Hypnosis, Suggestion. and Psychotropic Medication

It's a science to develop a new paychotropic medication but it's an art to use it, because no two people are exactly alike. Even after years of rigorous testing to gain approval for a prescription drug, a particular medication can have absolutely no effect on one person, work well for another, and put still another in the emergency room. (I've talked to more than one one individual in each group.)

One prison inmate with previously undiscovered bipolar disorder had driven his car into a tree while in a manic state, which resulted in the death of his passenger and his subsequent incarceration. He later said to me, "The right medication, in the right dosage, will kick ass!" For most people, he was correct; and I replied that I had never heard it put that incisively before. We agreed that it is unfortunate that some people with mental illness have to come to prison before finding out what is wrong with them and getting the medication they need.

Of course, no decision regarding whether to use or not to use psychotropic medication such as anti-depressants, anti-anxiety agents, or mood stabilizers, should be made without consulting an appropriately licensed professional who can prescribe such medication. But for those who react poorly or adversely to psychotropic medication and who respond well to suggestion, hypnosis can be useful as a booster or an alternative. For example, a client whose depression appeared to be primarily rooted in family difficulties recently had been prescribed an anti-depressant by her family physician, but it was either not working or it had not kicked in yet. She was about to stop taking her medication, but I told her that some medication does take weeks to build up in one's body, sometimes the dosage needs to be adjusted, sometimes there are unpleasant side effects, which make it necessary to try another medication before finding just the right meds, either singly or in combination, which work for a particular individual.

While she continued to see her physician, using a multimodal hypnotic induction and the Best Me Technique, both described in my blog, I suggested feelings of peace, happinesss, tranquility, and relaxation. Almost immediately her depression lifted, and we were free to begin the process of identifying goals and discovering the sources which would help to bring meaning and fulfillment into her life.

Was her change in mood due to hypnosis, or did her medication finally start to work? The only thing we can be sure of at this point is that she is highly satisfied with the outcome. IMHO, under certain circumstances, sometimes hypnosis can produce results which are similar to those which the inmate told me can be produced by psychotropic medication.