An Exploratory Study of Hypnotic Capacity of Schizophrenic and Borderline Patients in a Clinical Setting

Abstract

A review of current clinical and experimental research discloses that psychotic patients display hypnotic capacity. There is disagreement about the degree of this capacity. The most recent research indicates that schizophrenic populations are comparable to normal populations on the Stanford Scales of Hypnotic Susceptibility and the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. However, on the Hypnotic Induction Profile the mean scores of schizophrenics are significantly lower than normals. To investigate these inconsistencies, I undertook an exploratory study of the hypnotizability of schizophrenic and borderline patients in a clinical setting. Test results in this clinical setting, using the Stanford Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility: Form A and the Hypnotic Induction Profile, indicated higher than usual hypnotizability. The effects of transference in the clinical setting may be a possible explanation for some of the differences in the test results. Posttest questioning revealed response patterns and conflicts that may be unique to the severely disturbed patient population. These response patterns may influence the test norms for this population and may further help explain differences in findings.