Scientific validity methods used in Opensynaps

Here you will find a summary of the scientific studies that have proven the therapeutic effectiveness of the methods used in Opensynaps: L'hypnosisthe sophrology, l'art therapythe relaxation / meditation as well as keeping a personal diary.

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Hypnosis: what does science have to say?

Hypnosis as a way out of depression

A 2007 study measured the effectiveness of thetherapeutic hypnosis to reduce depressive symptoms and compared these results with a well-known psychotherapy: "cognitive-behavioural therapy" or CBT.

84 patients suffering from depression were divided into two groups: the first was treated with hypnotherapy, the second with CBT psychotherapy. After twelve weeks of treatment, depressive symptoms reported by patients treated with CBT psychotherapy had decreased by an average of 30%. For patients treated with hypnotherapy, depressive symptoms had decreased by an average of 43%.

After 64 weeks of therapy, or sixteen months, measured depressive symptoms had decreased by an average of 57% for CBT and 63% for hypnotherapy.

Alladin A, Alibhai A. Cognitive hypnotherapy for depression: an empirical investigation. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2007 Apr;55(2):147-66. doi: 10.1080/00207140601177897. PMID: 17365072.

Hypnosis to reduce phobias

A 1993 meta-analysis compiling various earlier scientific studies on the use of hypnosis to treat phobias concluded that, after one year of treatment, over 80% of patients had experienced a significant reduction in their phobias.

Crawford, Helen & Barabasz, Arreed (1993). Phobias and intense fears: Facilitating their treatment with hypnosis. 10.1037/10274-015.

Hypnosis to improve sleep

A 2017 meta-analysis, compiling 24 previous scientific studies and over 190 scientific publications, came to the conclusion that hypnosis had a positive outcome rate of 58.3% on the improvement of sleep disorders (insomnia, night terrors, nightmares ...). In summary, 58.3% of patients undergoing hypnosis treatment for sleep disorders reported a marked improvement at the end of their program. 12.5% of patients-e-s reported small improvements. Finally, for 29.2% of patients-e-s, hypnosis has had no convincing therapeutic results.

Chamine I, Atchley R, Oken BS. Hypnosis Intervention Effects on Sleep Outcomes: A Systematic Review. J Clin Sleep Med. 2018 Feb 15;14(2):271-283. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.6952. PMID: 29198290; PMCID: PMC5786848.

Hypnosis to reduce anxiety, stress and fatigue.

In a study published in 2013, researchers analyzed the impact of hypnosis on anxiety, stress and fatigue in 39 patients.

This 15-day study showed that anxiety and stress levels were reduced by a factor of around 20%. The impression of daily fatigue was also reduced,

Untas, Aurelie & Chauveau, Philippe & Dupré-Goudable, Catherine & Labadens, Anne & Lakdja, Fabrice & Cazenave, Nicolas (2013). The Effects of Hypnosis on Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue, and Sleepiness in People Undergoing Hemodialysis: A Clinical Report. The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis. 61. 475-83. 10.1080/00207144.2013.810485.

The impact of hypnosis on the immune system

According to a 2002 study, hypnosis has a stimulating effect on the immune system, with the white blood cell count (lymphocytes - immune system cells) rising from 35% to 45% after six weeks of hypnosis.

The increase in this rate is linked to the drop in cortisol (stress hormone) levels.

J.H. Gruzelier (2002) A Review of the Impact of Hypnosis, Relaxation, Guided Imagery and Individual Differences on Aspects of Immunity and Health, Stress, 5:2, 147-163, DOI: 10.1080/10253890290027877

Hypnosis to treat tobacco addiction

In a randomized study involving 286 smokers following a hypnosis program, 20% of them succeeded in quitting smoking (cessation of more than twelve months). In a parallel control group using nicotine patches and receiving psychological follow-up, only 14% managed to quit smoking (cessation of more than twelve months).

Timothy P. Carmody, Carol Duncan, Joel A. Simon, Sharon Solkowitz, Joy Huggins, Sharon Lee, Kevin Delucchi, Hypnosis for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Trial, Nicotine & Tobacco Research, Volume 10, Issue 5, May 2008, Pages 811-818

Sophrology: what does science have to say?

Sophrology to reduce anxiety, pain and stress

Sixty patients-s suffering from cancer and requiring chemotherapy treatment were followed up from September 2017 to March 2018. The results of this follow-up were set out in a paper published in 2018. This study concluded that patients-e-s who benefited from a sophrology program reported improved well-being and reduced anxiety, pain and stress.

Bertrand AS, Iannessi A, Buteau S, Jiang XY, Beaumont H, Grondin B, Baudin G. Effects of relaxing therapies on patient's pain during percutaneous interventional radiology procedures. Ann Palliat Med. 2018 Oct;7(4):455-462. doi: 10.21037/apm.2018.07.02. Epub 2018 Jul 20. PMID: 30180736.

Sophrology to reduce tinnitus

A 2020 study followed 140 patients suffering from tinnitus. The aim of this study was to measure the effectiveness of a sophrology program on tinnitus, and thus reduce the handicap linked to these symptoms.

The study concluded that 60% of patients had their perception of tinnitus significantly reduced thanks to sophrology. These patients underwent six to eight sessions of sophrology over a period of two to four months.

P. Grevin, M. Ohresser, M. Kossowski, C. Duval, A. Londero, First assessment of sophrology for the treatment of subjective tinnitus, European Annals of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Diseases, Volume 137, Issue 3, 2020, Pages 195-199

Sophrology to reduce anxiety and depression

A 2020 study based on the follow-up of 70 patients suffering from high levels of anxiety and depression concluded that after four weeks of treatment based on a sophrology program, patients overall reported a significant decrease close to 30% in their anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Van Rangelrooij K, Solans-Buxeda R, Fernández-García M, Caycedo-Desprez N, Selvam R, Bulbena A. Effectiveness of a 4-week sophrology program for primary care patients with moderate to high anxiety levels: a randomised controlled trial. Actas Esp Psiquiatr. 2020 Sep;48(5):200-208. Epub 2020 Sep 1. PMID: 33210278.

The diary: what does science have to say?

Keeping a personal diary to reduce anxiety and stress and increase well-being

In a 2019 study, a group of researchers followed 70 adults suffering from anxiety with the aim of measuring the effectiveness of keeping a personal diary on levels of anxiety, stress and general well-being.

After 12 weeks, patients-e-s keeping a diary and filling it in around three times a week reported a reduction of around 30% in their anxiety and stress levels. In addition, the researchers observed on these patients-e-s an increase in25% of their general well-being. The resilience of these results continued more than a month after the diary was completed.

Smyth JM, Johnson JA, Auer BJ, Lehman E, Talamo G, Sciamanna CN. Online Positive Affect Journaling in the Improvement of Mental Distress and Well-Being in General Medical Patients With Elevated Anxiety Symptoms: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Ment Health. 2018 Dec 10;5(4):e11290. doi: 10.2196/11290. PMID: 30530460; PMCID: PMC6305886.

Keeping a personal diary to reduce stress

In a 2002 study, 122 student-ownerse-s were followed-e-s. The aim of the study was to measure the impact of keeping an emotional diary on participants' stress levels. After four weeks, the students-e-s keeping an emotional diary reported a reduction in their stress levels and were found to have better concentration.

Ullrich, P.M., Lutgendorf, S.K. Journaling about stressful events: Effects of cognitive processing and emotional expression. ann. behav. med. 24, 244-250 (2002)

Art therapy: what does the science say?

Art therapy to improve well-being and quality of life

A 2020 meta-analysis, based on a compilation of 27 previous scientific studies, came to the conclusion that art therapy had benefits in no fewer than seven areas, including the following four main ones:

The impact of art therapy on cancer patients

Patients-e-s who took part in an art therapy program reported a marked reduction in stress and an improvement in their well-being.

The impact of art therapy on mental health

Statistically, art therapy has been shown to significantly reduce the negative symptoms associated with any mental problem.

The impact of art therapy on trauma

Art therapy has produced significant positive results on patients' emotional state-e-s suffering from trauma (war veterans, victims of sexual assault, etc.).

The impact of art therapy on work-related stress and anxiety

Thanks to art therapy, the level of burn-out and work-related stress and anxiety can be reduced. have decreased significantly on a patient population-e-s with no particular health problems.

Regev D, Cohen-Yatziv L. Effectiveness of Art Therapy With Adult Clients in 2018-What Progress Has Been Made?". Front Psychol. 2018;9:1531. Published 2018 Aug 29. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01531

Art therapy and mandala drawing to enhance well-being

A 2018 study measured the impact on well-being of art therapy through mandala drawing on a population of 36 patients.-e-s.

In conclusion, after a total of eight mandala drawing sessions, the feeling of well-being measured had significantly increased in the patient group.-e-s who have practiced art therapy through mandala drawing.

Hyejin Kim, Sunman Kim, Kwisoon Choe, Ji-Su Kim, Effects of Mandala Art Therapy on Subjective Well-being, Resilience, and Hope in Psychiatric Inpatients, Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, Volume 32, Issue 2, 2018, Pages 167-173, ISSN 0883-9417

Relaxation: what does science have to say?

Relaxation to reduce anxiety

A 2008 study compiled 27 previous scientific studies with the aim of measuring the effectiveness of relaxation methods in reducing anxiety.

In short, relaxation has been shown to have a significant therapeutic effect in reducing anxiety. The longer relaxation was practised, the greater the efficacy.

Manzoni, G.M., Pagnini, F., Castelnuovo, G. et al. Relaxation training for anxiety: a ten-years systematic review with meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry 8, 41 (2008)

Relaxation to reduce insomnia and improve sleep quality

A study dating from 2000 measured the therapeutic impact of relaxation on patients.-e-s suffering from insomnia and sleep disorders.

In conclusion, relaxation significantly improved the quality and duration of the patients' sleep.-e-s who followed the relaxation programs. The control group, which did not take part in any relaxation program, had a significantly lower quality of sleep.

Melanie K Means, Kenneth L Lichstein, Michael T Epperson, Christopher T Johnson, Relaxation therapy for insomnia: nighttime and day time effects, Behaviour Research and Therapy, Volume 38, Issue 7, 2000, Pages 665-678, ISSN 0005-7967