The efficacy of clinical hypnosis in treating NREM and REM parasomnias: A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND

Clinical hypnosis has shown some benefit for non-rapid eye movement (NREM) parasomnias; however, data regarding its effectiveness across the full spectrum of parasomnia subtypes, particularly rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD), remain limited. We evaluated clinical outcomes of hypnosis for parasomnias treated at a quaternary sleep center.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients referred for clinical hypnosis for parasomnia management. Demographic characteristics, parasomnia subtype, polysomnographic data, and concurrent medication use were extracted from the medical record. Treatment response was assessed using patient-reported symptom change and retrospectively assigned Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) scores derived from follow-up documentation.

RESULTS

A total of 131 patients underwent at least one hypnosis session. Follow-up data were available for 76 patients (58%). Median follow-up was approximately six months. Overall, 41 patients (53.9%) reported subjective improvement. Among the 74 patients with assignable CGI-I scores, 24 (32.4%) were classified as responders (very much improved or much improved). An additional 19 (25.7%) showed minimal improvement. Treatment response varied by parasomnia subtype, with the highest response rate observed in NREM parasomnias (46.7% very much/much improved) and overlap parasomnias (44.4% very much/much improved). Modest improvement was observed in patients with RBD (33.3% very much/much improved).

CONCLUSION

In this large retrospective cohort, clinical hypnosis was associated with subjective improvement in a subset of patients with NREM and REM parasomnias. Given its favorable safety profile, hypnosis may warrant further investigation as a low-risk adjunctive intervention for selected patients, including those with RBD.