Source: Newsweek

HYPNOSIS HELPS RELAX CHILDREN WITH CANCER AS THEY UNDERGO TREATMENT, STUDY SAYS

A new study finds that hypnosis helps children with cancer to relax for their treatment, naturally.

A team of researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School in the U.K. wanted to find out if there were any effective methods to ease the pain and anxiety of children undergoing treatment for cancer, without giving them more drugs, and found that hypnosis is one of the most promising options.

“Children who have cancer often face repeated painful and frightening procedures—the distress involved can lead to subsequent poor mental health and is often harder to deal with than the cancer itself for the young patient, their family and their staff,” Tamsin Ford, a child psychiatry professor at the University of Exeter Medical School in the U.K. told Newsweek in an email.

“Although hypnosis has been controversial, most clinicians now agree it can be a powerful, effective therapeutic technique for a wide range of conditions, including pain, anxiety and mood disorders,” the association reports.

“Getting treatment for cancer as a child is clearly extremely distressing for both the young person and their family. We must do all we can do to protect their mental health during this highly emotional time,” Ford said. “Hypnosis is inexpensive to deliver, and our research found that it was the technique that was most studied, and showed promise in reducing children’s anxiety about the many medical procedures they have to endure.”

Hypnosis has a long standing reputation for helping with pre- and post-surgery feelings of anxiety, reducing and helping people better manage pain, and much more. You can find effective self hypnosis solutions for a variety of health issues and anxiety here on HypnosisFirst.com.

You can find the original story here: Newsweek