As a Healthcare Support Hypnotherapist, Roger Moore has been teaching Medical Hypnosis to people living with diabetes since 1997. There is a growing body of research supporting hypnosis for diabetes and clients usually report positive changes with three to four weeks.
Lifestyle Medicine Is the Standard of Care for Prediabetes
Read: Lifestyle Medicine Is the Standard of Care for Prediabetes
Hypnosis for diabetes can help you prevent and reverse diabetes and help you to create a large amount of no desire for the foods that make you fat and sick while creating a healthy desire for the foods that make you slender and healthy. Lifestyle modification is now the foundation of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology guidelines, the European Diabetes Association guidelines, as well as the official standards of care for the American Diabetes Association.
In the book, “Mind-Body Therapy,” by Ernest L. Rossi, PhD and David B. Cheek, M.D. describe a case study where hypnosis is used to help people with diabetes to change their insulin requirements and sometimes eliminate them: “A 33 year-old diabetic woman was seen in the fourth month of her third pregnancy in consultation with two other physicians who felt that her pregnancyshould be terminated because of severe toxemia and two serious episodes of diabetic coma which had occurred in her second pregnancy.”
Dr. Cheek then noted that: “With the hope of understanding her psychological reactions better, I talked with the patient and her husband about using hypnosis to help control pain and thus help control her insulin needs. Their interest and response was favorable. During a two-hour session, the patient was trained in achieving complete anesthesia of her abdomen.”
“She was taught to awaken from hypnosis if a nurse or physician should enter her room in order that she might not give a dangerous impression of being in a diabetic coma. She was much impressed by her ability to produce anesthesia. On admission to the hospital she was taking 180 units of insulin a day, using 60 units of protamine zinc, and filling out her requirements with Regular insulin.”
“The response to the surgery was remarkable. She maintained a normal temperature, pulse, and respiration after a total hysterectomy under spinal anesthesia. Her blood sugar never went over 117 mg. / 100 cc. although she was eating a regular hospital diet from the day of surgery. A 3-plus glycosuria on the day of operation dropped to zero on the second day. No insulin was used during the hospital stay. During the next 11 months, she used only an occasional dose of insulin during periods of emotional stress.”
Source: Motivation and Healing in Therapeutic Hypnosis
According to the International Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis, “Because diabetes has important psychological components, it seems reasonable to consider hypnosis as an adjunct therapy for diabetes. Despite some methodological limitations, the literature shows promising results that merit further exploration. Multimodal treatments seem especially promising, with hypnosis as an adjunct to insulin treatments in the management of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes for stabilization of blood glucose and decreased peripheral vascular complications. Source: Hypnosis as an adjunct therapy in the management of diabetes
In A Health Journeys Wellness Report, Guided Imagery & Diabetes, by Belleruth Naparstek, LISW, BCD, writes the following:
Particular Benefits for Diabetes
In addition, guided imagery has some special advantages for those working to promote the proper management of diabetes. Among other things, it can do the following:
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- Lowers hemoglobin A1C
- Reduces blood glucose, in the short and long term
- Helps with circulation and neuropathy
- Raises endorphin levels – decreases pain, lifts mood
- Enhances feelings of empowerment, hope, mastery
- Increases motivation for self-care, even with a difficult daily regimen
- Reduces anxiety-based behaviors, including compulsive eating, smoking & drinking
- Is user friendly – doesn’t ask a lot from weary, discouraged end-users
- Delivers immediately felt benefits, thus reinforcing continued use
- Is self-administered, allowing the end user to be in control
- Has portability – can be uploaded to a phone or MP3 and used anywhere
- Facilitates transition – can be introduced in the hospital and brought home
Hypnosis has been found to promote greater motivation for sticking with self-care which is always a challenge for people with diabetes, because it’s so critical to manage eating and activity, but such a nuisance.
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Guided Imagery & Diabetes
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