A Benchmarked Feasibility Study of a Self-Hypnosis Treatment for Depression in Primary Care

Abstract

This investigation assessed the effectiveness of a self-help, self-hypnosis treatment in a primary-care setting in Edinburgh, UK. A partially randomized preference (PRP) study design was used, with benchmarking results to trials of CBT and counseling. Patients seeing their general practitioner for depression were offered randomization to, or their treatment preference of, either self-help (self-hypnosis) or antidepressant medication. Evaluation measures were Becks Depression Inventory, Brief Symptom Inventory, and SF-36. Of the 58 patients recruited, 50 chose self-hypnosis, 4 chose antidepressants, and 4 were randomized. The preference groups demonstrated similar demography, baseline measurements, and outcome effects to benchmarked trials. This feasibility study of a self-help, self-hypnosis program for depression showed promise for its future use in primary care. Benchmarking improved validity and reliability. A PRP study design appeared useful in a primary-care setting, where past studies have experienced problems of recruitment, concordance, and compliance.

Evidence-Based Hypnotherapy for Depression

“…Alman (2001) and Yapko (2003) believe patients can achieve self-reliance, personal power, and self-correcting behaviors that give them control over their lives. These observations were confirmed in the study reported by Alladin and Alibhai (2007) and Dobbin et al (2009).…”

“…The author often uses the relaxation with counting method adapted from Gibbons (1979;see Alladin, 2007) for inducing and deepening hypnosis, because this technique is easily adapted for selfhypnosis training. Dobbin et al (2009), in a preliminary study comparing the effects of self-hypnosis with CBT and antidepressant medication in 58 primary care depressed patients, found self-hypnosis was the preferred treatment of their sample, and the treatment effect was comparable to CBT and medication. Similarly, the majority of the depressed patients from the study reported by Alladin and Alibhai (2007) found relaxation training empowering, because it gave them the confidence and skill to interrupt anxious and stressful episodes in their lives.…”

“…There is some empirical evidence for combining hypnosis with CBT. Clinical trials (Alladin & Alibhai, 2007;Bryant, Moulds, Gutherie, & Nixon, 2005;Dobbin, Maxwell, & Elton, 2009;Schoenberger, Kirsch, Gearan, Montgomery, & Pastyrnak, 1997), meta-analysis (Kirsch, Montgomery, & Sapirstein, 1995), and detailed review (Schoenberger, 2000) have substantiated the additive value of hypnotic interventions when combined with CBT for various emotional disorders. Moreover, Alladin (1992aAlladin ( , 1992bAlladin ( , 1994Alladin ( , 2006a) provided a scientific rationale or a working model for combining CBT with hypnosis in the treatment of clinical depression.…”

Evidence‐based cognitive hypnotherapy for depression

“…Alman (2001) and Yapko (2003) believe that, by learning self-hypnosis, patients can achieve independence, personal power and self-correcting behaviours that give them control over their lives. These observations were confi rmed in the studies reported by Alladin and Alibhai (2007) and Dobin et al (2009). In the latter study, Dobin et al (2009) examined the effectiveness of self-hypnosis in the management of depressive symptoms in depressed patients from primary care settings.…”

The Effectiveness of Hypnosis in Reducing Pain and Suffering Among Women With Metastatic Breast Cancer and Among Women With Temporomandibular Disorder

“…Here the authors focus on the entire spectrum of emotional, cognitive, and somatic problems associated with TMD and that are sometimes impacted by hypnosis in other treatment and laboratory contexts (Christensen, Barabasz, & Barabasz, 2009;Diamond, Davis, & Howe, 2008;Dobbin, Maxwell, & Elton, 2009;Eisen, Oustinovskaya, Kistorian, Morgan, & Mickes, 2008).…”