KETAMINE AS A POSSIBLE MODERATOR OF HYPNOTIZABILITY: A Feasibility Study

Summary

A small pilot study tested whether a low dose of ketamine could increase hypnotizability in healthy volunteers who initially scored low on the Stanford Clinical Hypnotizability Scale. Ketamine, used clinically as an anesthetic and for depression, can produce dissociation and detachment similar to hypnotic states. Participants' subjective dissociation ratings and hypnotizability scores both moved in the predicted direction, but the results were not definitive. The findings suggest that further research is warranted to explore ketamine's potential to enhance hypnotizability.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract This pilot study explored the feasibility of using ketamine to increase hypnotizability scores. Ketamine, classified as a dissociative hallucinogen, is used clinically as an anesthetic in high doses and as a treatment for chronic pain and depression in lower doses. Low-dose ketamine can contribute to dissociation and heightened perceptions and feelings of detachment, arguably hypnotic-like states. The authors predicted that a low dose of ketamine in healthy volunteers who scored in the low hypnotizable range on the Stanford Clinical Hypnotizability Scale would (a) cause an increase in subjective ratings of dissociation and (b) lead to an increase in hypnotizability. The findings were in the predicted direction, warranting further investigation into the use of this agent to increase hypnotizability.