Modifying Pain Perception: Is It Better to Be Hypnotizable or Feel That You Are Hypnotized?

Two studies investigated the effect of hypnotic susceptibility (study 1) and the label ‘hypnosis’ (study 2) on the perception of a noxious stimulus (cold pressor). Suggestions for pain control during hypnosis are highly effective but the mechanisms of this effect and the role of the hypnotic induction in achieving pain relief remain uncertain. Study 1 demonstrated increasing pain experience with hypnotic susceptibility during performance of a visual distraction task, i.e. greater hypnotic susceptibility resulted in greater pain experience when performing the task. There was no relationship between pain experience and hypnotic susceptibility when not performing the task. Study 2 demonstrated that the use of the label ‘hypnosis’ to describe a relaxation recording increased feelings of being hypnotized and decreased pain experience relative to the same recording being labelled ‘relaxation’ outside of task involvement. In conclusion, hypnotizability per se does not facilitate a reduction in pain experience whereas the label ‘hypnosis’ does reduce pain experience. It is possible that the use of hypnotic terminology in the context of pain provides a reduction in pain experience through mechanisms that are not automatically engaged by those who are highly hypnotizable. Copyright © 2007 British Society of Experimental & Clinical Hypnosis. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.