The Effects of Direct and Indirect Hypnotic Suggestions for Analgesia in High and Low Susceptible Subjects

Abstract

The efficacy of two hypnotic induction techniques on twenty subjects whose degree of hypnotic susceptibility had been previously determined as either high or low was compared. The two induction techniques, direct and indirect, reflected a difference in permissiveness of language, use of imagery and symbolic language, the use of the subject's experience and the perceived control by the subject. Pain threshold measures, induced by electrical tooth pulp stimulation, were assessed before, during, and after induction of hypnotic analgesia. Analysis of the data showed that the indirect technique was significantly more effective than the direct technique in changing pain thresholds regardless of susceptibility. The direct technique was significantly effective with only those subjects who received high susceptibility scores. Although interpretation of results is limited due to small sample size, the findings suggest that patients with low hypnotic susceptibility, as measured by conventional tests, may still be able to achieve useful hypnotic analgesia.