title: Reconditioning the stress response with hypnosis CD reduces the inflammatory cytokine IL-6 and influences resilience: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this investigation was to measure the impact of a self-administered hypnosis intervention on resilience and the inflammatory cytokine IL-6.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over a period of 12 weeks, 11 participants listened to a self-administered hypnosis stress reduction program designed to recondition and improve participants' emotional and physical reactions to perceived work and life stressors. Subjects were administered subjective measures of coping, resilience, and stress tolerance, as well as, IL-6, an objective blood measure of inflammatory activity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After 12 weeks, participants were observed to have a significantly lower IL-6 serum level from baseline. Further, participants reported a significant decrease in the use of negative appraisal coping (such as, self-deprecating statements, perfectionism, and catastrophic and pessimistic thinking), and an improvement in eating/nutritional habits following the intervention. Baseline eating/nutritional habits and threat minimization coping significantly predicted a change in serum IL-6 over the course of the intervention in stepwise hierarchical regression analyses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pilot study provides support that a brief self-administered CD hypnosis stress reduction program can modify a physiological measure of inflammation (IL-6), and improve coping and resilience in the face of work and life stress.
authors.affiliation: 864 South Robertson Blvd, Suite 206, Los Angeles, CA 90035, USA. marcschoen@ucla.edu
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schoen
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nowack
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006990:Hypnosis; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: C508600:IL6 protein, human; D015850:Interleukin-6