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What's All The Chatter About?

2/27/08:

Diane Sawyer and Staff, cross firey hot coals with the help of Hypnosis.

Read GMA'S articles via ABCNEWS.GO.COM

With the help of hypnosis, "Good Morning America" anchor Diane Sawyer hopes to tap into the deepest part of her mind to walk on fire. Wednesday she and other "GMA" staff members attempt to walk over hot coals that burn at more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Benefits of Mental Focus

To learn more about the power of the mind, Diane Sawyer and the "GMA" staff studied how self-hypnosis could help them not only meet this dare but handle everyday complaints and stresses.

"Hypnosis has been called 'believed in imagination.' It's a form of highly focused attention," said Dr. David Spiegel, a psychiatrist at Stanford University. "You control what you focus on and what effect it has on you and your body."

Deep mental focus has been credited with helping free divers hold their breath for up to eight minutes and for getting women through childbirth without pain. In 1961, a hypnotized woman had a Caesarean section without anesthetics.

She simply sung the song her hypnotist suggested she sing.

"We hear all the time about the incredible ways in which monks and yogis are able to rewire their brains through intense practice," said Anne Harrington, who wrote "The Cure Within." "Maybe one important thing we should be doing more of is trying to discover the extraordinary in our own world," said Harrington.

'GMA' Gets Focused

So how would self-hypnosis work for the "GMA" staff members?

First, Spiegel met individually with the firewalkers to determine who was more, or less, susceptible to hypnosis.

Afterward the group gathered and Spiegel asked them to remember funny things to relax their minds. Then Diane and the others were told to imagine two screens. On the left side they envisioned a specific problem, and on the right they visualized a pleasurable place where they imagined a solution.

During the exercise, Diane kept peeking, and Spiegel caught her.

"You were observing, Diane. I noticed that," Spiegel said.

"I cheated," Diane confessed.

Of the group, Diane was ranked one of the least likely to be hypnotized.

But "you can get a lot of benefit even if you're just moderately hypnotizable if you use it," Spiegel said.

Before hypnosis, the pain centers of the brain are very bright, but during hypnosis, they're almost inactive.

"Your performance and efficiency will improve when you do this. So what it's doing is maximizing your potential," said Dr. Herbert Benson at the Harvard Medical School, who is studying how people gain control over their lives through a form of meditation.

For the "GMA" group, many felt a definite difference following the session.

"I thought it was really great how it was just so easy to float from one screen to the next," said producer Maureen White.

"It was just like the sensation of comfort there," said Anthony Underwood, another producer.

In Times Square Wednesday, viewers can see just how harnessing their minds might help Diane Sawyer and the "GMA" team cross those scalding hot coals.

Of course yours truely watched this exciting episode and I'm very happy to tell you, they all crossed the 1200 degree( I believe was the temp) hot coals successfully and comfortably.

Three cheers to Diane and Staff!

Owner of website does not claim ownership of the above news article. The above news article is the sole property of GMA of ABC.

5/11

Putting Hypnosis to the Test on Smokers

ABCNEWS Tries Hypnosis on Two Smokers

Read GMA'S articles via ABCNEWS.GO.COM

Terry Singleton, a convention coordinator from California, started smoking at age 17.

Quitting has always been a struggle.

"I'd smoke while I chewed the gum," she told ABCNEWS' Good Morning America, laughing. "I'd smoke while I drank the tea."

Likewise, after 16 years of smoking, ABC producer Chris Francescani is determined to quit.

"It's like the boy who cried Marlboro," Francescani said. "You know, it's not something that I expect people to believe in me, because they've seen me try and fail so many times."

Now, it's become a matter of pride.

"I'm sick of it," Francescani said. "I'm sick of smoking. It's unhealthy. It's unattractive. It's undignified. I don't want to be obligated anymore to this sort of hourly addiction."

He and Singleton agreed to let Good Morning America use their cases to put hypnosis to the test, to see how well it works to help fed-up smokers quit their habits.

Many Turn to Hypnosis

Each year, tens of thousands of people visit hypnotists in the hope of curing their addictions. According to a Stanford University study, 50 percent of smokers undergoing hypnosis quit after just one hypnotic session. After two years, 25 percent remained smoke-free.

"It's an area that I don't know anything about … so that's a little freaky for me," Singleton said. "But [if it means] becoming a non-smoker it's worth it."

Hypnosis works best on behavior — not root causes, particularly those in which genes may play a strong role, so alcohol and drug abuse have proved resistant to change through hypnosis.

Weight loss also is hard because it is fueled by such a complicated set of emotional and genetic factors. Published studies show that severely obese people lost just 14 pounds, and motivation was key. Perhaps that's because hypnosis works best with simple instructions, and someone can't simply say, "Don't eat."

But a person can just stop smoking. And for many, a simple, self-hypnotic technique may help them win what seems an impossible battle.

Barely Noticed

ABCNEWS asked father and son doctors David and Herbert Spiegel, both psychiatrists and clinicians of hypnotism and addiction, to take on Singleton and Francescani — to hypnotize them into quitting cigarettes. It would take just 60 minutes.

"For my body, smoking is a poison," Francescani said under hypnosis.

"I need my body to live," Dr. Herbert Spiegel said.

"I need my body to live," Francescani repeated.

Afterwards, both were surprised that the experience was not more intense.

"First of all, I thought that it would definitely be more eventful, … less voluntary of me," Singleton said.

"I never once felt that I was under any spell," Francescani said. "You know, I didn't feel that he had any power over me."

In fact, that's a big misconception about hypnosis, experts say. There's no deep trance, no loss of control. Subjects are completely aware the entire session.

"In fact, you're not taking away control," said David Spiegel, who is affiliated with the Stanford University School of Medicine. "You're teaching control by telling them they have a greater ability to control how their body feels."

Some Success

But did it work for Singleton and Francescani? The jury's still out.

Two weeks later, Francescani said his battle against smoking had become easier — "hard but … manageable."

"Before, it was impossible, and now it's possible," Francescani said. "I'm not sure what he did to make it possible, but my body's calmer now, it doesn't freak out every 20 minutes, you know, when you don't have a cigarette."

He added that knowing there would be follow up on his case on national television "certainly helped" him refrain from lighting up.

Singleton did smoke about 10 cigarettes in the week after her hypnosis — well down from her normal consumption — but like Francescani, also found it easier to resist.

"I can go all day without smoking," she said. "I get with my girlfriends and I'll have a cigarette. I think it's made a difference or maybe it's the guilt factor. Everybody at work's rooting for me, you know. Everybody's expecting you to quit, you know?"

Owner of website does not claim ownership of the above news article. The above news article is the sole property of ABCNEWS.

Hypnosis, No Anesthetic, For Man's Surgery

Professional Hypnotizes Self, Is Fully Awake, Pain-Free During Hand Operation

Alex Lenkei on The Early Show Tuesday (CBS/EARLY SHOW)

LONDON, April 22, 2008

Hypnotherapist Alex Lenkel underwent hand surgery using self hypnosis instead of anesthetic. He speaks with Maggie Rodriguez.

(CBS) A British man who hypnotized himself before hand surgery last week so he could skip the anesthetic says he was fully awake and pain-free during the 83-minute procedure.

Professional hypno-therapist and psychotherapist Alex Lenkei, 61, put himself into a deep trance so he wouldn't feel the pain -- he says it took him only 30 seconds to put himself under.

During the surgery, some bone at the base of his thumb was removed, and some joints were fused in an attempt to improve his arthritis.

Lenkei says anesthetic has gotten him nauseous before, and he just feels avoiding it is healthier than using it, in part because it takes awhile to get it out of your system.

Doctors "were using a chisel, hammer to basically break a sort of walnut-sized bone in the hand to take it out. They also used small medical saw to attach tendon to the thumb," he told Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez Tuesday.

"I didn't feel anything at all," Lenkei says. "There was no pain, just very deep relaxation. I was aware of everything that was going on in the (surgical) theater. I was aware of the consultant tugging and pulling during the operation. But there was no pain.

"And at the same time, the anesthetist had my vital signs monitored all the time. They were fully in control of everything. They hooked me up with reference to anesthetic if I needed it, but it was not necessary."

This wasn't the first time Lenkei went that route, he says: "In 1996, I had a hernia operation with no anesthetic. But at that time, I had a colleague with me to stand by with hypnosis. And, being a professional, I know how to go into what they call deep hypnosis. And the local hospital was kind enough to actually allow me to use hypnosis for the operation."

Lenkei says there's a lesson to be learned here for the medical profession, "basically, that hypnosis can be actually used post- and pre-operation to actually help the patient (relax) for a much better successful operation. And I feel that doctors ought to investigate this in a lot more detail and actually use it for the benefit of the patient."

Lenkei says people can heal more quickly if hypnosis is used, and patients are more relaxed.

A doctor was in the operating room says only a small percentage of people would be able to put themselves into such a deep trance, so it wouldn't work for large numbers of people.

However, it's interesting to note that hypnosis was used quite widely before anesthetic was developed.

Owner of website does not claim ownership of the above news article. The above news article is the sole property of CBS/EARLY SHOW.