ain (experienced painlessly due to hypnotic analgesia), the subject can later be re-hypnotized and recollect in detail everything that was done including the registering of pain; however, this registering appears to be absent of the distress and suffering that would be experienced in a normal non-hypnotic state.
In fact, Evans (1990) states that the process of dissociation is such a well established component of hypnosis that it has come to be referred to as the process of "the hidden observer" which is a metaphor used to refer to hypnotic phenomena in which one is not consciously aware of sensory input (pain or otherwise) while another part of the mind is aware, in minute detail, of all that is occurring.
The foregoing findings and conceptualizations clearly show that dissociation can be both a component of certain forms of psychopathology arising as a result of psychological trauma as well as a component of a mental process experienced by normal but hypnotized people. Specifying the nature of the connection between hypnosis and dissociation and psychological disturbance and dissociation has been the subject of a good deal of recent research (Bowers, 1991).
The purpose of this essay is to examine the literature pertinent to investigating the connection between hypnosis and dissociation and certain forms of psychological disturbance and dissociation. This literature is reviewed toward the objective of answering the following question: Does the concept of dissociation provide a common basis for understanding both hypnosis and certain psychological disorders of which dissociation is an aspect?
Dissociation, Hypnosis and Psychological Disorders
Can dissociation be used as a basis for understanding both hypnosis and psychological disorders for which dissociation appears to be a component? As noted by Saunders (1986), the theoretical literature addressing this point is divided.
The strongest proponent of a commo...