The Nature of Hypnotic Analgesia and Placebo Response to Experimental Pain

The effects of hypnotically induced analgesia and placebo response to “a powerful analgesic drug” were investigated. Highly motivated Ss, who were either very responsive or essentially insusceptible to hypnosis, performed a task which induced ischemic muscle pain. Special procedures and a modified double-blind condition were adopted to establish plausible expectations in both groups that the two treatments effectively reduce pain intensity. Changes in pain threshold and tolerance following hypnotic and placebo analgesia (compared to an initial baselevel performance), were evaluated and were related to changes in the Ss' subjective ratings of pain intensity. The results support the hypothesis that there are two components involved in hypnotic analgesia: One component can be accounted for by the nonspecific or placebo effects of using hypnosis as a method of treatment; the other may be conceptualized as a distortion of perception specifically induced during deep hypnosis.