How Hypnosis Helps Compulsive Behavior, Addictions and Bad Habits by Appealing to the Subconscious Mind

The main reason that hypnosis is such a helpful treatment for compulsive behavior, addictions and bad habits is that it appeals to the subconscious mind. Although cognitive therapy is traditionally the treatment for addictions and related problems, a solution that ignores the subconscious mind will work only temporarily.

An article in the FindCounseling.com Mental Health Journal explains how hypnosis communicates with the subconscious mind: "Emotions and the imagination reside in the subconscious"Emotion is the fuel of the subconscious while imagination is the language." Therefore, when we use hypnosis to suggest emotion to the subconscious through imaginative images, the impact on the subconscious is great. The author goes on to explain, "The subconscious doesn"t "think" in the usual way; it reacts. And it can"t distinguish between reality and unreality; it absorbs all the information received through the senses as true, as real." This means that suggestions to the subconscious through the process of hypnosis are perceived as real states of being. (Riley, Newton, 2001)

Of course, your conscious mind may still be telling you, "I want cigarettes! If I don"t smoke I"m going to be super cranky." The good news is that "generally speaking, if two or more emotions are in conflict, the dominate one wins out over the weaker;  imagination wins out over will power;  emotions win out over logic;  the subconscious wins out over the conscious." (Ibid.)

A case study from Ohio State University showed that hypnosis is not only effective in treating the causes of addiction, it"s also effective in treating withdrawal symptoms. A female who was addicted to cocaine and ingested 5 grams per day replaced her addiction with hypnosis sessions 3 times a day for four months, and otherwise received no treatment. At the end of the four month period, she was drug free and has remained so for 9 years. (Page, Handley, 1993)

Similarly, a study in the American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis followed methadone addicts, half of whom received hypnotherapy as part of their treatment and half of whom didn"t. The study found that those who received hypnotherapy "had significantly less discomfort and illicit drug use, and a significantly greater amount of cessation." In fact, at a six month check up, 94% of the group who received hypnotherapy were still drug free. (Mangianello, 1984)

Hypnotherapy is also very successful in treating withdrawal symptoms of addictions.  For example, one of the worst withdrawal symptoms for narcotic addicts is sleep disruption. Narcotics interrupt the regular sleep cycle and many addicts cannot sleep without taking drugs. It takes at least a week for normal sleep cycles to return after cessation of narcotic intake and many addicts break their vow for recovery in this time because they can"t stand lack of sleep. Hypnosis is extremely effective in treating insomnia, no matter what the cause. A study done at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University followed 70 children who suffered from insomnia to the extent that their sleep onset was delayed more than 30 minutes. The researchers provided them with instruction in self-hypnosis, and 90% of them reported a significant reduction in the delay of sleep onset as a result of hypnosis. (Anbar, Slothower, 2006)

Hypnosis is also effective in treating physical pain, which is a withdrawal symptom of many drugs, including opioids. (www.nationalpainfoundation.org) The Department of Medicine at Wythenshawe Hospital in the UK found that 80% of patients with non-cardiac chest pain found a reduction in their symptoms after hypnosis, as compared to 23% in the control group. (Miller, Jones, Whorwell, 2007) It is clear that hypnosis should be a component of any successful therapy to treat addictions, compulsions or bad habits because of its ability to access and affect the subconscious mind.