Reconditioning the stress response with hypnosis CD reduces the inflammatory cytokine IL-6 and influences resilience: a pilot study

Aim: The aim of this investigation was to measure the impact of a self-administered hypnosis intervention on resilience and the inflammatory cytokine IL-6.

Method: Over a period of 12 weeks, 11 participants listened to a self-administered hypnosis stress reduction program designed to recondition and improve participants' emotional and physical reactions to perceived work and life stressors. Subjects were administered subjective measures of coping, resilience, and stress tolerance, as well as, IL-6, an objective blood measure of inflammatory activity.

Results: After 12 weeks, participants were observed to have a significantly lower IL-6 serum level from baseline. Further, participants reported a significant decrease in the use of negative appraisal coping (such as, self-deprecating statements, perfectionism, and catastrophic and pessimistic thinking), and an improvement in eating/nutritional habits following the intervention. Baseline eating/nutritional habits and threat minimization coping significantly predicted a change in serum IL-6 over the course of the intervention in stepwise hierarchical regression analyses.

Conclusion: Pilot study provides support that a brief self-administered CD hypnosis stress reduction program can modify a physiological measure of inflammation (IL-6), and improve coping and resilience in the face of work and life stress.