An Immodest Proposal to Save Canada's Medicare

What if there was a simple, effective way to drastically reduce the costs of Canada's Medicare program? There is. It's called hypnosis.

Hypnosis, or more precisely, hypnotherapy is an ideal complement to medical care. Here are some of the ways in which it could drastically reduce visits to family doctors, emergency rooms and hospitals:

For example, a study conducted at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York found that when women participated in a hypnosis session before breast surgery, experienced less nausea and required less pain medication than the control group. Patients in the hypnosis group also cost the hospital $772 less.

What a doctor or nurse says to her patients carries a powerful impact. When medical professionals learn how to talk in a positively hypnotic manner to patients:

Patients who are taught simple self-help hypnotic techniques will have less need for medical aid and hospitalizations.

Similarly, doctors and nurses who use hypnosis to relax themselves, to handle stress on the job, to deal with difficult patients and colleagues, will be more efficient. Thus time will be saved, less overtime required and staff will enjoy their work more.

Fifteen years ago while I was recovering from an 8-bypass operation I listened to a hypnotic recording created by a colleague. The Head Nurse told my wife "I don't know what he's listening to, but everyone should have one." Sadly, the Head Nurse never followed up.

But now, as the health care crisis heats up in Canada and we can look forward to either the collapse of a Medicare overburdened with elderly people, or increases in taxes on an already heavily-taxed population surely the time has come to apply the safe process of hypnotherapy to the sick vehicle of social medicine.

An easy way to train doctors, nurses and the public at large in the easy-to-learn hypnotic techniques that could revolutionise health care in Canada would be to ask hypnotherapists across this great country to put on free workshops in hospitals and clinics.

A second tactic would be to teach high school students (the medical professionals and patients of the future) the benefits of lowering their own stress levels and building healthy habits with self-hypnosis.

The Internet is awash with hypnotic MP3s, DVDs, ebooks and CDs, many of them free. This is the 21st century way for patients and health care providers to enjoy self-hypnosis -- and therefore better physical and mental health.

All it would take for students, nurses and doctors is one hour to acquire hypnotic self-help techniques that would last a life-time.

Here are a few of the scientific probes into the effectiveness of medical hypnosis:

http://successfulhypnotherapy.com/articles_hypnotism.html
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=201802752
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2230228,00.html
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/q/chi-1216_cam_p1_xxxxxdec16,0,4155613,full.column
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4087/is_200301/ai_n9196882/pg_6
http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071120/LIFE03/711200349/1004/LIFE
http://www.eastbaymedicalguide.com/media/East-Bay-Medical-Guide/Annual-2008/Stress/
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/hypnosis-helped-stanfordpackard-physicians-pinpoint-cause-of-childrens-seizures,280937.shtml
http://www.providencehypnosiscenter.com/html/menopause1.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/sussex/7355569.stm
http://www.wxyz.com/content/news/health/story.aspx?content_id=df9e859c-94d7-4778-b435-d7f93c46665c
http://www.legal-medical.co.uk/news/11831.html
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=37627
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/22/earlyshow/health/main4033962.shtml
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2263867/Pensioner-has-knee-surgery-under-hypnosis.html
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2008/07/31/Hypnosis_reduces_symptoms_of_dementia/UPI-88751217560517/
http://www.naturalnews.com/023979.html
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080826/NEWS/808260317
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1529650/cancer_how_one_client_overcame_all_the_odds_and_got/
http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2008/07/31/Hypnosis-reduces-symptoms-of-dementia/UPI-88751217560517/
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090913/thl-smoking-ban-reduces-heart-attacks-d831572.html
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/feature/id/47697/title/The_Mesmerized_Mind
http://belleruthnaparstek.com/hypnosis/index.php

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Lynne Carr - Jones

Posted 1142 days ago

A brilliant idea! We just need to educate the public asto the many benefits of hypnosis and this is possible with the acceptance and training of doctors, nursing professionals etc., This is so important for the country but more importantly for the people!

Harriet Horlick

Posted 1143 days ago

What a great concept! After reading this article, you have me convinced that hypnotherapy could possibly be beneficial in reducing costs of our Medicare system.

However, how many people could actually be convinced of same, and actually go for it (especially the elderly)? If this is so, how much could Medicare costs actually be reduced?

I think there are many misconceptions regarding hypnosis, and thus, there would have to be extensive public information sessions to get around these misconceptions.

H. Horlick

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