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How to Overcome Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Until very recently, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) was considered a medical condition but recent developments have put it in the category of psychosomatic ailments. These are disorders where the mind plays a critical role in accentuating the level of disorder in the individual. IBS is normally associated with flare up in stomach, stomach pain, wind, diarrhea, and constipation.

Most often, in Irritable Bowel Syndrome IBS, the brain misfires, interpreting normal sensations of the gut. Majorly the afflicted individuals over-worry about what they can eat (what is considered to safe to eat), and cannot eat. Eventually, they restrict themselves to such an extent that they start living in fear. Not only do they stop enjoy eating, but it also affects their mental health and social life.

The Mind is the Source of Problem, NOT the Food

To date, medical science has not really understood the syndrome. Conventional treatment mainly consists of treating the symptoms rather than the root cause. However, recent medical studies involving hypnotherapy, therapy that works with the mind have shown remarkable progress in individuals afflicted with IBS. With positive suggestion to the subconscious mind with hypnotherapy, most symptoms associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome IBS are seen to subside substantially.

It is believed that if the individual is capable of self-manifesting an illness, then by utilizing the same brilliant mind positively enables the withdrawal of symptoms associated with IBS. Here the emphasis on unlearning what got “programmed” in the first place.

For further understanding of Irritable Bowel Syndrome IBS, let’s look at a case study of my client afflicted with IBS and what

goes through her mind:

Mary, A Case Study of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Afflicted

Mary has been suffering from multiple disorders, namely – IBS, binge eating disorder, and depression. Over the years, she has come to realize that each of her disorders is connected.

As a child, she lived with a controlling mum who was extremely restrictive about her eating habits, making her always conscious of what she can and cannot eat. In turn, she and her sister developed the habit of eating food items hiding from their mom. Most times, Mary felt that there was never enough food for her. And when there was enough of “permitted” food she would indulge and have more than necessary.

Now into her 30s, her mom still makes it a point to comment on her eating. Presently, living on her own, she still feels conscious of eating making her fat, contributing to her sickness and stomach flare ups. Her constant fear is “If I eat, I am going to get sick.” She feels entirely hopeless about breaking out of this negative eating pattern. Ironically, she believes her binge eating brings in a sense of safety, but afterwards she is filled with tremendous shame and loneliness.

She sees herself as a failure and never feels good about herself. Her negative core beliefs, only goes on to reinforces her unhealthy sense of self. The unhealthy eating pattern has also made her avoid social situations and it feels daunting to even step out and mingle with people.

Over the years, she has come across literature that describes the “gut-brain axis” where the gut is seen to play an active role in triggering symptoms associated with IBS. Slowly she has realized that her brain and the mind are playing tricks on her to make the IBS situation worse than what it actually is. Even her binge eating and depression are associated offshoots of the IBS.

Presently, she has concluded that the programming in her brain requires an “upgrade” and she needs to develop new coping mechanisms to control anxieties associated with food. She has made the start by watching YouTube videos on self-hypnosis for IBS and has made sincere efforts in unlearning her acquired behaviors. But, success was nowhere in sight working on her own.

She had been carrying a heavy load of “emotional baggage” and disorder for over 15 years. Somehow, she finally took the bold step to seek help and visit us at Make It Happen Hypnotherapy.

How Hypnotherapy Works for IBS?

Having understood her situation, our lead Clinical Hypnotherapist – Sandy has come with the following steps that will allow Mary to come out of her present IBS situation:

  • Mary is unconsciously treating herself the way her mom did, constantly criticizing and labelling herself negatively. This precipitates a situation of constant fear. By employing regression, we engage and help her let go the core beliefs at the subconscious level, including “I am not good enough;” “Eating will only make me fat;” “I cannot eat what I want;” and “I am a failure.”
We go back in the past to enact few key scenarios and find out when, how, why the limiting core belief was formed in the first place and then guide her to unlearn it. By upgrading her subconscious programming, she can be reassured of not getting easily affected by others opinion like it used to in the past.
  • Mary is taught how to control her sensitivities and associated anxiety to outside stimuli especially involving food. She is taught to calm the mind and body. We lower her sensitivity of the mind right at the stomach level. By resetting the false alarm of the mind, her brain no longer mis-interprets the normal sensation of the stomach as a flare up, Thereby preventing any anticipation of symptoms associated with the stomach especially pain.
  • By changing her perception towards food, she no longer equates food with trouble, pain, or weight gain., She starts to enjoy food again, and sees it as a healthy nourishment for the body.
  • We introduce new coping mechanisms for emotional situations that precipitate anxiety and craving for food. Instead of using food as an escape or as a means to well-being, we teach the subconscious mind to embrace alternate options. Through mental rehearsals in the hypnotic state, she learns to replace the old thought patterns with healthy choices.
  • With increased awareness of her negative thought patterns, Mary learns to let go of her self-limiting beliefs and fears, replacing such thoughts with empowering and positive thought patterns.
  • Mary is acquainted and introduced to feelings of self-love and better self-esteem. She is nudged into accepting her body “as it is” so that an unhealthy relationship with food is remedied. Overall, the effort would be about making Mary less self-conscious and providing her with more mental freedom.
  • After few sessions, she feels more at peace with herself, and starts seeing possibilities by opening up towards social situations.
  • She also practices refocusing, redirecting her focus away from food, to develop her individuality while focusing on a new career and other things that really matter.

Conclusion:

People suffering from IBS have long felt “trapped” by the disorder with an innate sense of helplessness. With hypnotherapy for IBS, such individuals are getting empowered to take control of their situation.

After the stipulated number of sessions with our hypnotherapist, individuals like Mary can do their own self-hypnosis exercises to reinforce their new set of beliefs. In time, they are likely to become more loving and accepting about themselves and their body.

They become proficient at mastering their mind, replacing negative self-talk with positive ones. The overall result is less flare-up in the gut and a much better sense of self and well-being.

Hypnotherapy

Our Clinical Hypnotherapists will guide you into a state of trance similar to daydreaming. By working with your subconscious mind, we will find out the underlying causes of your emotional suffering, and establish desired outcomes for you. To achieve this, we will use various techniques like Inner Child Therapy, Regression, Parts Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, Rewind Technique, and more.