Dissociative and Hypnotic Experiences in Eating Disorder Patients: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Hypnotizability, subjective experiences during hypnotizability assessment, and dissociation were studied in 53 eating disorder patients in order to explore the relationship between these phenomena. Dissociation was measured with a newly developed self-reporting Dissociation-Questionnaire (DIS-Q), level of hypnotizability was assessed with the Stanford Hypnotic Clinical Scale (SHCS), subjective experiences during hypnosis with the Dutch Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (DPCI), and the Dutch Resistance to Hypnosis Scale (DRHS). Compared with normals, eating disorder patients scored significantly higher on the DIS-Q and SHCS. Compared with restricting anorexics, anorexics of the mixed type as well as bulimics report higher scores on both the DIS-Q and SHCS, but a significant difference was found only for the DIS-Q subscale loss of control. Although positive correlations between the DIS-Q and SHCS were found, the magnitude of the correlations shows that both instruments probably are measuring different constructs. Some implications of these findings are discussed.