Randomised trial, 2025
Can hypnosis ease anxiety, stress and low mood in women with PMS?
Yes, in this small trial women who had hypnosis sessions ended up with lower depression, anxiety and stress scores than women who had no treatment, but the study was small and not blinded.
What they did
60 female university students with premenstrual syndrome living in dorms in Kermanshah, Iran, were randomly split into two equal groups. One group had three weekly 60-minute hypnosis sessions; the other group had no intervention. Depression, anxiety and stress were measured with a questionnaire (DASS-21) before treatment and again three months after the last session.
What they found
After treatment, the hypnosis group had lower scores than the control group: depression 3.40 vs 7.40 (difference -4.000, p<0.0001), anxiety 2.67 vs 4.40 (difference -1.733, p=0.004), and stress 4.63 vs 9.30 (difference -4.667, p<0.0001). No side effects were seen.
What it means for you
Hypnosis may help lower psychological distress linked to PMS, but only 30 women were in each group, participants and researchers knew who got the treatment, and the authors themselves say a bigger study is needed before being sure.
-4.000
depression score difference
-1.733
anxiety score difference
-4.667
stress score difference
About the study
- Original title
- Effect of hypnosis on psychological distress in female university students with premenstrual syndrome
- Authors
- Heydarpour S, Heydarpour F, Dehghan F et al.
- Journal
- Discover mental health
- Year
- 2025
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- Participants
- 30
- What was tested
- Three weekly 60-minute group hypnosis sessions, compared with no intervention.
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1007/s44192-025-00355-7
Topics
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