Hypnotically Induced Emotions

The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between anxiety, depression, and physiological activity in a small group of psychiatric patients diagnosed as suffering from anxiety, depression, and phobia, who were being treated by hypnotherapy. Hypnosis seemed to offer a very suitable means for the manipulation of these emotional states for a variety of reasons. Previous work has shown the effectiveness of hypnotically induced anxiety in significantly increasing Ss scores on the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, 6 and also in raising the plasma hydrocortisone level in normal subjects. 5,11 A further advantage is that intense emotion and deep relaxation can be alternated rapidly, so that several repetitions of the emotion/relaxation schedule can be carried out within a single experimental session. In the normal waking state there are many extraneous variables which can affect the measurement of physiological concomitants of anxiety such