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JOHN
G.
WA"S
Hysterical
Reaction (paralysis of
the
right
hand)
Sometimes abreactions released repressed guilt rather than fear or
rage. "Barkley" was very angry at the Army and its doctors. For
13
months he had been assigned to an orthopedicward because the fingers
inhis right hand, with the exception
of
the thumb and index finger,were
paralyzed and clenched shut. He came to my company angrily declar-
ing, "The damnArmy doctors can't find out what is wrongwithme, and
so theysendme to thepsychoward." Aftermuch difficultyobtaininghis
cooperation,
I
was able tohypnotize him, whereupon he relived an expe-
rience that involved his moving into enemy territory as point man of a
patrol, the most dangerous position.
Suddenly he shouted, "They got him, the sons of bitches, my buddy,
thebest damn soldier in the army.And it's my fault." When
I
askedwhy,
he exclaimed, "Why didn't
I
throw it?" "Throw what?"
I
asked.
"You
know, the grenade
I
had in my hand.'' Had he thrown the grenade, he
could have knocked out the enemy machine-gun nest and saved his
buddy. Now all his guilt was focused onto the hand. "And if thy right
hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee," says the Good
Book
(Matthew,
5:30,
King
Jamesversion).His "offending," and hence guilty,
hand had been psychologically "cut off" and "cast" away.
After abreactively reexperiencing the event with much violent emo-
tion, his hand opened for the first time since combat. He could then be
referred forphysical therapy and occupationaltherapy-which had pre-
viously been unsuccessful in altering the symptom. He had forgiven
himself. The hand remained open, and he was soon discharged. This
treatment involved
15
sessions, some of them
2
hours in length.
Anxiety
Reaction
(hand
tremor)
Some cases involved transferred rage and not battle trauma. "Major
Johns," abattalion surgeon,had a severetremor inhis right hand, which
(self-diagnosed) he called a "Parkinson's syndrome." Our examining
psychiatrist, however, said the surgeon didn't know his neurology very
well and rediagnosed it ashysterical.He was referredforhypnotherapy.
The treatment lasted one session.
The
patient recounted to me the many humiliations he had received
from the colonel who commanded his hospital unit and vividly
described what he would do to "that son of a bitch" if
"I
could ever get
him on my operating table."
He was given "that
S.O.B."
on his "operating table." After placing a
pillow on the desk,
I
hypnotically hallucinated the operating table
and
told him, "There
he
is. What
do
you want to do?" And for the next
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