Launch HN: Mindset Health (YC S19) – Hypnotherapy apps for chronic conditions

Self-reflection, as I understand it, is pretty much the opposite of hypnotherapy. Self-reflection is analytical, while hypnotherapy is like having a dream. Except that you wrote and directed that dream beforehand.

I like to use the language of IFS therapy for the explanation. It assumes that we are made of a self and, in addition, different parts. The parts have different ages, different needs and different solutions, but they all want what is best for us. So in a person with e.g. fear of public speaking there might be a younger part that remembers how it got humiliated when speaking publicly, and there might be a managing part that tells them 'you're an adult, a professional, you have to get on stage, it's beneficial for your career'. The first one wants to protect them and the second one wants to let them thrive, they are both right, but there is still a conflict. With self-reflection it might happen that they just decide that the second one is right, and the first one has to shut up, but it doesn't solve the problem, it just exiles it even further.

With hypnotherapy and other techniques that use imagination, I first allow my body to relax, and ask the conflicting parts to calm down for a moment and see that calm is possible. I need >10 minutes for that, but once that is established, I can show both parts a scenario where the things that they fear will go wrong, go right. Then I aknowledge how that feels and slowly exit the session. Instead of shutting up an important part of me, I allow it to see that things can and will go right, and if they go wrong, it will be still acceptable. When you do it a dozen times, it kind of sticks.

This is of course a simplified explanation of just one kind of hypnotherapy.

Funnily enough I'm normally the one casting doubt on medical science research on HN. So, I somewhat agree with you, though my issue with the mainstream academic funding and peer review system is that it too often sidelines research that may be promising but may threaten the status quo and its beneficiaries (most commonly pharmaceutical companies), or cannot attract sufficient funding because it offers no path to large profits.

With that said, it's the best system we currently have, and where someone doubts the validity of the results of an accepted study, the onus is on them to explain why they should be questioned.

> The research they linked does not provide evidence for hypnotherapy as an effective solution, and itself states it as needing more research. See the top comment above.

Wikipedia is a notoriously unreliable and biased source of information on medical topics even slightly outside the establishment, and those statements mentioned in that top comment do not disprove efficacy, just point to the need for more research, which is always true for this field.

> So, I think for some people Hypnotherapy may work.

Great! So do I. No treatment like this works for 100% of people who try it, but for those for whom it does work, we should be very pleased.

> But it may be risky to pay a lot of money upfront for the therapy.

That's why this company's apps are great; they cost very little, compared to 1:1 professional hypnotherapy or other forms of therapy, and are paid monthly or quarterly and can be discontinued any time. There's even a 7-day free trial and a money-back guarantee if you pay via their website.

I started using the Mindset app the last time I read about it on HN, maybe a month or so ago. I've found it to be very useful--in addition to therapy, meditation and self-help videos on YouTube--in helping me fight some depression, low self-esteem and guilt that I've been trying to resolve. I hope that your app catches on and more people realize that "focusing sessions" can help them detach from work, social media, and their own toxic thoughts about themselves.

Two pieces of feedback for you though. First, once someone does a program, it seems that there are unlimited "reinforcement stages" where you repeat the program again to reinforce the learnings. It would be nice to cap the reinforcement stages at say, 3 stages, to encourage users to feel a sense of completion and either try the other programs or just repeat the whole program again. Second, I think a program centered around facing one's past would be really useful--at least, I'd use it. Other than that, I think the app is really well done, and congratulations to you and Michael Yapko on your hard work.

Sorry about the delay, we're based in Melbourne, Australia so time zones are an issue. The two most researched areas include IBS and Chronic Pain, which is why they're the first focuses for us.

Here are some studies on IBS using hypnotherapy: - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/apt.13706 (the study we're based off) - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1773844/ (5 year effects showed) - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25736234/ (1000 patients, 76% responding) - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24840368/ (meta analysis of IBS hypnotherapy studies)

In terms of how hypnotherapy works for IBS, the exact mechanism isn't known. It's been shown to help with reducing visceral hypersensitivity and improving intestinal motility, thought to be due to utilising the gut-brain connection.

And for pain management: - https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Controlled-trial-of-hy... (fibromalgia) - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16025734/ (disability related pain) - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19459087/ (low-back pain)

There's also more research into other areas including: erectile disfunction, exam anxiety, depression, etc.

The harder part with a double blind study is developing the placebo side, since from a patients perspective it's very easy to know if you're getting the psychological treatment (hypnotherapy) or not. It's possible using a sham treatment or something similar, or using a waitlist or active control.

Yep this is our exact aim! I've responded with some of the studies above, if you have any questions about the studies or areas, I'd be more than happy to speak about them.