Trance Health Dictionary

An out-of-date description for a symptom (or symptoms) with no obvious organic cause, which is an unconscious reaction and from which the person may bene?t. It is now recognised as a dissociative disorder: such disorders – AMNESIA, FUGUE, multiple personality states and trancelike conditions – are powerful defence mechanisms against severe stress when a patient is unable to cope with a particular problem or problems. Symptoms can also mimic physical conditions: for example, apparent paralysis or inability to speak (mutism). Mass hysteria is a phenomenon characterised by extreme suggestibility in a group of often emotionally charged people.

The name originates from the ancient idea that hysteria – a Greek-based word for ‘UTERUS’

– was in some way associated with the womb. Hence the old-fashioned association of hysteria with women, and with supposed sexual disturbances. Doctors should make sure there is not a physical disease present to explain the symptoms before diagnosing a dissociative disorder. Most subside spontaneously, but if not, the individual needs psychiatric advice. Treatment is di?cult. Reasons for stress should be explored and, if possible, resolved. Hypnosis (see HYPNOTISM) to help the person to relive stressful episodes – known as ABREACTION – may be of value.... hysteria

A trance-like state of altered awareness characterized by extreme suggestibility.

Some psychoanalysts induce a hypnotic state as a means of helping patients remember and come to terms with disturbing events.

More often, hypnosis is used to help patients to relax.

It may be useful in people suffering from anxiety, panic attacks, or phobias, or in those wishing to correct addictive habits.... hypnosis

Concentrating on an object, a word, or an idea with the aim of inducing an altered state of consciousness.

At its deepest level, meditation can resemble a trance. More commonly, it is a calming therapy and can be a way of reducing stress levels and treating stressrelated disorders. A common form of meditation practised in the west is transcendental meditation (TM).... meditation

any one of a group of mental disorders characterized by a partial or complete loss of the normal integration between awareness of one’s own identity, memories of the past, and control of bodily movements. They tend to remit spontaneously after hours, days, or months. The symptoms are explained psychoanalytically as extreme *defence mechanisms. They include loss of memory for important personal details (see amnesia), wandering away from home (see fugue), the assumption of a new identity, and trancelike states with severely reduced response to external stimuli. *Conversion disorder is classified with dissociative disorders (as dissociative (conversion) disorders) in ICD-10 (see International Classification of Diseases).... dissociative disorder

n. a sense of extreme wellbeing and bliss. The word applies particularly to *trance states dominated by religious thinking. While not necessarily pathological, it can be caused by epilepsy (especially of the temporal lobe) or by *schizophrenia or *mania.... ecstasy

n. nonsense speech that mimics normal speech in that it is appropriately formed into an imitation of syllables, words, and sentences. It can be uttered in *trance states and during sleep.... glossolalia

n. a hypnotic trance. See hypnosis.... somnolism