Psychosomatic Medicine 35:367-374 (1973)
© 1973 American Psychosomatic Society

Free Fatty Acid Mobilization During Suggestion of Exercise and Stress Using Hypnosis and Sodium Amytal

¹ Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; Dr. Leonard A. Cobb is presently at the Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, Washington
² Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
³ Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; Dr. John W. Jones is presently at Michigan State University, School of Human Medicine, East Lansing, Michigan

Address for reprint requests: Dr. Herbert S. Ripley, Department of Psychiatry, University of Washington, School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington 98105

Experiments were carried out to determine the effect of the reexperiencing of exercise and emotionally charged situations using strong suggestion under hypnosis and with intravenous sodium amytal on circulating FFA and other physiological variables. During hypnosis four of the six subjects readily relived past experiences of strenuous exercise and had significant increases in arterial FFA levels, and three showed rises in heart rate. In three of these four subjects there were further FFA increments with the reliving of past emotionally stressful situations. In three of the subjects a beta adrenergic blocking agent, nethalide, successfully obliterated responses to isoproterenol but did not abolish the responses to the reliving of past experiences under hypnosis. This suggests that mechanisms other than circulating catecholamines, most likely neural adrenergic discharge, are also responsible for FFA mobilization. The capacity to respond to suggestion was greater and more consistent during hypnosis than with intravenous sodium amytal.