Utilizing a prospective design, this study tested the hypothesis that hardinesscommitment, control, and challenge-functions to decrease the effect of stressful life events in producing illness symptoms. Subjects were middle-and upper-level managers who filled out questionnaires covering a period of 5 years. Results support the hypothesis by showing main effects on illness for both stressful life events and hardiness and an interaction effect for these independent variables. Implications for coping with stress are discussed.

Recent research has suggested that hardiness protects wellness and stimulates effective functioning despite stressful circumstances. This study continued evaluation of the effectiveness of a hardiness training program. With managers as participants, the hardiness training condition was compared with a relaxation/meditation condition and a placebo/social support control. The hardiness training condition was more effective than the other 2 conditions in increasing self-reported hardiness, job satisfaction, and social support while decreasing self-reported strain and illness severity. This pattern of results furthers the importance of hardiness training in stress management.

No abstract

Huntington's Disease is an inherited fatal disorder of the central nervous system. Literature on the hypnotic treatment of this disease is extremely sparse. We treated two patients with Huntington's Disease using a wide variety of hypnotic interventions. One patient was treated for a number of years and the other for 10 consecutive sessions. We discuss the continuously interacting cycle between the primary physical symptoms caused by the disease and the secondary psychological symptoms. Hypnotic techniques and daily self-hypnosis appeared to ameliorate both physical and psychological difficulties, thereby enhancing the quality of life that remained for the patients. Systematic research into the effectiveness of hypnosis with symptoms of Huntington's Disease needs to be undertaken in the future.

No abstract