Psycho Neuro Immunology & Hypnosis

Psycho neuro immunology (PNI) is a rather new science that tries to understand the interactions between the Immune System(IS): being the defence apparatus against illness making intruders or malfunctioning cells of an organism and the nervous system, controlling all body functions and the psyche(PS).

Your body’s immune system (immunology)
What you are thinking and feeling (psycho)
Your brain and central nervous system function (neuro)

Your state of mind has a direct effect on your well-being.

What might have been referred to as pseudoscience a few decades ago now finds strong support from many stations. Psycho neuro immunology has deep consequences for the future of medical research, the treatment of diseases and our attitude toward handling stress.

G.F. Solomon published a paper entitled “Emotions, Immunity and Disease” in this paper the term Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) was used for the first time. PNI research offers an opportunity to integrate a mindless body medicine with a bodiless mind medicine and might offer answers on the diverse reactions of humans with obvious similar situations of health and disease.

Psyco-immunology addresses to the role of psychological factors in physical illness, as well of the role of the immune system in behavioural changes and it’s possible connection to mental illness. A relationship between mental states and disease has been described and observed for century’s. Although mental states are difficult to define by means of materialistic science, Psycho neuro immunology investigates the observed empirical findings.

For more than a decade, researchers have known that behavioral and psychological events can influence the immune system. But now new research shows that the immune system sends signals to the brain “that potently alter neural activity and thereby alter everything that flows from neural activity, mainly behavior, thought and mood,” said Maier, professor of psychology at the University of Colorado. It is impossible to have any kind of feeling without the presence of certain hormones that cause that feeling, in your blood stream. These hormones are molecules that are released and controlled by glands in your body and brain, most famously the pituitary gland.

Modern breakthroughs in endocrinology are proving that your mind, nervous system, and immune system are connected, and that there is no specific sequence to the connections – each is interconnected. Using hypnosis we can change the mind, by reprogramming the subconscious, ways of thinking, belief systems and reconstructing new neural pathways. When we have control over the mind, we can then control how the immune system and central nervous system are behaving.

Hypnotherapy and developing a personal practice of self hypnosis can have an overall positive effect on a person’s immune system. When we become anxious, tense or worried over a prolonged period of time, high levels of the stress hormone cortisol are released, compromising the efficiency of the immune system. PNI explores the opportunity to bring balance to the emotional self by tapping into methods which will fuel endorphin’s: imagining or experiencing a pleasurable event, creating a sense of relaxation and promoting feelings of physical wellbeing. The brain speaks regularly and fluently to the cells of the immune system and vice versa. Activating positive and calming emotions will immediately strengthen the immune system, this has been tested by examining the level of Cortisol measurable through a simple saliva test.

PNI shows that by influencing our state of mind it is possible to significantly affect the immune system’s ability to fight disease and restore healthy balance within the body. PNI is all about working to reduce the stress levels in our lives. Hypnotherapy, self-hypnosis, relaxation, meditation, and visualisation are a few of the methods used to achieve this. Relaxation techniques help people to get back to feeling hopeful and better equipped to restore health. Listening to a Hypnotic audio can be really helpful for restoring equilibrium within the body/mind system.

I think most people would agree that your state of mind effects your physical wellbeing and you’re body’s ability to deal with illness. If you are having health problems and would like to talk about how hypnotherapy can help boost your immune system please feel free to contact me.

G.F. Solomon published a paper entitled “Emotions, Immunity and Disease”

Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Glaser R. Psychological influences on immunity. Psychosomatics. 1986.

Stein M, Keller SE, Schleifer SJ. Stress and immunomodulation: the role of depression and neuroendocrine function. J Immunol. 1985.

Candice Pert “Molecules of Emotion: The Scientific Basis Behind Mind Body Medicine” (1997).