Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:301-305
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
Dissociation and hypnotizability in posttraumatic stress disorder
D Spiegel, T Hunt and HE Dondershine
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, CA 94305.
The authors compared the hypnotizability of 65 Vietnam veteran patients
with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to that of a normal control group
and four patient samples using the Hypnotic Induction Profile. The patients
with PTSD had significantly higher hypnotizability scores than patients
with diagnoses of schizophrenia (N = 23); major depression, bipolar
disorder--depressed, and dysthymic disorder (N = 56); and generalized
anxiety disorder (N = 18) and the control sample (N = 83). This finding
supports the hypothesis that dissociative phenomena are mobilized as
defenses both during and after traumatic experiences. The literature
suggests that spontaneous dissociation, imagery, and hypnotizability are
important components of PTSD symptoms.
