Peter B. Bloom

Psychosocial and immune effects of self-hypnosis training for stress management throughout the first semester of medical school.

This study was a 19-week prospective conducted to determine the effectiveness of a self-hypnosis/relaxation intervention to relieve symptoms of psychological distress and moderate immune system reactivity to examination stress in 35 first-year medical students. Twenty-one subjects were randomly selected for training in the use of self-hypnosis as a coping skill and were encouraged to practice regularly and to maintain daily diary records related to mood, sleep, physical symptoms, and frequency of relaxation practice. An additional 14 subjects received no explicit training in stress-reduction strategies, but completed similar daily diaries. Self-report psychosocial and symptom measures, as well as blood draws, were obtained at four time points: orientation, late semester, examination period, and postsemester recovery. It was found that significant increases in stress and fatigue occurred during the examination period, paralleled by increases in counts of B lymphocytes and activated T lymphocytes, PHA-induced and PWM-induced blastogenesis, and natural killer cell (NK) cytotoxicity. No immune decreases were observed. Subjects in the self-hypnosis condition reported significantly less distress and anxiety than their nonintervention counterparts, but the two groups did not differ with respect to immune function. Nevertheless, within the self-hypnosis group, the quality of the exercises (ie, relaxation ratings) predicted both the number of NK cells and NK activity. It was concluded that stress associated with academic demands affects immune function, but immune suppression is not inevitable. Practice of self-hypnosis reduces distress, without differential immune effects. However, individual responses to the self-hypnosis intervention appear to predict immune outcomes.

Treatment of loin pain hematuria syndrome by renal autotransplantation

Loin pain hematuria (LPH) syndrome is a poorly understood and relatively rare symptom complex, but one that increasingly deserves recognition as a clinical entity. The syndrome lacks specific diagnostic criteria, but patients with this condition, most frequently female, present with microscopic hematuria and incapacitating loin pain, usually leading to narcotic addiction. The appellation LPH syndrome was first applied by Little and associates [ 11, who described the original cases in England. Since then, no more than 130 cases have been described around the world. Various pathogenetic mechanisms have been postulated and a multitude of therapies attempted, but the entity remains a diagnostic enigma and a therapeutic dilemma for patient and physician alike. The patient described herein is presented to heighten the awareness of American physicians concerning this obscure syndrome and to suggest renal autotransplantation, to date employed mainly by the Australians, as a therapeutic option. The case report is accompanied by a chronologic review of the existing literature concerning this entity.

Clinical Guidelines in Using Hypnosis in Uncovering Memories of Sexual Abuse: A Master Class Commentary

These clinical guidelines are suggested to enhance the safe practice of the psychotherapy of increasing numbers of patients seeking help in uncovering memories of sexual abuse. However, it is ultimately the clinicians own judgment with each patient/client that determines the best path to follow. When therapeutic impasse occurs, consideration of these guidelines will, it is hoped, be beneficial to both therapist and patient.

Treating adolescent conversion disorders: are hypnotic techniques reusable?

Abstract When treating disabling conversion disorders in hospitalized adolescents, clinicians must act to restore function as rapidly as possible. After attempting to rule out physical causes for the symptoms and trying to find persuasive psychological reasons that the patient will accept and use to resolve the condition, the inpatient staff of a multidisciplinary therapeutic milieu must seek additional approaches to the care of these seriously ill individuals. This clinical forum reports the authors experience treating 2 young patients, a 12-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy, with hypnosis. Therapists of every experience level find hypnotic techniques that work for them in a variety of patients, but are hypnotic techniques really reusable? The author reports what he learned once again.

In Memoriam: Graham Dene Burrows, 1938–2016

Graham Burrows was my friend and colleague during our successive presidencies of the International Society of Hypnosis (ISH). Seldom have I met such a superb strategist whose primary aim was for our society, which he led in multiple roles during critical times. In 1986, when the ISH Central Office needed a new home, Graham stepped in and provided space and staff at the Austin Hospital for more than a decade. In addition, he brought the entire Australian Society of Hypnosis into ISH membership. I have seldom met a more loyal person than Graham. In so many ways, he was a resource for me as I met the inevitable challenges of leadership. Graham was not always free from controversy. He accepted that a true conservative knew when to act decisively. The decisions for which I sought his advice resulted in win/win solutions for all involved. This was his special strength. We met Graham and his wife, Barbara, when they came to Philadelphia for the 1976 ISH Congress. Our kids remember his flash of red hair and the gifts of toy koala bears, which opened their eyes to their first international friendships. Over the years, we visited their home in suburban Melbourne, their farm, and Barbara’s equestrian center. As a retired anesthesiologist, she has brought to this endeavor the same devotions and skill she brought to her medical practice. At Graham’s retirement celebration from the University of Melbourne’s Department of Psychiatry in 2008, Marcia and I shared time with his national and international colleagues. As the family has written in his obituary, his range of influence and leadership extended to every aspect of psychiatry, including his research, clinical care, and teaching. His highest honor was the Officer of the Order of Australia. Linda Davey and Graham’s colleague Robb Stanley, an officer of ISH, prove the point that every accomplished man or woman has a professional infrastructure of excellence. His wife and children gave him balance and inspiration. When I asked Graham which was more important, his work or his family, he looked me right in the eye and said firmly, “Family!” As the most poignant example of this, he relayed to me that before he started his day in the hospital at 7 AM and after his earlier walk with his dog, he served Barbara breakfast in bed—treasured moments for each to begin the day.