Hypnotic Illusions and Clinical Delusions:A Hypnotic Paradigm for Investigating Delusions of Misidentification

Abstract

In 2 experiments, the authors created a hypnotic analogue of delusions of misidentification and explored their impact on autobiographical memory. In Experiment 1, to establish the paradigm, high and low hypnotizable participants were given a suggestion to become someone similar or dissimilar to themselves. In Experiment 2, to further test the paradigm and to examine autobiographical remembering, highs were given a suggestion to become a same-sex sibling, administered 2 challenges to the temporary delusion, and asked to generate autobiographical memories. For high hypnotizable participants, the suggested delusions of misidentification were compelling and resistant to challenge. During these temporary delusions, participants generated specific autobiographical memories that reflected previously experienced events viewed from the perspective of the suggested identity. These findings highlight the instrumental value of hypnosis to the investigation and understanding of delusions and autobiographical memory.

Hypnosis and belief: A review of hypnotic delusions

“…More recently, Cox and Barnier (2009a, 2009b used hypnosis to create an analogue of reverse intermetamorphosis, a clinical delusion involving the belief that one's identity has changed to someone else. In an initial experiment, Cox and Barnier (2009a) gave 32 high and 32 low hypnotisable participants either a hypnotic induction (hypnosis condition) or instructions to imagine the suggestion (imagination condition) followed by a suggestion to become a same-sex friend or relative.…”

“…In a second experiment, Cox and Barnier (2009a) examined the autobiographical memories of participants when experiencing a hypnotic identity delusion. They focused in detail on the subjective experiences of 10 high hypnotisable participants using the ''Experiential Analysis Technique'' (EAT; Sheehan & McConkey, 1982).…”

“…In an initial experiment, Cox and Barnier (2009a) gave 32 high and 32 low hypnotisable participants either a hypnotic induction (hypnosis condition) or instructions to imagine the suggestion (imagination condition) followed by a suggestion to become a same-sex friend or relative. They tested the delusion by asking participants to give their name and to describe themselves.…”

Proceedings of the 9th Conference of the Australasian Society for Cognitive Science

“…Indeed, both delusions and hypnotic suggestions are (1) believed with absolute conviction, (2) resistant to rational counter argument, (3) maintained regardless of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and (4) not shared by others from the same socio-cultural group (see . These shared features have, for example, been illustrated in previous work using hypnotic suggestion to model delusions of sex-change (Noble & McConkey, 1995) and delusions of identity distortion (Cox & Barnier, 2009).…”

“…Indeed, both delusions and hypnotic suggestions are (1) believed with absolute conviction, (2) resistant to rational counter argument, (3) maintained regardless of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and (4) not shared by others from the same socio-cultural group (see . These shared features have, for example, been illustrated in previous work using hypnotic suggestion to model delusions of sex-change (Noble & McConkey, 1995) and delusions of identity distortion (Cox & Barnier, 2009).Thirdly, hypnosis has a track record of successfully modelling many psychopathologies (Oakley, 2006;Oakley & Halligan, 2009). These include, for example, conversion hysteria (Halligan, Bass, & Wade, 2000), auditory hallucinations (Woody & Szechtman, 2000), paranoia (Zimbardo, Andersen, & Kabat, 1981) and functional blindness (Bryant & McConkey, 1989).…”