Psychosocial and Immune Effects of Self-Hypnosis Training for Stress Management Throughout the First Semester of Medical School

Abstract

This study was a 19-week prospective conducted to determine the effectiveness of a self-hypnosis/relaxation intervention to relieve symptoms of psychological distress and moderate immune system reactivity to examination stress in 35 first-year medical students. Twenty-one subjects were randomly selected for training in the use of self-hypnosis as a coping skill and were encouraged to practice regularly and to maintain daily diary records related to mood, sleep, physical symptoms, and frequency of relaxation practice. An additional 14 subjects received no explicit training in stress-reduction strategies, but completed similar daily diaries. Self-report psychosocial and symptom measures, as well as blood draws, were obtained at four time points: orientation, late semester, examination period, and postsemester recovery. It was found that significant increases in stress and fatigue occurred during the examination period, paralleled by increases in counts of B lymphocytes and activated T lymphocytes, PHA-induced and PWM-induced blastogenesis, and natural killer cell (NK) cytotoxicity. No immune decreases were observed. Subjects in the self-hypnosis condition reported significantly less distress and anxiety than their nonintervention counterparts, but the two groups did not differ with respect to immune function. Nevertheless, within the self-hypnosis group, the quality of the exercises (ie, relaxation ratings) predicted both the number of NK cells and NK activity. It was concluded that stress associated with academic demands affects immune function, but immune suppression is not inevitable. Practice of self-hypnosis reduces distress, without differential immune effects. However, individual responses to the self-hypnosis intervention appear to predict immune outcomes.

Is Test Anxiety a Problem Among Medical Students: A Cross Sectional Study on Outcome of Test Anxiety among Medical Students?

“…Akinsola et al (2013) identified that test anxiety is positively correlated with psychological distress. On the other hand, Whitehouse et al (1996) identified that student's experience psychological distress prior to exam and this psychological stress may aggravates the test anxiety. However, test anxiety person experience more distress compare with low test anxiety students.…”

“…Dornyei (2001) amotivation is defined as "the relative absence of motivation that is not caused by a lack of initial interest but rather by the individual's experiencing feelings of incompetence and helplessness when faced with the activity". Test anxieties affect motivation, concentration, and academic performance (Whitehouse et al, 1996). Previous studies identified that test anxiety person have low intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and high amotivation (Rastegar, Akbarzadeh, & Heidari, 2012).…”

Stress Management for Medical Students: A Systematic Review

“…Majority of the studies (i.e. 22 out of 23 studies) used non-random sampling method in selecting participants (Bughi et al, 2009;Finkelstein et al, 2007;Hassed et al, 2008;Hassed et al, 2009;Holtzworth-Munroe et al, 1985;Jain et al, 2007;Kelly et al, 1982;Kiecolt-Glaser et al, 1986;Klamen, 1997;Lee & Graham, 2001;MacLaughin et al, 2010;Michie & Sandhu, 1994;Nathan et al, 1987;Rosenzweig et al, 2003;Redwood & Polak, 2007;Simard & Henry, 2009;Shapiro et al, 1998;Soskis, 1978;Whitehouse et al, 1996;Yusoff, 2011;Zeitlin et al, 2000).…”

“…As shown in table 1, approximately 10 (43.48%) studies had no comparison groups (Bughi et al, 2009;Hassed et al, 2008;Hassed et al, 2009;Lee & Graham, 2001;Klamen, 1997;Redwood & Polak, 2007;Simard & Henry, 2009;;Soskis, 1978;Zeitlin et al, 2000;) and 13 (56.52%) studies had comparison groups (Finkelstein et al, 2007;Holtzworth-Munroe et al, 1985;Jain et al, 2007;Kelly et al, 1982;Kiecolt-Glaser et al, 1986;MacLaughin et al, 2010;Michie & Sandhu, 1994;Mitchell et al, 1983;Nathan et al, 1987;Rosenzweig et al, 2003;Shapiro et al, 1998;Whitehouse et al, 1996;Yusoff, 2011). Out of 13, about seven studies randomly assigned participants to control and intervention groups (Holtzworth-Munroe et al, 1985;Jain et al, 2007;Kiecolt-Glaser et al, 1986;Mitchell et al, 1983;Nathan et al, 1987;Shapiro et al, 1998;Whitehouse et al, 1996).…”

“…Out of 13, about seven studies randomly assigned participants to control and intervention groups (Holtzworth-Munroe et al, 1985;Jain et al, 2007;Kiecolt-Glaser et al, 1986;Mitchell et al, 1983;Nathan et al, 1987;Shapiro et al, 1998;Whitehouse et al, 1996). Out of the seven randomized control studies, only one study sampled their participants randomly (Mitchell et al, 1983).…”