HYPNOTHERAPY FOR IBS

Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a common condition affecting one in four of the population, half of who have it so severely that it prevents them from working.

It is an erratic and unpredictable disturbance of the digestive system. The national institute for healthy and clinical excellence (NICE) states that IBS is a possible diagnosis only when a person reports to having either abdominal pain or discomfort or bloating plus a change in bowel habits for at least six months.

Within the field of evidence-based medicine, hypnotherapy has been proven to be 70% effective in treating this condition. Hypnotherapy is non intrusive, safe, comfortable and a cost effective modality to complement mainstream medicine. The job of the hypnotherapist is to help the client to control their gut rather than their gut control them.

Just dealing with the symptoms of IBS is not enough, you have to learn to rebuild internal energy, many sufferers feel drained emotionally, life issues and responsibilities continue to deplete inner emotional strength, leading in some cases to anxiety or even some forms of depression. Before even starting with the IBS, you will invariably need an emotional ‘top up’, your batteries recharging.

After years of pain and discomfort, of being told that there is nothing that can be done, or undergoing intrusive examinations, many sufferers feel emotionally drained. Work and family relationships can be eroded; social life and love life can be virtually non-existent; concentration and memory reduced; confidence and self-esteem may be low and the ability to see things in perspective, reduced.

Hypnotherapy can increase self-esteem, confidence, and allow you to begin a journey of self improvement and management, by changing negative thoughts and feelings for positive ones and equipping you emotionally to move away from the symptoms and thoughts of IBS and begin moving forward.

IBS Symptom Checklist

Do you often experience painful abdominal spasm?
Do you often try to empty your bowels but are unable to do so are find it difficult?
Do you often notice a sensation of not being able to fully empty your bowels?
After defecation, do you often feel that have not fully emptied your bowels?
Do you often experience diarrhea or loose stools?
Do you often experience bloating?
Do you often experience flatulence or excess wind?
Do you find abdominal pain or discomfort is relieved after emptying your bowels?
Have you noticed mucus or slime in your stools?
Do you often experience anxiety and/or depression?
Have you recently experienced significant stress?
Have you noticed reccuring fever, blood in your stools, unexpected weight loss, any recent changes in bowel habits?

Irritable bowel syndrome is an erratic and unpredictable disturbance of the digestive system. The national institute for healthy and clinical excellence (NICE) states that IBS is a possible diagnosis only when a person reports to having either abdominal pain or discomfort or bloating plus a change in bowel habits for at least six months.

In his book 'The Second Brain' Dr. Michael Gershon, M.D. and neurobiologist (Harper/Collins, 1999) discovered, in a nutshell, two major things. The first is that there is a whole set of neurons in the gut, from the esophagus all the way to the anus. A lot of the neurons are concentrated more in the stomach and actually accumulate emotional memories. The second point that he made is that 95% of serotonin, which is a neurotransmitter, is made and stored in the gut area. Deficiency of serotonin will cause depression, suicidal thoughts, insomnia and other disorders.

The gut has a mind of its own, the “enteric nervous system”. Just like the larger brain in the head, researchers say, this system sends and receives impulses, records experiences and responds to emotions. Its nerve cells are bathed and influenced by same neurotransmitters. The gut can upset the brain just as the brain can upset the gut.

The gut’s brain or the “enteric nervous system” is located in the sheaths of tissue lining the esophagus, stomach, small intestine and colon. Considered a single entity, it is a network of neurons, neurotransmitters and proteins that zap messages between neurons, support cells like those found in the brain proper and a complex circuitry that enables it to act independently, learn, remember and, as the saying goes, produce gut feelings.

The gut’s brain is reported to play a major role in human happiness and misery. Many gastrointestinal disorders like colitis and irritable bowel syndrome originate from problems within the gut’s brain.

As light is shed on the circuitry between the two brains, researchers are beginning to understand why people act and feel the way they do. When the central brain encounters a frightening situation, it releases stress hormones that prepare the body to fight or flee. The stomach contains many sensory nerves that are stimulated by this chemical surge – hence the “butterflies.” On the battlefield, the higher brain tells the gut brain to shut down. A frightened running animal does not stop to defecate.

Victims of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases suffer from constipation. The nerves in their gut are as sick as the nerve cells in their brains. Just as the central brain affects the gut, the gut’s brain can talk back to the head. Most of the gut sensations that enter conscious awareness are negative things like pain and bloatedness.

Many auto immune diseases like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis may also involve the gut’s brain, according to research.

Hypnotherapy is used to indentify the cause and thereby eliminate the emotional effects.