The use of hypnosis in the suppression of intractible pain.

Dorcus, Roy M.; Kirkner, Frank J.

doi:10.1037/h0056441

Cited by 19 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…It should be emphasized, however, that in the more severe and intractable pain syndromes, such as terminal cancer and spinal cord injuries, hypnotic methods are reported to minimize discomfort and suffering; rarely, if ever, are these procedures reported to completely eliminate the total pain response to the ever-present noxious stimulus in the patient's body. Dorcus and Kirkner (1948) found that although hypnotic methods could minimize discomfort in five cases of spinal cord injury-i.e., the patients reported less pain and requested a smaller amount of drugs-these methods were by no means effective in entirely eliminating the pain response. Similarly, Butler (1954) reported that hypnotic methods were effective with some patients in minimizing discomfort during terminal cancer-the patients either required half of their usual amount of morphine or, in a few cases, did not require any drugs for a period of time.…”

Section: Hypnotically-induced "Analgesia"mentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a theory of pain: Relief of chronic pain by prefrontal leucotomy, opiates, placebos, and hypnosis.

Barber¹

1959

Psychological Bulletin

140

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The response to a nociceptive stimulus normally includes at least four components: "the sensation of pain"; discomfort; withdrawal movements; and some measurable physiological alteration, e.g., a transient or prolonged increase or decrease in blood pressure (Nafe & Wagoner, 1938;Goetzl, Bien, & Lu, 1951). This paper is concerned with the neurological correlates of this total response-hereafter termed the pain response-and how this total response or some components of this response can be mitigated or eliminated by prefrontal leucotomy, opiates, placebos, and hypnosis. THE NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL COR-RELATES OF THE PAIN RESPONSE Free Nerve Endings: The So-Called "Pain Receptors"It has generally been assumed that the free nerve endings, which are found widely scattered near the cutaneous and visceral surfaces, are the specific receptors for noxious stimuli. However, Sinclair, Weddell, and Zander (1952) have shown that 5s can discriminate cold, heat, touch,

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Section: Hypnotically-induced "Analgesia"mentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a theory of pain: Relief of chronic pain by prefrontal leucotomy, opiates, placebos, and hypnosis.

Barber¹

1959

Psychological Bulletin

140

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“…Dorcus and Kirkner 52 have presented experimental findings which support this contention. Dorcus and Kirkner 52 have presented experimental findings which support this contention.…”

Section: Reduction In Anodyne Requirements As An Index Of Pain Reliefmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…78 The findings presented by Dorcus and Kirkner, 52 Wolff, 151 and Holmes and Wolff 78 suggest the hypothesis that some types of headaches and backaches can be effectively relieved by suggestions (given with or without 'hypnotic trance") intended to eliminate the tension-anxiety-conflict pattern and the sustained muscle contractions in the neck or back. There is evidence to indicate that some headaches are associated with "emotional tension, anxiety, and conflict" and with prolonged contraction of the muscles of the head and neck, and that alleviation of the "conflicts and anxieties" and/or relief of the muscle hyperfunction at times relieves the headache.…”

Section: Reduction In Anodyne Requirements As An Index Of Pain Reliefmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of “Hypnosis” on Pain

Barber

1963

Psychosomatic Medicine

105

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Experimental and clinical studies concerned with the effects of "hypnotically-suggested analgesia" in surgery, in labor, and in chronic pain are critically evaluated. The review suggests that "hypnotic analgesia" at times produces not a reduction in pain but an unwillingness to state directly to the hypnotist that pain was experienced or a temporary "amnesia" for the pain experienced. In other instances, suggestions of pain relief given under "hypnosis" produce some degree of diminution in anxiety and pain as indicated by reduction in physiological responses to noxious stimuli and by reduction in requests for pain-relieving drugs. The data suggest that "the hypnotic trance state" may be an extraneous variable in ameliorating pain experience in situations described as "hypnosis;" the critical variables appear to include: (a) suggestions of pain relief, which are (b) given in a close interpersonal setting. A NUMBER OF INVESTIGATOHS 34 contendthat "hypnotically-suggested analgesia" lessens or entirely prevents pain, while others 82 are of the opinion that hypnotic suggestions produce verbal denial of pain experience without affecting pain and suffering. This paper critically evaluates the effects of "hypnosis" on pain. Relevant clinical and experimental studies are reviewed to answer two questions: (1) Does "hypnotically-suggested analgesia" refer to reduction of pain, to verbal denial of the pain experienced, or to a combination of both of these effects? (2) Of the many independent and intervening variables subsumed under the term "hyp-From the Medfleld Foundation, Medfleld, Mass.

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“…Pain as an experience is not absent but is denied; and there are no greater changes in the physiological responses to noxious stimulation than can be produced by direct suggestion without hypnosis (Barber & Hahn, 1962). As a manoeuvre directed towards allaying anxiety, however, hypnosis is successful, like other methods of suggestion, in allaying even chronic pain (Dorcus & Kirkner, 1948;Butler, 1954;Barber, 1959).…”

Section: Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 98%

Psychological aspects of pain

Merskey

1968

Postgraduate Medical Journal

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The use of hypnosis in the suppression of intractible pain.

Cited by 19 publications

References 0 publications

Toward a theory of pain: Relief of chronic pain by prefrontal leucotomy, opiates, placebos, and hypnosis.

Toward a theory of pain: Relief of chronic pain by prefrontal leucotomy, opiates, placebos, and hypnosis.

The Effects of “Hypnosis” on Pain

Psychological aspects of pain

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