Possibility of Hypnosis as an Aid in Cancer Therapy

BRIEF PROPOSAL POSSIBILITY OF HYPNOSIS AS AN AID IN CANCER THERAPY PHILIP LANSKY* . . . An emotional shock can produce the diversion ofattentionfrom a physical symptom that will permit of near-spontaneous remission— emotional shocks are usually delivered via the word. Faith, belief, the condition upon which the healing depends, is not an act ofthe will nor ofthe intellect nor of concentration. It is the ability to let go of the problem, to put it in the hands ofsomeone or "something" outside one's consciousness. An instant of its actual nonexistence in the mind is sufficient to break its hold upon the flesh and consciousness—and thus so often a shock works a miraculous cure. And yet it is not the shock itselfthat cures: it is the respite the shock affords consciousness and subconsciousness in dealing with the problem. [1] Hypnosis or something very similar is the most ancient, and perhaps ultimately the most effective, treatment for disease. The exorcism of disease-causing demons by shamans dates back at least 10,000 years and probably earlier. In the Chinese Nei Ching, the 3,000-year-old Yellow Emperor's Classic ofInternal Medicine, we are told amid discussions of acupuncture needles, herbal remedies, and the physiology of the vital organs that the highest form of doctor uses no medicine, but treats disease solely through the agency of the mind [2]. The New Testament recounts Jesus' curing all manners of ills through speech, and proponents of mesmerism in the early nineteenth century claimed their technique to be capable of curing ills which were refractory to all medical treatments available at that time. In our own era, also, medical hypnosis has been documented as effective in curing a spectrum of maladies, including hypertension, warts, and intractable neurological pain. But cancer? This most dreaded and poorly understood disease is usually omitted from classical works on psychosomatic medicine. The very name is nearly synonymous with incurability, and what little is known of cancer's mechanism usually seems anything but psychological. Although hypnosis has been *University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, P.O. Box 13056, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19101. Permission to reprint this brief proposal may be obtained only from the author. 496 I Philip Lansky · BriefProposal successfully used in the management of cancer pain and associated depression [3, 4, 5], few have attempted to direct the mind to reversing the process of carcinogenesis itself. Recently Dr. Carl Simonton, a radiologist, and his psychologist wife, Stephanie Matthews-Simonton, began using visualization techniques in conjunction with standard chemo- and radiation therapies to help their patients mobilize immunologic mechanisms consciously to fight their own cancers. The Simontons published their first encouraging results several years ago [6]. They now treat an international clientele at their Fort Worth, Texas, Cancer Counseling Center and reach additional thousands through their books, mailorder tapes, and traveling workshops. Even so, public demand is overwhelming and with good reason—cancer patients are desperate for hope. The time is therefore ripe for medical people, especially psychiatrists, to consider carefully the theoretical justification and empirical evidence suggesting a role for hypnosis and other psychiatric techniques in the modern medical armamentarium against cancer. For if such techniques now work at all, they can undoubtedly be improved. Therapeutic strategies must be conceptualized and research protocols must be designed and implemented. It will be our purpose in this paper to consider the fragments of research accumulated through the years which support the role of hypnosis in the medical treatment of cancer. Then, building on this evidence, we will offer a yet-to-beimplemented therapeutic strategy which diverges sharply from those currently employed, but which we suspect may prove more effective. I. Immunologic Factors A prevailing view of cancer assumes that small, microscopic tumors form in the body regularly. A random genetic mutation (induced by radiation, chemicals, virus, etc.) renders a previously normal cell neoplastic and provides it with a selective growth advantage [7]. In the immunologically competent host, a cellmediated immunologic response is mounted against antigens on the surface of the abnormal cells, and the budding cancer is destroyed by T-lymphocyteactivated macrophages. If this immune response fails for any reason, the progeny of this one cell multiply into a neoplastic clone clinically...