> From: "Humphreys, Juliet" <JHM92PY@psy.soton.ac.uk>
> Date: Thu, 16 Feb 1995 16:19:40 GMT
>
> When you were talking about trance logic in hypnotism, it reminded me
> of something I'd read about conversion hysteria. Is there not a
> similar phenomenon whereby a person who has no "feeling" in their arm
> will say "no" to all probes on the arm and "yes" to probes on other
> parts when asked to say when they can feel anything, thus showing
> that they are actually feeling something. The person is usually
> blindfolded. Or am I getting confused with something else. If I'm not
> confusing the issue, is it possible that there is some sort of
> cognitive link between the two? Has this been looked at?
Hi Jules,
You got it right! It is thought that those who are highly susceptible
to hypnosis are also those who are prone to hysterical symptoms like
dysthesia. So if they say "no" exactly when you touch them (when they
can't see) then obviously they do (and don't) feel it: exactly like
trance logic. Usually, though, in hysterical anaesthesia they really
can't feel it at all when you touch them, and the only clue you have
that it's hysterical rather than neurological is that the area of the
dysthesia does not conform to a neurological area (neurons have certain
"fields," so when they konk out, the dysthesia has a characteristic
shape, but not with hysteria).
So not only is there a link between hypnotic susceptibility and
hysteria, but between both of those and multiple personality. In each
case it's a "dissociation" of things that are usually connected, and in
both cases it seems to be related to especially strong imagery and
perhaps emotional resonses of certain kinds too.
Chrs, S
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