Narcosis is actually short for "being under anesthesia." It means you are completely sedated so that a surgeon can operate on you without causing you pain. Narcosis is given with narcotic medication that causes you to become unconscious and unable to move during surgery. This prevents sudden movement and the objects used during surgery from accidentally causing serious damage. In the process, you won't remember anything about it either if it is performed correctly. In this blog I will go into more detail about what anesthesia is, how hypnosis can help and if hypnosis can even replace it altogether.
How does hypnosis work?
You have local and general anesthesia. With local anesthesia, the signals your nerves can transmit are blocked so you don't feel anything in that area. This is often used at the dentist and as an epidural during childbirth making it relatively painless.
There are also surgeries where it is better for you to be completely under anesthesia. In that case, you are given medication that ensures that you become unconscious and that you also do not have a psychological reaction when you are cut. Thus, your body then makes less or no stress hormone and your blood pressure and heart rate remain stable.
Because you become so unconscious that you may eventually stop breathing during surgery as well, you are usually put on life support so that you can easily survive the surgery. You will be given a flexible tube in your airway for this purpose, because of this you may have some discomfort in your throat after surgery[1].
Generally, propofol is used for general anesthesia, for inducing and keeping anesthesia. In the process, you may also be administered sleep aids and muscle relaxants. These are usually beta blockers.
If you are allergic to the narcotic, you can also get ketamine, but that can cause you to trip (generally a fun trip, especially in children).
After surgery you do have pain from the wound, usually you get morphine for this.
Side effects of anesthesia
Once you have recovered from anesthesia, you may continue to experience side effects for a while, which include:
- Dizziness
- Confusion
- Memory loss (amnesia)
- Difficulty urinating
- Bruising or pain where you had a drip
- Nausea
- Vomiting (almost immediately after waking up)
- Vibrate
- Feeling cold
- Sore, hoarse throat due to ventilation
Local anesthesia through an epidural can leave you partially paralyzed if it is inserted incorrectly.
Long-term side effects
Should you be 1 out of those 30,000 people who somewhat experience something from the surgery, mostly sound and nothing else, you may still experience trauma from this. Of course, you don't expect that to happen and so this can be incredibly shocking.
Narcosis with hypnosis
James Braid was the first man to use hypnosis during surgery around 1840 when mainly liquor and opiates were used as anesthesia. Since this was not always available, such as during an emergency job, he experimented with the mental state people are in and whether he could somehow change it. This was incredibly successful.
Because there are now other narcotics, hypnosis has again become somewhat "off," but as more and more people do not want to be under the influence of medication or suffer from side effects, it is becoming more popular again. The fact that hypnosis itself does not cost any money also helps.
Hypnosis is already used in hospitals to make sure you are calm before surgery and to aid recovery after surgery.
In childbirth, hypnosis is also recommended for increased control and pain management. This can, of course, be in addition to other local anesthetics[2].
Children are often put under full anesthesia because they often have difficulty sitting still. However, research shows that local anesthesia with hypnosis for children between the ages of 6 and 16 can also work very well against anxiety and to control pain. The more beneficial the treatment was, the more hypnotizable the children were[3].
Hypnosis can be used very well before and after general anesthesia and in addition to local anesthesia.
Hypnotic Anesthesia
For minor surgery and people who are well hypnotizable, you can even perform the surgery using only hypnosis as the "anesthetic"[4].
Anesthesiologists and hypnosis
So hypnosis in surgery is certainly an option, but how do the people who would then have to induce the anesthesia or hypnosis view it? A survey of anesthesiologists, trainers and anesthesiologist assistants found that about 30% had knowledge of hypnosis and 70% said their knowledge was below average or simply nonexistent.
About 42% of respondents felt that positive hypnotic suggestions have a place in clinical anesthesia. Some 41% indicated that reasons for not applying hypnosis in anesthetizing people was that it takes too much time and that you need special training to do so. But 2% of the respondents indicated that hypnosis could not be used in anesthesia.
The survey does show that a very large majority of anesthesiologists are open to positive suggestions, even more than hypnosis even[5]. But of course, this can come across better with hypnosis.
How does hypnosis for anesthesia work?
Before anesthesia, hypnosis mainly helps to eliminate the fear of anesthesia. One way this is done is through the positive suggestions. What these suggestions are depends on your beliefs about anesthesia or about the surgery.
These suggestions help you stay calm and reduce stress, making the anesthesia more effective and numbing you better. You then often need less medication, have less nausea after surgery and experience less fatigue.
Suggestions may include:
"Your body will do anything to get better."
"Surgery helps your body get better."
"Being sick means your body is working hard to make you healthier."
These are just examples of positive suggestions. Depending on your beliefs about your condition, surgery or anesthesia, you may receive other suggestions for surgery.
In addition, hypnosis before surgery can help you relax. This is done, for example, with a guided visualization about falling asleep and being in safe hands.
How does hypnosis work as anesthesia?
With hypnosis as anesthesia or in combination with anesthesia, it is very important to have good focus to stay in self-hypnosis. The main goal now is to stay still and exercise control over your sense of pain.
For self-hypnosis, it is important to relax properly. You consciously relax your muscles, ensure even breathing and close your eyes. Some people notice in their trance that they are actually looking upward while having their eyes closed.
You can also often listen to an mp3 to better retain the self-hypnosis.
In addition, you can visualize how to still have control over pain. This is often done by practicing controlling some sort of volume knob or something similar.
This is something you can combine well with surgery with local anesthesia.
Hypnosis after anesthesia
After anesthesia, you recover and may be disoriented for a while. That disorientation can be quite exciting, in which case hypnosis can help you stay calm. This is often done through a guided visualization where you wake up in a pleasant place where you feel completely safe.
So hypnosis and anesthesia is a combination that makes quite a bit of sense for many anesthesiologists. At the moment, however, it is still recommended to always have minimal local anesthesia, and for some larger surgeries, full anesthesia is simply best.
However, if you would rather not have anesthesia or not be completely sedated, it is best to ask the hospital if they are familiar with hypnosis and if it can be used.
Want to learn more about how hypnosis works and whether you can bring people under hypnosis? Then come to the hypnosis playshop. Would you like to learn techniques to help people deal with pain or other problems right away? Then sign up for one of our courses right away. Ask about online options if that suits you better.
[1] https://www.livescience.com/33731-anesthesia-work.html
[2] https://journals.lww.com/mcnjournal/Abstract/2002/11000/Self_Hypnosis__Alternative_Anesthesia_for.7.aspx
[3] https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-05891-007
[4] https://europepmc.org/abstract/med/27575449
[5] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00029157.2015.1136589
