Kirsch, Mazzoni, and Montgomery’s (in press) article musters an ardent defense of the hypothesis that hypnotic inductions produce relatively small increases in suggestibility, and that subjective changes and hypnotic phenomena can be produced by imaginative suggestions alone, without the induction of hypnosis. As the authors point out, this argument is consistent with studies conducted in a var...

Altered state theories of hypnosis posit that a qualitatively distinct state of mental processing, which emerges in those with high hypnotic susceptibility following a hypnotic induction, enables the generation of anomalous experiences in response to specific hypnotic suggestions. If so then such a state should be observable as a discrete pattern of changes to functional connectivity (shared in...

INTRODUCTION Dispositional mindfulness can be described as the mental ability to pay attention to the present moment, non-judgmentally. There is evidence of inverse relation between dispositional mindfulness and insomnia and substance use, but as of yet, no studies evaluating the specific association between dispositional mindfulness and the components of hypnotic use disorder. OBJECTIVE To e...

ASSESSMENT OF HYPNOTIZABILITY ....................................................... 386 Alternatives ........................................................................................ 386 The Classic Suggestion Izffect .................................................................. 387 Hypnotic Susceptibility vs Hypnotic Depth ................................................... 388 C...

Devices that monitor the depth of hypnosis based on the electroencephalogram (EEG) have long been commercialized, and clinicians use these to titrate the dosage of hypnotic agents. However, these have not yet been accepted as standard monitoring devices for anesthesiology. The primary reason is that the use of these monitoring devices does not completely prevent awareness during surgery, and th...

OBJECTIVE To examine the prescription rates in cancer patients of three common psychotropic drugs: anxiolytic/ hypnotic, antidepressant and antipsychotic. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this retrospective cohort study, data were extracted from the pharmacy database of University Malaya Medical Center (UMMC) responsible for dispensing records of patients stored in the pharmacy's Medication Managemen...

This study examined the role of hypnotic responsiveness in the practice of a dhami-jhankri, a traditional Nepali healer. The hypnotic capacity of 248 male patients was measured in an allopathic (Western) clinic, an Ayurvedic (ancient Hindu healing art) clinic, and a dhami-jhankri's practice. Hypnotizability was assessed using the Hypnotic Induction Profile (HIP). The Induction scores of the HIP...

This study tested the prediction that dissociative tendencies modulate the impact of a hypnotic induction on cognitive control in different subtypes of highly suggestible individuals. Low suggestible (LS), low dissociative highly suggestible (LDHS), and high dissociative highly suggestible (HDHS) participants completed the Stroop color-naming task in control and hypnosis conditions. The magnitu...

The assessment of hypnotizability has been of longstanding interest to the hypnosis community. Since 1978, three special issues of hypnosis journals have been devoted to the topic of the assessment of hypnotic responsivity (Cohen, 1978-79; Orne, 1979, 1982). Not surprisingly, two of these issues have focused on assessment in the clinical context. Previous editors and guest editors of these spec...

Hypnosis is a potentially valuable cognitive tool for neuroimaging studies. However, understandable concern that Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in particular may adversely affect hypnotic procedures remains. Measurements of hypnotic depth and responsiveness to suggestions were taken using a standardized procedure that met all the requirements for functional MRI (fMRI). Testing outside the sca...