Complementary therapies in clinical practice
August 1, 2023
Dali Geagea, David Ogez, Roy Kimble et al.
11 citations
Hypnosis, a mind-body treatment with ancient roots, has shown effectiveness for distress, pain, and psychosomatic disorders, yet myths and misconceptions among the public and clinicians hinder its acceptance. This narrative review traces the history of those myths alongside hypnosis's evolution as a treatment, compares it to similar interventions, and presents evidence to demystify it. It distinguishes hypnotic from non-hypnotic procedures to clarify understanding, aiming to promote hypnosis in clinical and research settings. The review also highlights knowledge gaps needing further investigation to support evidence-based practice and optimize multimodal therapies that include hypnosis.
Biological psychiatry global open science
July 1, 2025
Benjamin Brake, Lillian Wieder, Natasha Hughes et al.
5 citations
Dissociative states—disruptions in awareness and perception—occur across many psychiatric conditions and can be modeled in the lab. A meta-analysis of 123 studies (6,692 individuals) measured state dissociation using a standardized scale. At baseline, the largest effects were in dissociative and complex subtypes of posttraumatic stress disorder. In controlled experiments, mirror gazing and several drugs, particularly ketamine and cannabis, induced dissociation as high as or higher than that seen in PTSD. Results were highly variable across studies but not explained by methodological differences. These findings validate experimental methods for inducing dissociation and inform monitoring of adverse events in drug-based interventions.
medRxiv
September 10, 2024
Benjamin Brake, Lillian Wieder, Natasha Hughes et al.
2 citations
preprint
Dissociative states—disruptions in awareness and perception—occur across many psychiatric disorders and can be experimentally induced. This meta-analysis of 123 studies (6,692 individuals) measured state dissociation using a standard scale. At baseline, the largest effects were in dissociative and complex subtypes of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD-DC). In controlled experiments, mirror-gazing and several drugs (especially ketamine and cannabis) produced dissociation levels as high as or higher than baseline PTSD-DC. Effect sizes varied widely but were not consistently linked to study methods. The findings confirm that dissociation can be reliably modeled in the lab, with implications for measuring side effects and predicting outcomes in drug-based treatments.