The Truth and the Hype of Hypnosis

Nash, Michael R.; Benham, Grant; Hamada, Kyoko

doi:10.1038/scientificamericanmind0605-46

Cited by 18 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…That no standard personality trait correlates with hypnotizability (Glisky, Tataryn, Tobias, Kihlstrom, & McConkey, 1991;Hilgard, 1965; Kihlstrom et al, 1980) does not mean that hypnotizability is not a traitbut rather that it is an orthogonal trait, one that cannot be subsumed under or predicted by other traits. Modern experimental techniques provide an increasingly clear description of the nature of this beast (Bowers & Woody, 1996;Kihlstrom, 1998;Nash, 2001;Szechtman, Woody, Bowers, & Nahmias, 1998;Woody, Drugovic, & Oakman, 1997). Hypnosis is just.…”

Section: Describing Hypnosismentioning

confidence: 98%

The Four Causes of Hypnosis

Killeen¹,

Nash²

2003

International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis

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Aristotle's model of comprehension involves the description of a phenomenon and identification of its efficient causes (triggers), material cause (substrate), formal cause (models of structure), and final cause (function). This causal analysis provides a framework for understanding hypnosis and the hypnotic state. States are constellations of parameters within specified ranges; they name, but do not explain, a phenomenon. Concerns about reification of states are matters of semantics and pragmatics, not ontology. Isolation of efficient causes (e.g., procedure, context, social variables) is but one component of understanding. Experimental, technical, and conceptual advances have carried us into a century where the substrates and functions of hypnosis may be represented in synoptic theories that comprise all 4 causes of hypnosis.

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Section: Describing Hypnosismentioning

confidence: 98%

The Four Causes of Hypnosis

Killeen¹,

Nash²

2003

International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis

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“…Also, some have outlined similarities between hypnosis and the placebo response while others have argued that the two are different. Both hypnosis and the placebo response seem to be particularly helpful for pain relief (Kalat 2007;Berns 2005;Nash 2001). Finally, it is likely that at least some of the benefits of performance-enhancing substances and perhaps exercise itself might be attributed to a placebo response (Maganaris et al 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Students’ Beliefs About Placebo Responders: Implications for Fundamentals of Psychology Courses

Oakes

2009

Curr Psychol

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Scientific sources often warn readers to avoid negative assumptions about those who respond to a placebo, however, no one has addressed the beliefs that lay people hold concerning those who benefit from a placebo. In the current study Fundamentals of Psychology students, who have encountered information about the placebo response in their coursework, evaluated target men and women who had benefited from exposure to a placebo versus a medication on a variety of descriptors (forty-seven in all) that assessed morality, cognitive ability, personality traits, and physical characteristics. The students judged placebo responders (compared to those who benefited from medication) very negatively, for example, placebo responders were considered gullible, overindulgent, lazy, dishonest, deceptive, impulsive, and undisciplined. Female-placebo responders (compared to males) were judged as less intelligent but more emotional. These beliefs contrast with much of the information provided in the scientific literature about the placebo response and suggests that information encountered in coursework may not be addressing or even contributing to an inappropriate negative stigma about placebo responders.

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“…The procedure can also trigger emotional expression, called catharsis, which is felt to be critical to its success. Although retrieval of repressed memories has been considered by some to be essential, it is likely that personal information "revealed" in this way is as prone to distortion and falsehood as has been suggested with hypnosis [26]. & Most publications on this type of intervention involve case reports and small series.…”

Section: Narcotherapy or Abreactionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The ability to be hypnotized is thought to be a stable characteristic of individuals, and patients with CD are considered to be particularly hypnotizable. Hypnosis is not recommended as a way to induce memories, despite the assumption of unconscious conflict, as there is a high risk that the "remembered" material will be false [26]. & There have been two randomized controlled trials examining hypnotherapy as a treatment of CD.…”

Section: Psychotherapymentioning

confidence: 99%

Treatment of Conversion Disorder in the 21st Century: Have We Moved Beyond the Couch?

Rosebush

Mazurek

2011

Curr Treat Options Neurol

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Conversion disorder (CD) is classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for psychiatry as a subtype of Somatoform Disorders. CD patients present with a wide range of neurologic signs and symptoms and are typically referred to psychiatry after investigations fail to yield a medical or neurologic diagnosis that can adequately explain their disability. The cause of CD is unknown and the underlying brain mechanisms remain uncertain. Controlled studies of the treatment of CD are rare, and almost all information about the effectiveness of particular interventions is descriptive and anecdotal. Comorbid psychiatric disorders are common and require attention. An initial treatment hurdle involves overcoming patients' anger about being given a psychiatric diagnosis when they consider the problem to be entirely physical. Physicians, too, are often uneasy about the diagnosis, doubting the unconscious etiology of the disorder and confusing it with malingering. They are also concerned that a "real" (i.e., medical or neurologic) diagnosis has been missed, and this concern can negatively affect the success of psychiatric treatment interventions. Psychotherapy, either psychodynamic or cognitive-behavioral, continues to be the mainstay of treatment. Key elements of successful treatment include (1) open-mindedness on the part of the physician, with willingness to reconsider the diagnosis if recovery does not occur as expected with psychiatric intervention; (2) patient education about mind-body interplay, using common examples such as the worsening of tremor with anxiety or impaired athletic performance when confidence has been undermined; (3) involvement of allied health professionals such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists, when appropriate; (4) hospitalization, if the patient is severely disabled or lives in a situation that supports disability or sabotages recovery; (5) attention to the presence of comorbid medical, neurologic, and psychiatric conditions that may have been overlooked or neglected when the diagnosis of CD was made, or which develop during the course of treatment.

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The Truth and the Hype of Hypnosis

Cited by 18 publications

References 0 publications

The Four Causes of Hypnosis

The Four Causes of Hypnosis

Students’ Beliefs About Placebo Responders: Implications for Fundamentals of Psychology Courses

Treatment of Conversion Disorder in the 21st Century: Have We Moved Beyond the Couch?

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