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When it comes to national killers in the United States, nothing ranks as high as obesity and the complexities caused by the condition. For years, weight loss hypnosis has been touted as a solution to obesity and the many complications it causes, but does it really work?
Most of the offers of hypnosis as a treatment for weight loss are not legitimate and are coming from sources that are looking to make money at your expense.
Let's face it... losing weight takes time. The question is, are there reputable resources who offer therapy through hypnosis that could assist in weight loss? |
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Can Hypnosis Really Affect Weight Loss?Most of the offers of hypnosis as a treatment for weight loss are not legitimate and are coming from sources that are looking to make money at your expense. These ploys often come in the form of video or audio tapes, books, and seminars for sale. Anyone who claims that you’ll have “instant results” or that only one session will cure you is obviously leading you on, since losing weight takes time.
Many entertain the process because it is a “natural” cure, involving no medications, no particular diet regimen, and no prescribed exercise program. The idea of hypnosis is to essentially reprogram some aspect of an individual’s brain and thought process to correct a bad habit, create a new function, or to cure an obsession, such as overeating. However, if attempted by someone who is not trained in the method it can be a dangerous procedure. First developed in 1842, hypnosis was only recently introduced as part of an integrated weight loss program, and a single session shows little effect on one’s weight.
Hypnosis has always been a controversial procedure for any purpose, and for weight loss, it has generated little, if any, verified results. Without any kind of supplementation through scheduled diet and exercise, a trial where a small number of subjects were treated for 8 weeks, followed by 12 weeks of self hypnosis procedures, the group lost an average of 20.2 pounds. However, this study in 1985 is highly questionable, as the number of subjects was so small (only 45 people participated), and there was no control group against which they could be compared.
On the other hand, it has been shown that weight loss hypnosis in conjunction with other weight loss management programs, such as planned diet and exercise, can assist in greater achievement of goals. It is thought that perhaps, in such cases, the hypnosis is more helpful in creating a thought process that pushes the regulated routine forward. Unfortunately, even if it does assist, the process of hypnosis is time consuming, usually requiring weekly sessions for 8 weeks or more.
If nothing else, weight loss hypnosis is severely limited in its ability to effectively provide treatment to overweight individuals. It is believed that hypnosis is simply a means of suggestibility, making the psyche believe that it is this additional treatment that affords the drive to continue to lose weight. Without more in depth, long-term study, it is unlikely there will be substantial evidence proving that this time consuming method of treatment is effective for weight loss.
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