reason for their struggles with diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain. As you see the consensus of what could be causing IBS is varied.

Though nobody knows what causes these functional gut issues, this does not mean it cannot be controlled.  Furthermore, worrying about your IBS can cause more stomach upset (nausea, knots, pain… just as worrying about an exam).  Often the worry about it’s cause will lead to focusing more on any symptoms that indicate additional gut issues and that focus leads to even more discomfort.  It’s kind of like the chicken and the egg.  It doesn’t matter which came first, however, what matters is regaining control.

Treatments – Hypnosis for IBS

As the mechanisms for experiencing IBS are unclear and complex, IBS has proven a difficult treatment target for conventional medical approaches. Most conventional treatments have only 10-15% effectiveness beyond the placebo response, and at best are only effective for half of the patients.  Most treatments try to target the most predominant symptoms (such as diarrhea or pain) but have little evidence of effectiveness for IBS  in general (American College of Gastroenterology Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders Task Force, 2002).

Some of the most frequent treatments are

• Anti-spasmodics
• Soluble Fiber
• Anti-depressants
• Dietary exclusion and food intolerance
• Probiotics

Less than half of IBS patients are satisfied with the outcome of standard medical treatment (Thompson, Heaton, Smyth, & Smyth, 1997).  Thus extensive efforts have been made to identify alternative IBS therapies that can complement conventional medicine and improve outcomes.  Of these, psychological treatments have proven the most promising.

Can Mind-Body Therapies affect IBS Symptoms?

Of all the psychological treatments- biofeedback, behavioral, cognitive and cognitive-behavioral therapy, relaxation training, psychodynamic therapy, and hypnosis – CBT and hypnosis have proven most effective in controlled studies.  They have a substantial impact on the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

Hypnotherapy for IBS

The use of hypnosis, as an alternative IBS therapy, for patients that do not respond to standard medical care, is not new (you can find its history here). There are well over 30 years of studies that demonstrate its effectiveness both for IBS as well as FAP (functional abdominal pain). One randomized and placebo-controlled study that attracted a lot of attention when it was published was from Whorwell and his colleagues in Manchester in 1984.  Their study showed that the hypnosis group had a 95% success rate after three months of treatment and the group continued to show improvement a year and a half after the treatment was completed. Since then,  at least 15 other studies have shown positive outcomes with hypnosis.  The only published research on hypnotherapy for IBS was in 1994 at the University of Carolina.

The NIH (National Institute of Health) has recognized that hypnosis may help with IBS. The American Journal of Gastroenterology review of psychological therapies concluded that hypnotherapy is beneficial for IBS symptoms. In the UK, where most of the research has been done, NICE (The National Institute for Health and Care of Excellence in the UK) directly recommends it for patients who have not responded to standard medical care.

Why Use Gut-Directed Hypnosis for the Treatment of IBS?

Gut-directed hypnosis can help irritable bowel syndrome in two key ways.  First, it teaches you how to control physical symptoms with positive thoughts and techniques.  What is known as ‘mind over matter.’  The second is learning to focus on feeling calmer, more confident and in control, ‘if you don’t mind, then it doesn’t matter,.’ This allows symptoms to fade and seem less important. and third, addressing the possible factors, such as anxiety, boundaries, unresolved relationship issues, that might be triggering the gut, is also explored and transformed.