Developing hypnotic analogues of clinical delusions: Mirrored-self misidentification

Abstract

Introduction. Despite current research interest in delusional beliefs, there are no viable models for studying delusions in the laboratory. However, hypnosis offers a technique for creating transient delusions that are resistant to challenge. The aim of this study was to develop an hypnotic analogue of one important delusion, mirrored-self misidentification.

Methods. Twelve high hypnotisable participants received an hypnotic suggestion to see either a stranger in the mirror, a mirror as a window, or a mirror as a window with a view to a stranger. Participants’ deluded beliefs were challenged, and following hypnosis, Sheehan and McConkey's (1982) Experiential Analysis Technique was used to explore participants’ phenomenological experience of the delusion.

Results. The majority of participants did not recognise their reflection in the mirror, described the person in the mirror as having different physical characteristics to themselves, and maintained their delusion when challenged.

Conclusions. The hypnotic suggestion created a credible, compelling delusion with features strikingly similar to clinical cases of mirrored-self misidentification. Our findings suggest that Factor 2 within Langdon and Coltheart's (2000) two-factor framework may involve a lowering of the criteria used to accept or reject delusional hypotheses.

Keywords:

• Delusions
• Hypnosis
• Cognitive neuropsychology
• Mirrored self-identification
• Hypnotic analogues

Acknowledgements

This research and the preparation of this manuscript was supported by funding to Amanda Barnier from the Australian Research Council (Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship, Australian Research Fellowship, Discovery-Project Grant) and Macquarie University (MQRDG). We are grateful for that support. We are grateful also to Lynette Hung for research assistance.

Notes

¹Strictly speaking, the level of conviction or perceived reality associated with both clinical delusions and hypnotically suggested effects (even for highly hypnotisable people) may vary. Not all delusions or hypnotic experiences are believed with absolute conviction, and belief in both may wax and wane.

²The 10-item modified HGSHS:A included: head falling, eye closure, hand lowering, finger lock, moving hands together, communication inhibition, experiencing of fly, eye catalepsy, posthypnotic suggestion, and posthypnotic amnesia; arm rigidity and arm immobilisation items were removed to ensure that the procedure could be conducted within the time limits of a 1 hour class. The 10-item tailored SHSS:C included: hand lowering, moving hands apart, mosquito hallucination, taste hallucination, arm rigidity, dream, age regression, arm immobilisation, negative visual hallucination, and posthypnotic amnesia; anosmia and auditory hallucination items were removed to ensure that the procedure could be conducted within the time limits of a 1 hour individual session.

³We do not use inferential statistics since the subject numbers in each cell are less than five.

⁴The first two participants did not receive the confrontation suggestion.