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Mis 0. Jacobson ondN. Peter SiljverskiSld
of hypnosis. If one looks for optimal results of hypnotic treatment it seems unsuitable
to include in the group patients who are not receptive to hypnosis. We should perhaps
have excluded from the material all patients who did not react positively to common
tests of suggestibility (Wolberg 1948, p. 102), but this would have caused method-
ological difficulties.
Our method was built on a self activity of the patients in group H after the end
of the treatments. Only 6 patients admitted to have done the exercises at home for
any considerable time and only occasionally during the observation period did
any of the patients use the possibility of listening to the recording at the clinic.
Langen (1967) regards hypnosis as indicated first of all "in the case of the habitual
drinkers. These patients, even when their symptomatology shows a drastic need of
treatment, will, in contrast to addicted alcoholics, respond even to a single hypnotic
treatment to the extent. . . that they will remain abstinent". But the patients in our
group H who seemed to have benefitted most fix)m the treatment, could all be
considered as "addicted alcoholics". The four patients in group H who were most
successful, who functioned well socially and who from all signs were totally sober
during 13-17 months ofobservation, had an alcohol anamnesis indicating "addiction"
since
7,
16, 20 and 22 years. Two of them had done the exercises at home regularly,
two sporadically. So good results could not be found in any of the patients in group N.
The wish for total sobriety was a pre-requisite for joining in the experiment.
Patients of both grouf» admitted after some time more or less openly that they had
this wish no longer. The motivation of the patients to refi-ain from using alcohol is a
deciding factor, which hardly can be measured objectively. Our impression fi"om
this study is, however, that hypnosis can be a real help for patients who, disregarding
the length of the alcohol anamnesis, seem really motivated to total abstinence, who
can be thought to have the will to seriously try to reach this goal and who themselves
are positive to hypnosis. The simple technique described can easily be adapted to
individual needs and even be uKd for group treatment. The five treatments we
administered were probably rather insufficient. We now think that one should
continue the seances at least for another half a year with successively increasing
intervals.
This study describes no statistically significant effects when an unselected
group of hypnotically treated patients was compared with a control group. The
trend in the results indicates, however, a certain effect on the group and remarkable
improvements were seen in four patients. The treatment is also so simple and easily
learned and so little time-consuming that we consider it to be a valuable complement
in the variety of treatments at an alcohol clinic.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Head of the Alcohol Clinic, Dr. Barbro Lizelius-Lanke, for
her continuous encouragement and support in our work, and to Dr. Anders Varenius
who took part in the work. Our thanks are also due to Dr. Ture Arvidsson for
instruction in hypnosis to N.J., and to many colleagues for helpful advice and
criticism. The statistical analysis of the data was carried out by Bo Zoger, B.A., at
the Dept. of Mathematical Statistics, University of Lund.