Dr. David Spiegel

Yeah, I took a hypnosis course, and I was on my pediatric rotation at Children's Hospital.

And the nurse says, Spiegel, your next patient's in room 133.

She's in status asthmaticus.

And I'm hearing the wheezing down the hall as I'm walking into the room.

Bad asthma attack.

Bad asthma attack.

15-year-old girl.

In bed, leaning forward, knuckles white, struggling for breath, her mother standing there crying.

They had tried subcutaneous epi times two.

It didn't work.

They were next going to give her general anesthesia and start her on steroids.

And I didn't know what to do, but I had taken my hypnosis course.

So I said, well, do you want to learn a breathing exercise?

And she nods.

She could barely talk.

And so I get her hypnotized.

And then I started, broke into a sweat because we hadn't gotten asthma to the course yet.

So I came up with something very clever.

I said, each breath you take will be a little deeper and a little easier.

And within five minutes, she's lying back in bed, and she isn't wheezing anymore.