Gut Directed Hypnotherapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS
Symptoms of IBS
IBS is thought to affect 1 in 5 people (NHS figures) and can be very distressing and disrupt your life in many ways.
It can cause stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation, tiredness, pain and many other symptoms. The impact on people’s lives can be significant such as worrying about socialising, travelling, going to restaurants, anything where you don’t know where the toilets are.
The symptoms vary between people, and can come and go.
Gut Focused Hypnotherapy is also recommended by the British Society of Gastroenterology
Gut-directed Hypnotherapy is also recommended by NICE for IBS: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/conditions-and-diseases/digestive-tract-conditions/irritable-bowel-syndrome
If you have these kinds of problems, remember to see your GP first though.
What causes Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
IBS is classified as a gut brain connection disorder. Basically, the communication between our brain and our gut, via our nervous system, is not functioning as it ideally should and this is causing all sorts of issues.
Therefore IBS has a strong link to our bodies’ stress response. It can also change how the brain responds to pain. Gut directed hypnotherapy works on calming that stress response and the Vagus nerve; it helps to normalise the brain’s pain response, and can help with anxiety and depression that may accompany IBS.
There are a lot of things that may have started the IBS eg bacteria or virus after a stomach infection; bacterial overgrowth; being exposed to stress either early in life or later stress. Often we don’t know the cause though but that doesn’t affect the effectiveness of gut directed hypnotherapy.
Why do Stress and Anxiety affect IBS?
There is a link between IBS and stress. Many issues, not just IBS, worsen when you feel stressed and anxious, e.g. by feeling out of control, worrying about how to manage, or having too many demands.
Anxiety is a natural reaction to something that is perceived as dangerous or threatening. The hormones that flood our bodies in these situations prepare us for "fight, flight, freeze" and can therefore help us survive. This part of the brain is very old - stone age and earlier - so what it thinks is threatening often doesn’t make much sense today. Therefore worrying about how to manage a journey, knowing where toilets are, or a tight deadline will all produce the same response as being chased by a hungry polar bear. When your nervous system is in this state, your gut function is severely impacted - there is no time to go the toilet when you’re chased by that bear!
If the stress is prolonged or excessive, stress hormones such as cortisol don't go back to normal levels. Instead, the body starts to become damaged and "burn out" from being in this state of high arousal. The stress hormones affect inflammation, the immune system and many other areas, and the various neurotransmitters will not be produced in the right quantities to help us function well mentally or physically.
Gut Directed Hypnotherapy can help you understand and reduce your stress response and balance your nervous system and gut so they function in a more normal way. It can help with the often difficult pain. It can also help to regulate neurotransmitters involved in IBS. That way you can have hope, feel in control, and feel that you are managing well in your everyday life.
Research into Gut-directed Hypnotherapy for IBS:
Professor Peter Whorwell, Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology in the School of Medicine and Director of the South Manchester Functional Bowel Service, has been researching and working with hypnotherapy as an effective treatment for IBS for many years. Clinical trials have shown that hypnotherapy effectively treats Irritable Bowel Syndrome in more than 70% of cases. Most recently, 1000 patients who have suffered from IBS for over two years were given twelve one-hour sessions of hypnotherapy with the above results.
Link: “Hypnotherapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome: An Audit of One Thousand Adult Patients”
Link: “Gut‐focused hypnotherapy for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders: Evidence‐base, practical aspects, and the Manchester Protocol”
(If you are interested, you can find much more research into this on Google Scholars).
Gut Directed Hypnotherapy is thought to work on several different levels:
In Gut Directed hypnotherapy you will learn how to regulate the Vagus nerve which is connected to gut function.
Gut Directed hypnosis "retrains" the client's gut to function more normally.
Gut Focused hypnotherapy can help to reduce anxiety and stress.
Hypnotherapy can help pain management which is often a significant factor in IBS.
More than 90% of the neurotransmitter serotonin is produced in the gut where it controls eg peristalsis and mucus production which plays an important role in IBS. Gut-directed Hypnotherapy can help by normalising levels of neurotransmitters and stress hormones.
These changes can help to let you live your life more on your terms.
How many sessions should I expect?
I use the NHS approved package of 6 sessions which will generally be enough to see very good improvements.
In Prof. Whorwell’s research group they had 12 1-hour sessions to reach the reported results. NHS uses a 6 session programme (that may need top-ups though).
Does Gut Directed Hypnotherapy work for everyone?
Research suggests that it works for about 70-80% of people, but it’s not known why it works better for some people than others.
Gut-directed Hypnotherapy is a special form of hypnotherapy. It’s a direct hypnosis with a clearly set-out format.
Even when it doesn’t work to reduce symptoms, hypnotherapy can help to improve quality of life and how to cope better.
Will the results last?
Studies following patients for 5 years post-treatment have shown that the results last. There can be relapses, but a few extra sessions will re-establish the positive results.
Long-term benefits:
Prof. Whorwell and colleagues found the long-term benefits of hypnotherapy for IBS:
83% of those who had a positive treatment outcome were well after 1-5 years.
59% were taking no medication.
42% that were on medication, were taking them less often.
79% consulted their GP/hospital consultant less often or not at all.