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Positive Thought Induction for Arresting Disease Progression: A Hypnotherapeutic Application in HIV/AIDS

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Abstract

The present research aimed to investigate the effect of positive thought induction through hypnotherapeutic strategies, e.g., package of relaxation, guided imagery, positive suggestions, etc., on the coping strategies, clinical and immune parameters of disease progression in people living with HIV/AIDS(PLWHA). Data were collected from 20 adults HIV+ patients having CD4 count above 250 and plasma viral load less than 5000, screened from a large group of HIV+ patients who had volunteered for the study. A repeated measure design of research was used. Results of post and follow-up tests indicated that positive thought induction through hypnotherapy had yielded significant positive changes in several dimension of coping strategies (e.g., active coping, alcohol/drug abuse, denial, planning, reinterpretation and growth). Similarly, it led to significant increase in different Immunological parameters (e.g.,% of CD4 count, absolute CD4 count, absolute CD8 count, proportion of CD4 to CD8 count, and absolute CD3 count). These results suggest the effective use of hypnotherapy as an adjunct therapy to arrest disease progression and improve quality of life of PLWHA. In addition, the result highlights the effect of positive thoughts in strengthening positive coping strategies and improving immune competence in PLWHA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara, 390002, India

    Urmi Nanda Biswas

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  1. Urmi Nanda Biswas
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Correspondence to Urmi Nanda Biswas.

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The author is thankful to A.V. Gupta, Priyanka Kacker and Centre for Thoughtronics Studies, The M.S. University of Baroda for the support to conduct this research.

Annexure-I

Annexure-I

Verbatim of Suggestions

All the sessions given to the clients were organized around the following steps.

  1. 1.

    General relaxation

  2. 2.

    Breath watching

  3. 3.

    Progressive muscular relaxation

  4. 4.

    Ego-strengthening and

  5. 5.

    Visualization.

All other steps being normal, usual as given to any other patients the visualizations given were designed specifically for HIV/AIDS patients. As we all know, hypnotherapeutic suggestions have to be tailor-made, customized, considering the problems faced by the client, goal of the session, symptoms to be managed. However, below are given some general suggestions given to the subjects of the research. This has to be understood in the context and taken as examples only.

Example-1

As you are feeling quite relaxed, you got up from the chair and moved towards the door. Now you have opened the door and came out to the garden. There is a big hot air balloon waiting for you in the garden.As you are feeling relaxed and light you went and sat inside the balloon. Now the balloon has started flying towards the sky carrying you inside. Slowly and slowly, it flies higher and higher. Gradually, your white house appears to be smaller and smaller. You are feeling very relaxed and light, free from all tension and worries. The white house appears smaller and smaller and disappears gradually. You are moving ahead towards the top of the mountain. Slowly, floating and flying you reach the mountain top, the peak of the mountain. You get down from the balloon. The morning sun is coming out from behind the mountain. The mountain peak is slowly getting bathed by soft sun rays. You are wonder struck. You are soaked with soft and warm sun-rays. It slowly feels you with energy. It is entering all the tiny cells of your body, filling them with comforting warmth and energy. As you are getting sunbathed and revitalizing your-self, you keep sitting on the peak for sometime. Slowly when the sun-rays are getting warmer, you are moving into your balloon. The balloon now started floating now, moving downwards. You are feeling quite energetic and strong from inside. The balloon moves downwards slowly and slowly, crossing the mountains and clouds. You are feeling relaxed, energized, and a sense of general well-being making you feel good. Your Balloon floats down and down. down and down. It touches the ground. Back in the garden, you got out of the balloon and moving towards the door. Slowly you enter your own house with a great sense of comfort and energy within you. You are sitting on the chair and reliving the experience that you just had on the mountain peak. Now onwards, when ever you will feel weak and anxious, you will close your eyes and take deep breaths in and out. Along with that you can relive the same experience. You will feel energetic and calm, serene because of this experience.

Example-2

During the suggestions for progressive muscular relaxation, the suggestion was given that the body slowly gets energized from the fresh oxygen received by deep breathing and relaxation. The body stores up this energy.

Verbatim

Now slowly you feel that this positive energy is flowing through your whole body. Flowing like a wave it reaches to your brain and the brain stores this energy happily. You are feeling something different in your body. As you wonder what is happening to me, you are trying to enter your own body. As you slowly travel down your own body you are able to see the blood flowing like a river in your body through the veins and arteries. But there is a fight going on. The fight is between the white blood cells and the HIV virus. The white blood cells are coming together. In mass they are looking like a dolphin. This Dolphin is smoothly swimming and gliding through your blood stream to gulps down the infected cells as if it is eating up small fishes. Your brain is continuously sending energy to this dolphin. The dolphin looks aggressive and energized. Very smoothly and without facing any resistance it just keeps floating, swimming. When it sees any new virus infected cells, gulps it down. Slowly and slowly, the number of infected cells is going down. Your body feels light and fresh. With every new attack the dolphin of white blood cells get more enthused and happier. Slowly and gradually, you feel very light and relaxed in your body. As you are enjoying the view of the dolphin and the decreasing virus in your body, you are floating into a deep peaceful and restful state. Now onwards, whenever you will feel relaxed and drift into a deep peaceful state you will feel the power of the dolphin inside that will keep destroying the infected cells from within the body. You will continue to be in the restful state, till you hear my voice again.

Example-3

As you are feeling very happy and satisfied with your self and feeling very calm and relaxed, you are opening the door and going out to the garden. It is cloudy there. As you look upward you see dark clouds floating in the sky. There is lightening. You can hear thunder also. It is imminent that it is going to rain. As you are enjoying the sunrays coming back from the clouds, you feel warm and good. You are feeling some sensation on your feet. As you look down, you realize that the first drop of rain has fallen on your feet. There is a tingling sensation spreading from that particular point to your whole body. This is the sensation of warmth, well-being and freshness. There is another drop on your forehead. You are very happy and going through the same sensation again. Gradually drop by drop, the raindrops keep falling on you. Surprisingly, the raindrops are warm and the warmth is flowing like a healing wave in your body. As the warm rain drops are bathing your skin you see slowly the skin rashes, the bruises, the itchy scaly skin and the weak and fragile nails are getting changed. They are transforming slowly, changing slowly into normal healthy skin. The rain is infusing more and more vitality, more and more energy into your body, all the body parts, even all the tissues and tiny cells in your body.

The protective power of your body is going up. You can see the white blood cells multiplying fast and rushing to the different parts of your body with the spread of the healing wave that runs and soaks into your body with the warm splatters of rain. You are totally drenched, but still enjoying this transformation. The body is receiving more vital energy, the protective power getting multiplied and the exterior part of your body getting rejuvenated. You allow the rain to soak you, drench you and keep enjoying it.

After sometime the rain stops. There is water everywhere. You are standing in the pool of water naked feet. You see from the water creeps up lot of tiny insects, bacteria and viruses. You can even see them in your naked eye. These creatures are crawling up to you feet and then to your body. They are trying to enter your skin. But lo and behold!! All your white blood cells are out there below the layer of the skin. The skin is highly resistant. You are seeing that in spite of their continuous effort to enter your skin the creatures are not successful. Rather they are dying slowly. Slowly they die and fall back from your skin and body parts. You are feeling like a winner. Your self confidence has been boosted hundred times. You now know that you have grown so strong from inside that it is difficult to infect you. You know you have now derived positive strength from the cosmic energy which will keep sustaining your good health and well-being through all odds. You have started moving towards the white house. The creepy, crawly creatures keep making unsuccessful attempts. As they are dieing and slipping down from your skin, you are feeling more and more confident about your health. Feeling assured and confident about your health,and the protective power of your body, you are slowly returning to the white house.

You are feeling serene and assured. You are feeling healthy and energetic. you are feeling rested. As you are entering the white house and resettling into your own chair, you are slowly becoming aware. Your body feels light.

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Biswas, U.N. Positive Thought Induction for Arresting Disease Progression: A Hypnotherapeutic Application in HIV/AIDS. Psychol Stud 56, 192–205 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-011-0086-x

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