Some after-effects of stage hypnosis: A case study of psychopathological manifestations

Abstract

Abstract Some deleterious effects of stage hypnosis are described through a case report. A middle-aged respected member of a kibbutz who became the subject of an evening's entertainment by a stage hypnotist suffered a posttraumatic neurosis. The stage hypnotist, unaware of her traumatic childhood during World War II when she and her sister were hidden by Gentiles, requested her to regress to that age. This reactivated a former successfully repressed trauma and acted as a precipitating factor to the development of a traumatic neurosis which was left untreated. She was self-referred for adequate psychiatric treatment 11 years later. This treatment successfully restored her to an adequate level of functioning.