◆ SpookStack

Approved For Release ORR SORIA RDP 96-00788R001 300020001-6 ST-~CS~01-169-72 July 1972 unconditioned responses in most cases hardly differ from the - responses in wakefulness. At the second stage, altered uncon- ditioned vascular responses begin to prevail over normal vascular responses to stimulation, and thus give evidence of hypnotic phases in the cortex of both hemispheres. The suppression process is most obvious with regard to extent and intensity at the third stage, the deep stage of hypnosis known as somnambulism. Since there is no vascular response to most of the unconditioned stimuli, this means that complete suppression prevails. The rare unconditioned vascular reflexes are of small magnitude, are extended in time and are characterized by a prolonged latent period. 4. (UU) Soviet psychotherapists believe that hypnosis is one of the leading methods for the treatment of mental disorders. The Soviets concentrate on the "word" as an adequate stimulus for the development of the hypnotic state. The tremendous role played by the emotional message carried by the word should not be over- looked. The psychotherapist will achieve results depending on the emotional content of the entire system of contact with the patient. The greater the emotional content the better the results. Soviets recommend that the psychotherapist takes into account not only the meaning of what he is trying to achieve through suggestion, but also the emotional content of his work, his contact with the patient, his confidence in his own abilities, and the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic treatment in general. 5. (U) The Soviets believe that the hypnotic state offers the researcher the means of penetrating into the physiological fundamentals of human thought and behavior. The Russians conceive of no other state (hypnosis) which would enable the scientist to simplify human thought by splitting it into its component parts thus permitting him to get to the root of this most complex of nature's phenomena, to control and subordinate it for purposes of research. K. Platonov, the patriarch of Soviet psychotherapists said (132): "I still maintain that hypnotherapy is the main stem of psychotherapy. Hypnotherapy helps us understand better the mechanisms of all other forms of psychotherapy and, therefore, to master them better." 6. (U) The Soviets stress the use of hypnosis in patients suffering from disorders of the gastrointestinal tract especially if neurotic symptoms accompany such disorders. They further stress the use of hypnotherapy in surgical cases thus providing for a decrease in anesthetic and drug usage. Hypnosis is also being studied for its effectiveness in treating alcohol addiction. At first they approached this problem with the idea of developing an emotionally negative 42 UNCLASSIFIED