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Imagine needing to have surgery — but not actually needing to undergo surgery.
Researchers at Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus have moved from imagination to reality,l testing hypnosis as an alternative to going under the knife for weight-loss surgery.
Preliminary results of their groundbreaking study simulating a bariatric surgery procedure using hypnosis, as covered in Ynet, are promising, with most participants suffering from extreme obesity losing an average of ten percent of their body weight within three months. However, the researchers say there are several more months to go to complete the study.
Psychologist and certified hypnotherapist Maya Mizrahi, dressed as a surgeon, leads patients through the step-by-step process of a sleeve gastrectomy, which, like real surgery, has them fast the day before, and in the operating room on the day of, wearing a gown and surgical garments and connected to an EKG, an IV and a monitor to track their heart rate and blood pressure.
“The brain doesn’t distinguish between reality and imagination,” says Mizrahi. “By constructing a scenario in which the brain believes the body is undergoing surgery, the mind can recreate or trigger the same positive effects of an actual operation — sensations of fullness, self-control, confidence and motivation for change."
Read the full article “Israeli Researchers Test Hypnosis-Based Weight-Loss ‘Surgery’ With Promising Early Results” in Ynet.
