The Effects of Hypnotherapy on Homosexuality

Fifteen homosexuals were treated with hypnosis. The patients were selected from a general psychiatric practice and had a long history of confirmed homosexual behaviour and showed no evidence of organic or psychotic illness. The type of hypnotic induction attempted in all cases is described. In those where a satisfactory depth of hypnotic trance was achieved a change in sexual orientation was suggested to the patient.Before therapy, each patient was assessed using the Kinsey scale. Results were evaluated in terms of the patient''s subsequent behaviour and his subjective feelings. Of the 15 patients, three showed no improvement, four showed a mild improvement and eight showed a marked improvement. There was a significant correlation between the depth of hypnosis achieved and the therapeutic outcome. Those patients who reached a deep level of hypnotic trance were most likely to show a marked improvement. There were no significant correlations with other factors such as degree of homosexuality as measured on the Kinsey scale and the patient''s marital status.Treatment of homosexuals with hypnosis may produce more satisfactory results than those obtainable by other means. The best results are likely to be achieved in patients who are good hypnotic subjects.     

The existence of a hypnotic state revealed by eye movements

Hypnosis has had a long and controversial history in psychology, psychiatry and neurology, but the basic nature of hypnotic phenomena still remains unclear. Different theoretical approaches disagree as to whether or not hypnosis may involve an altered mental state. So far, a hypnotic state has never been convincingly demonstrated, if the criteria for the state are that it involves some objectively measurable and replicable behavioural or physiological phenomena that cannot be faked or simulated by non-hypnotized control subjects. We present a detailed case study of a highly hypnotizable subject who reliably shows a range of changes in both automatic and volitional eye movements when given a hypnotic induction. These changes correspond well with the phenomenon referred to as the "trance stare" in the hypnosis literature. Our results show that this 'trance stare' is associated with large and objective changes in the optokinetic reflex, the pupillary reflex and programming a saccade to a single target. Control subjects could not imitate these changes voluntarily. For the majority of people, hypnotic induction brings about states resembling normal focused attention or mental imagery. Our data nevertheless highlight that in some cases hypnosis may involve a special state, which qualitatively differs from the normal state of consciousness.     

Hypnotic susceptibility and alterations in subjective experiences

Pavlov has described hypnosis as a partial sleep. A contemporary approach to this altered state of consciousness will be discussed. Under laboratory conditions subjective and behavioral data will be analyzed after hypnotic induction, shamanic trance and relaxation with listening to music. Role of different cortical regions will be shown after different hypnotic inductions as a function of hypnotic susceptibility. The importance of context will be underlined as an important factor in the possible alteration of consciousness.     

The Impact of Hypnotic Suggestions on Reaction Times in Continuous Performance Test in Adults with ADHD and Healthy Controls

Attention is one of the key factors in both hypnotic processes and patients with ADHD. In addition, the brain areas associated with hypnosis and ADHD overlap in many respects. However, the use of hypnosis in ADHD patients has still received only minor attention in research. The main purpose of the present work was to investigate whether hypnosis and hypnotic suggestions influence the performance of adult ADHD (n = 27) and control participants (n = 31) in the continuous performance test (CPT). The hypnotic susceptibility of the participants was measured by the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (HGSHS:A) and the attentional task was a three minute long auditory version of the CPT. The CPT task was administered four times: before hypnosis (CPT1), after a hypnotic induction (CPT2), after suggestions about speed and accuracy (CPT3), and after the termination of hypnosis (CPT4). The susceptibility of the groups measured by HGSHS:A did not differ. There was a statistically significant decrease in reaction times in both ADHD and control groups between CPT2 and CPT3. The differences between CPT1 and CPT2, even though non-significant, were different in the two groups: in the ADHD group reaction times decreased whereas in the control group they increased. Both groups made very few errors in the short CPT. This study indicates that hypnotic suggestions have an effect on reaction times in the sustained attention task both in adult ADHD patients and control subjects. The theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.     

Improvement in bronchial hyper-responsiveness in patients with moderate asthma after treatment with a hypnotic technique: a randomised controlled trial.

A prospective, randomised, single blind, and controlled trial of a hypnotic technique was undertaken in 39 adults with mild to moderate asthma graded for low and high susceptibility to hypnosis. After a six week course of hypnotherapy 12 patients with a high susceptibility score showed a 74.9% improvement (p less than 0.01) in the degree of bronchial hyper-responsiveness to a standardised methacholine challenge test. Daily home recordings of symptoms improved by 41% (p less than 0.01), peak expiratory flow rates improved by 5.5% (p less than 0.01), and use of bronchodilators decreased by 26.2% (p less than 0.05). The improvement in bronchial hyper-reactivity occurred without a change in subjective appreciation of the degree of bronchoconstriction. A control group 17 patients and 10 patients undergoing treatment with low susceptibility to hypnosis had no change in either bronchial hyper-responsiveness or any of the symptoms recorded at home. This study shows the efficacy of a hypnotic technique in adult asthmatics who are moderately to highly susceptible to hypnosis.     

Learning in trance: Functional brain imaging studies and neuropsychology

This study examined the fundamental question, whether verbal memory processing in hypnosis and in the waking state is mediated by a common neural system or by distinct cortical areas. Seven right-handed volunteers (25.4 years, sd 3.1) with high-hypnotic susceptibility scores were PET-scanned while encoding/retrieving word associations either in hypnosis or in the waking state. Word-pairs were visually presented and highly imaginable, but not semantically related (e.g. monkey-street). The presentation of pseudo-words served as a reference condition. An emission scan was recorded after each intravenous administration of O-15 water. Encoding under hypnosis was associated with more pronounced bilateral activations in the occipital cortex and the prefrontal areas as compared to learning in the waking state. During memory retrieval of word-pairs which had been previously learned under hypnosis, activations were found in the occipital lobe and the cerebellum. Under both experimental conditions precuneus and prefrontal cortex showed a consistent bilateral activation which was most distinct when the learning had taken place under hypnosis. In order to further analyze the effect of hypnosis on imagery-mediated learning, we administered sets of high-imagery word-pairs and sets of abstract words. In the first experimental condition word-pair associations were presented visually. In the second condition it was found that highly hypnotisable persons recalled significantly more high-imagery words under hypnosis as compared to low-hypnotisables both in the visual and auditory modality. Furthermore, high-imagery words were also better recalled by the highly hypnotisable subjects during the non-hypnotic condition. The memory effect was consistently present under both, immediate and delayed recall conditions. Taken together, the findings advance our understanding of the neural representation that underlies hypnosis and the neuropsychological correlates of hypnotic susceptibility.     

Hypnosis and modern frontal-lobe concepts--a sketch for a review and an invitation to one particularly promising field

The present paper intends to briefly review the most important concepts of the modern neuropsychology of the frontal lobes, and to relate these findings to the phenomenology usually encountered in hypnosis research and practice. The frontal lobes have been studied very intensively during the last several years and some of the results, including the syndromes described in frontal-lobe lesions and psychiatric patients, demonstrate striking similarity with hypnotic phenomena. Based on these similarities, an alternative neuropsychophysiological definition of hypnosis/suggestion is proposed, viewing hypnosis/suggestion as the process of external manipulation with frontal-lobe functions with consequent effects upon the entire brain potential of the subject.     

Hypnosis for Asthma—a Controlled Trial: A Report to the Research Committee of the British Tuberculosis Association*

An investigation of hypnosis in asthma was made among patients aged 10 to 60 years with paroxysmal attacks of wheezing or tight chest capable of relief by bronchodilators. One group of patients was given hypnosis monthly and used autohypnosis daily for one year. Comparisons were made with a control group prescribed a specially devised set of breathing exercises aimed at progressive relaxation. Treatment was randomly allocated and patients were treated by physicians in nine centres. Results were assessed by daily diary recordings of wheezing and the use of bronchodilators, and by monthly recordings of F.E.V.₁ and vital capacity. At the end of the year independent clinical assessments were made by physicians unaware of the patients'' treatment.There were 252 patients (127 hypnosis and 125 controls) accepted for analysis, but a number of them did not continue the prescribed treatment for the whole year: 28 hypnosis and 22 control patients failed to co-operate, left the district, or had family problems; one hypnosis and one control patient died. Seven hypnosis and 17 control patients were withdrawn as treatment failures, the difference between the two groups being statistically significant.As judged by analyses based on the daily “score” of wheezing recorded in patients'' diaries, by the number of times bronchodilators were used, and by independent clinical assessors, both treatment groups showed some improvement Among men the assessments of wheezing score and use of bronchodilators showed similar improvement in the two treatment groups; among women, however, those treated by hypnosis showed improvement similar to that observed in the men, but those given breathing exercises made much less progress, the difference between the two treatment groups reaching statistical significance. Changes in F.E.V.₁ and V.C. between the control and hypnosis groups were closely similar.Independent clinical assessors considered the asthma to be “much better” in 59% of the hypnosis group and in 43% of the control group, the difference being significant There was little difference between the sexes. Physicians with previous experience of hypnosis obtained significantly better results than did those without such experience.     

Teaching self-hypnosis to patients with chronic pain.

For the past twenty years hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis have been utilized as valid tools for the successful management of severe protracted pain. Control often has been achieved in cases where other modalities of pain management had been inadequate. Hypnosis properly applied can bring some degree of improvement to 90 percent of patients. More remarkable degree of pain relief is achievable in the 25 percent of patients who have high hypnotic "talent," and with very limited expenditure of time and effort. The author discusses basic theories of pain, pain-control pain-control and hypnosis, and he clarifies the effects of physiological, biochemical, and psychological variables which can affect the procedures and the results. Presentation of a clinical case with quoted excerpts of verbalization serves to illustrate the most important points.     

Paradoxical experience of hypnotic analgesia in low hypnotizable fibromyalgic patients

The study investigated the differences in pain perception in highly (Highs) and low (Lows) hypnotizable patients with chronic benign pain undergoing hypnotic suggestions of analgesia. Self reports of pain intensity were collected in different groups of fibromyalgic patients: (1) Highs and Lows during pre-hypnosis, neutral hypnosis, suggestions for analgesia, posthypnotic conditions; (2) Lows during suggestions for analgesia administered after a mental stress instead of neutral hypnosis; (3) healthy Lows receiving nociceptive stimulation during hypnotic relaxation and suggestions of analgesia. The results showed that Highs and Lows differed in their response to suggestions, but significant analgesia was reported also by Lows. These individuals did not report any difference in pain perception between the sessions including mental stress and hypnotic relaxation. No change in pain perception was observed in healthy Lows during nociceptive stimulation associated with relaxation and suggestions for analgesia. In conclusion, the presence of chronic pain seems to be responsible for the paradoxical response of non hypnotizable patients to hypnotic suggestions.     

The thermal activity of the rabbit brain during the interaction of "animal hypnosis" and of the hunger dominant]

The character of interaction between two dominant foci (motivation hunger dominant and "animal hypnosis") which had been formed in the rabbit brain was ambiguous: the foci could either function simultaneously or compete. In the first case, summation food reactions were observed when the hunger dominant was tested during a hypnotic episode against the background of deep and continuous hypnotic state. Brain thermal activity was asymmetric the temperature being higher in the parieto-occipital areas of the left hemisphere. If the hypnosis inhibited the hunger dominant, summation reactions were absent and the brain temperature was higher in the parieto-occipital areas of the right hemisphere. In cases when despite the repeated immobilization sessions the hunger dominant prevented from induction of hypnosis, the left-hemisphere thermal dominance persisted against the background of general brain cooling.     

Pain Modulation in Waking and Hypnosis in Women: Event-Related Potentials and Sources of Cortical Activity

Using a strict subject selection procedure, we tested in High and Low Hypnotizable subjects (HHs and LHs) whether treatments of hypoalgesia and hyperalgesia, as compared to a relaxation-control, differentially affected subjective pain ratings and somatosensory event-related potentials (SERPs) during painful electric stimulation. Treatments were administered in waking and hypnosis conditions. LHs showed little differentiation in pain and distress ratings between hypoalgesia and hyperalgesia treatments, whereas HHs showed a greater spread in the instructed direction. HHs had larger prefrontal N140 and P200 waves of the SERPs during hypnotic hyperalgesia as compared to relaxation-control treatment. Importantly, HHs showed significant smaller frontocentral N140 and frontotemporal P200 waves during hypnotic hypoalgesia. LHs did not show significant differences for these SERP waves among treatments in both waking and hypnosis conditions. Source localization (sLORETA) method revealed significant activations of the bilateral primary somatosensory (BA3), middle frontal gyrus (BA6) and anterior cingulate cortices (BA24). Activity of these contralateral regions significantly correlated with subjective numerical pain scores for control treatment in waking condition. Moreover, multivariate regression analyses distinguished the contralateral BA3 as the only region reflecting a stable pattern of pain coding changes across all treatments in waking and hypnosis conditions. More direct testing showed that hypnosis reduced the strength of the association of pain modulation and brain activity changes at BA3. sLORETA in HHs revealed, for the N140 wave, that during hypnotic hyperalgesia, there was an increased activity within medial, supramarginal and superior frontal gyri, and cingulated gyrus (BA32), while for the P200 wave, activity was increased in the superior (BA22), middle (BA37), inferior temporal (BA19) gyri and superior parietal lobule (BA7). Hypnotic hypoalgesia in HHs, for N140 wave, showed reduced activity within medial and superior frontal gyri (BA9,8), paraippocampal gyrus (BA34), and postcentral gyrus (BA1), while for the P200, activity was reduced within middle and superior frontal gyri (BA9 and BA10), anterior cingulate (BA33), cuneus (BA19) and sub-lobar insula (BA13). These findings demonstrate that hypnotic suggestions can exert a top-down modulatory effect on attention/preconscious brain processes involved in pain perception.     

Prevalence,frequency, and duration of hypnotic drug use among the elderly living at home

Details of consumption of hypnotic drugs derived from a nationally representative sample of elderly people were analysed in terms of the prevalence, duration, and likely frequency of use. Of 1020 randomly selected subjects aged 65 and over 16% (166) reported using (mainly benzodiazepine) hypnotic drugs, and of these 89% reported having taken such a drug the night before the interview. Most of these users (73%) had been taking hypnotic drugs for more than one year, with 25% reporting drug use for more than 10 years.These results suggest that for most elderly users of hypnotic drugs, patterns of consumption encourage the development of cumulative effects and benzodiazepine dependence.     

Functional neuroanatomy of the hypnotic state

The neural mechanisms underlying hypnosis and especially the modulation of pain perception by hypnosis remain obscure. Using PET we first described the distribution of regional cerebral blood flow during the hypnotic state. Hypnosis relied on revivification of pleasant autobiographical memories and was compared to imaging autobiographical material in "normal alertness". The hypnotic state was related to the activation of a widespread set of cortical areas involving occipital, parietal, precentral, premotor, and ventrolateral prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices. This pattern of activation shares some similarities with mental imagery, from which it mainly differs by the relative deactivation of precuneus. Second, we looked at the anti-nociceptive effects of hypnosis. Compared to the resting state, hypnosis reduced pain perception by approximately 50%. The hypnosis-induced reduction of affective and sensory responses to noxious thermal stimulation were modulated by the activity in the midcingulate cortex (area 24a'). Finally, we assessed changes in cerebral functional connectivity related to hypnosis. Compared to normal alertness (i.e., rest and mental imagery), the hypnotic state, significantly enhanced the functional modulation between midcingulate cortex and a large neural network involved in sensory, affective, cognitive and behavioral aspects of nociception. These findings show that not only pharmacological but also psychological strategies for pain control can modulate the cerebral network involved in noxious perception.     

Dependence on Hypnotic Drugs in General Practice

Of the patients in an industrial general practice 1.3% required hypnotic drugs regularly. They were predominantly in the older age groups (mean 62.7 years), with an excess of widows. Only 0.02% were severely dependent; the remainder were mildly so, though they had been taking hypnotics for long periods (mean 5.6 years). There were three main original indications for hypnotics—namely, medical (pain), psychiatric, and onset insomnia in anxious personality disorder. One-fifth of the patients first took hypnotics while in hospital. The group as a whole manifested a high degree of abnormal psychological disposition.It is suggested that many patients who take hypnotics regularly may be placebo reactors, and a more critical attitude to hypnotic prescribing is required both in hospital and in general practice.     

Young doctors' views on alternative medicine.

A survey was undertaken to explore attitudes to alternative medicine among 100 general practitioner trainees. A positive attitude emerged from the 86 respondents, with 18 doctors using at least one alternative method themselves and 70 wanting to train in one or more. A total of 31 trainees had referred patients for such treatments; 12 of these doctors made referrals to non-medically qualified practitioners. The most commonly used alternative treatments were hypnosis, manipulation, homoeopathy, and acupuncture. A total of 22 doctors had been treated, or had treated themselves, by an alternative treatment, and this personal experience was linked to a greater professional use. These findings indicate that alternative methods of treatment are currently being used to complement orthodox medicine and an expansion in their use appears imminent.     

Further studies on the ethanol antagonism exhibited by 2(2-chloro-5-trifluoromethyl phenylimino) imidazolidine (St 587)

A lipid soluble alpha 1-adrenoceptor agonist 2-(2-chloro-5-trifluoromethyl phenylimino) imidazolidine (St 587) dose-dependently antagonized the hypnotic, hypothermic and respiratory depressant effects of ethanol in C57B1/6 mice. This effect was present whether St 587 was given before or after ethanol. St 587 did not block the pentobarbitone-induced hypnosis. It also did not influence the elimination of ethanol. Combined treatment with a subhypnotic dose of ethanol and St 587 resulted in marked hyperactivity in mice. This effect was completely abolished by pimozide pretreatment. It was inferred that the dopamine released from brain areas by this dose of ethanol together with the norepinephrine receptor activation offered by St 587 resulted in this hyperactivity. Cirazoline, a more potent alpha 1-adrenoceptor agonist than St 587 was relatively more effective than the latter in blocking the ethanol-induced hypnosis in mice. It seems that alpha 1-adrenoceptor stimulation is a major contributing factor to the ethanol antagonism exerted by St 587. This drug might prove to be useful in the treatment of acute ethanol intoxication and in understanding the mode of action of ethanol.     

Hypnotherapy for incontinence caused by the unstable detrusor.

Fifty incontinent women with proved detrusor instability completed 12 sessions of hypnosis (symptom removal by direct suggestion and "ego strengthening") over one month. This was continued at home with a prerecorded cassette, and all patients were followed up for at least six months. At the end of the 12 sessions 29 patients were entirely symptom free, 14 improved, and seven unchanged. Three months later cystometry in 44 of the patients showed conversion of the cystometrogram to stability in 22 and a significant improvement in a further 16; only six showed no objective improvement. Seven patients relapsed (three after bereavement). Further treatment was given and five out of six patients were rendered symptom free again. Patients with detrusor instability were not found to have a noticeably increased susceptibility to hypnosis. It is concluded that psychological factors are very important in "idiopathic" detrusor instability and that hypnotherapy is effective for incontinence due to this disorder.     

Signalfluß-Bilder als Hilfsmittel bei der Beschreibung hypnotischer Trancezustände

A model is developed to show the formation of the hypnotic trance states. As experimental results are rare in this field the development of the model is mainly done by assuming possible and practicable connections. It is the beginning of cybernetic models for this domain and may encourage further work in this direction. The focal point is the separation of energy-flow from information-flow. Only the latter is needed with the arrangement of signal-flow diagrams. These diagrams show that the different trance states may be explained as different information-processing systems. We dont require the physiological background as we have transformed the problem into a pure psychology-problem — On this way we find two switch-over systems: One that opens the loop between the model of outer world and the inner decision system. By this way it gives to the other system the possibility to follow word-for-word the suggestions, given by the hypnotist.

Überarbeitete und ergänzte Fassung eines Vortrags, den der Verfasser am 25. April 1985 in Paris auf dem V. Central European Congress of Medical and Experimental Hypnosis gehalten hat