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Study finds the ‘key’ to treating chronic pain, but it will involve electrocuting’ your brain
A study has found zapping brains with electricity leads to better susceptibility to hypnosis, which could be used to treat chronic pain.
Therapy, and more specifically hypnotherapy, can be an incredibly beneficial avenue to explore when suffering from a chronic condition, but getting a patient into a hypnotic state remains tricky. This week, researchers shared a new method to enhance your hypnotic-susceptibility by zapping certain parts of the brain with electric pulses.
New study finds electrocuting the brain makes humans easier to hypnotize
A new study has found zapping a specific part of the brain with electricity can make people more susceptible to hypnosis, which could drastically improve hypnotherapy practices for conditions such as anxiety, depression, and chronic pain.
This fascinating research was conducted by scientists from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, with the results published in the Nature Mental Health journal on January 4, 2024.
We know hypnosis is an effective treatment for many different symptoms and disorders, in particular pain. But we also know that not everyone benefits equally from hypnosis, explained the researchers.
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There are a lot of different ways to treat various disorders and conditions that we have in either psychology or psychiatry. Hypnosis is one psychological technique that has been shown to be effective for anxiety, depression and particularly pain.
Here, the team split a group of 80 people suffering from a chronic pain condition called fibromyalgia into two groups of 40.
One group received 800 pulses of electro-shock therapy over 90 seconds via paddles on their scalp to an area of the brain known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; the other group received a sham treatment that did not include zaps of electricity.
After just a single session of the treatment, those in the zap group were reportedly more susceptible to hypnosis for up to an hour, whilst the sham group saw no notable change.
We were pleasantly surprised that we were able to, with 92 seconds of stimulation, change a stable brain trait that people have been trying to change for 100 years. We finally cracked the code on how to do it.”
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Scientists hope this research could help people suffering from chronic pain
According to MedicalXpress, around two-thirds of adults are at least somewhat hypnotizable, with only around 15% of people being highly hypnotizable.
If someone is able to be put into a state of hypnosis sooner and stays in that state for longer at a time; psychologists have a better chance of understanding the core root of a condition and its impact on a patient’s life.
From a patient perspective, therapy sessions can often be an arduous challenge, especially when so many professionals charge extortionate amounts of money for hour-by-hour sessions.
As a clinical psychologist, my personal vision is that, in the future, patients come in, they go into a quick, non-invasive brain stimulation session, then they go in to see their psychologist. Their benefit from treatment could be much higher.”
The next step is repeating this study with a much larger sample size and with patients with a wider range of chronic conditions.
The researchers also want to try and improve the zapping process, whether the amount or length of electro-therapy also has an impact on their susceptibility to hypnosis.
Whilst hypnotherapy still might not be the ideal treatment option for every patient, research such as this could pave the way for improved practices around the world for treating chronic conditions like pain, anxiety, or depression.
