A Modern Hypnosis Dictionary: The Letter P
- Painless Surgery - It is quite possible to undergo surgery using hypnosis as the only anaesthetic.
- Paradoxical Sleep - Another name for REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.
- Paramnesia - Distorted memories rather than lost memories (as with amnesia).
- Paranoia - Serious mental disorder, typified by absorption in delusions. No usually amenable to treatment with hypnosis.
- Pathophobia - Excessive fear of suffering through illness.
- Pavlov, Ivan P - Russian Physiologist, (1849 - 1936) Won a Nobel Prize in 1904 for his work on the digestion system. Became well known for his experiments into conditioning.
- Peccatophobia - Morbid fear of committing a sin.
- Peripheral Nervous System - That part of the total nervous system which connects the sensory systems of the body to the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).
- Phobia - An intense fear or morbid dread. Treatable with hypnosis. LIST OF PHOBIAS.
- Perls, Fritz - Born in Germany. Originally a psychoanalyst, he went on to develop Gestalt Therapy.
- Phonophobia - Irrational fear of speaking aloud.
- Photoma - Optical hallucination, sparks or points of light. Sometimes reported in hypnosis.
- Photophobia - Dread of strong light, ie., sunlight.
- Placebo - A placebo is usually a medical prescription given with the idea of producing beneficial results by utilizing the patient's belief that he has been given useful medicine. The placebo does not have any medical potency of a chemical nature and relies for it's effect on suggestion. It is sometimes given as part of an experiment to determine the effectiveness of a new drug, the group given the placebo being the control. It is recognized by medical authorities that as much as 30% of the effectiveness of any particular drug is due to the placebo effect.
- Post Hypnotic - Literally, after hypnosis. Post hypnotic suggestions for example, are suggestions given by the hypnotist to the subject to be carried out later, after the hypnotic session has been terminated.
- Postural Sway Test - A simple test of hypnotic susceptibility. The subject is asked to stand erect with feet together and eyes closed. He is then asked to recall a time as a child when he swung back and forth on a swing. If the subject has good powers of imagination and concentration he will begin to swing perceptibly back an forth.
- Prestige - Prestige is valuable to a hypnotist and is the the esteem with with a patient holds his abilities. The hypnotist should always seek to maintain a smart, professional image in order to encourage and maintain a sense of prestige.
- Psoriasis - A form of psychodermatosis characterized by red scaly patches. Treatable with hypnosis.
- Psychoanalysis - Developed by Sigmund Freud and his followers. Based on the idea that neurotic and maladaptive behaviour is caused by emotional and instinctive energies that become repressed in the patients unconscious. Therapy takes place when these repressed elements are brought to consciousness and catharsis takes place. Usually involves an extensive case history being taken, along with dream analysis.
- Psychodrama - A technique of working with a group devised originally by J. L. Moreno, in which members of the gathering 'act out' their problems as if in real life.
- Psychogenic - Of psychological origin.
- Psychosomatic - Effects in the body originating in the mind.
- Psychosis - Originally coined to describe any mental illness. It now refers to a serious mental illness which make it difficult for the patient to function normally within society. Re: psychotic.
Tom Connelly© connelly@hypnos.co.uk