title: [Medical hypnosis in cases of herpes labialis improves resistance for recurrence. A pilot study].
abstract: The present study examined the effectiveness of a hypnotherapeutic treatment program for patients suffering from recurrent orofacial herpes infections. Twenty-one patients were randomly allocated to either an experimental group (n=10) or a control condition (n=11). During five weekly individual therapy sessions the participants received symptom-oriented treatment. In addition, they learnt how to improve their stress coping skills and their management of aversive emotions. The final assessment took place 6 months after treatment. Besides documentation of the frequency and intensity of symptoms, questionnaires were administered to assess stress coping mechanisms (SVF), skin disease-related subjective strain (MHF) and perceptions of control (KKG). A significant reduction of disease intensity could be confirmed. Individual scales of the SVF and MHF also revealed significant results. For an effective treatment of severe herpes infections a mere focus on physical changes appears to be insufficient. A common reflection of a person's sensuality and expectations of closeness and distance seem to influence treatment success remarkably.
authors.affiliation: Psychologisches Institut, Eberhard-Karls-Universität, Tübingen.
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Pfitzer
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Revenstorf
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001348:Aversive Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006560:Herpes Labialis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D006990:Hypnosis / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome