Can relaxation training and hypnotherapy modify the immune response to stress, and is hypnotizability relevant?

Abstract

AbstractA study was carried out with the following aims: (1) to evaluate the psychological and immunological effects of 3 weeks' relaxation practice; (2) to investigate the effects of relaxation training and hypnosis on the modulation of the immune response to an experimental stressor; and (3) to relate changes to hypnotic susceptibility. Twenty‐four healthy volunteers were assigned, according to a stratified, permuted blocks, random allocation procedure, to relaxation training with hypnosis or to a control condition. Subjects attended on three occasions: day 1, day 21 and day 22 or 23. Various psychological tests were carried out on each of the occasions and, in addition, samples of urine and blood were collected for immunological and biochemical analysis. Two samples of blood were taken at the second visit, one before exposure to an experimental stressor on day 21 and one immediately thereafter.Relaxation had several effects including improvement on a number of measures of mental state and a reduction in lymphocyte responsiveness and IL‐1 secretion. However, on exposure to the stressor, previous relaxation training and pre‐exposure hypnotic suggestion led to increased lymphocyte responsiveness and IL‐1 secretion.The extent to which IgA increased as a result of relaxation therapy for 3 weeks was positively correlated with Creative Imagination Scale (CIS) scores (changes in the control group during the same period were not correlated with CIS scores). Moreover, immediate changes in IL‐1 following exposure to the stressor were positively correlated with CIS scores in the experimental group and negatively in the control group. Hypnotizability, as assessed by the CIS, may be an important moderator of the psychoneuroimmunological response to relaxation training and exposure to acute stress. Copyright © 1996 British Society of Experimental and Clinical Hypnosis