Misplaced Pages

Past life regression

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 24.101.52.64 (talk) at 01:15, 22 November 2022 (Grammar). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 01:15, 22 November 2022 by 24.101.52.64 (talk) (Grammar)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Controversial claim that past memory can be restored from the unconscious mind through hypnosis

History

Technique

In the West, past-life regression practitioners use hypnosis and suggestion to promote recall in their patients, using a series of questions designed to elicit statements and memories about the past life's history and identity. Some practitioners also use bridging techniques from a client's current-life problem to bring "past-life stories" to conscious awareness. Practitioners believe that unresolved issues from alleged past lives may be the cause of their patients' problems. One technique for accessing memories from a past life is detailed in a study by Nicholas P. Spanos from Carleton University, Ontario, Canada. Subjects of a study were at first told that they would be undergoing a hypnosis, and afterwards told, “You are now in a different life, living in another life that you have lived before in another time. You are now reliving that other life that you lived once before in a different time.” Next, after the administer asks “What name can I call you by? I want you to look down and tell me what you are wearing. Describe everything you are wearing in detail. Where are you?” Afterwards, the subjects were to chronicle the information that they could remember after regression in a past life. Past life regression can be achieved in as little as 15 minutes, but to recall past a point of death, and into "soul memories", it takes upwards of 45 minutes of trance induction. However, with psychotherapy clients who believe in past lives, irrespective of whether or not past lives exist, the use of past lives as a tool has been suggested.

Sources of memories

The "memories" recovered by techniques like past-life regression may be the result of cryptomnesia: narratives created by the subconscious mind using imagination, forgotten information and suggestions from the therapist. Memories created under hypnosis are indistinguishable from actual memories and can be more vivid than factual memories. The greatest predictor of individuals reporting memories of past lives appears to be their beliefs—individuals who believe in reincarnation are more likely to report such memories, while skeptics or disbelievers are less so.

Examinations of three cases of apparent past life regression (Bridey Murphy, Jane Evans, and an unnamed English woman) revealed memories that were superficially convincing. However, investigation by experts in the languages used and historical periods described revealed flaws in all three patients' recall. The evidence included speech patterns that were "...used by movie makers and writers to convey the flavour of 16th century English speech" rather than actual Renaissance English, a date that was inaccurate but was the same as a recognized printing error in historical pamphlets, and a subject that reported historically accurate information from the Roman era that was identical to information found in a 1947 novel set in the same time as the individual's memories, with the same name reported by the person regressed. Other details cited are common knowledge and not evidence of the factual nature of the memories; subjects asked to provide historical information that would allow checking provided only vague responses that did not allow for verification, and sometimes were unable to provide critical details that would have been common knowledge (e.g. a subject described the life of a Japanese fighter pilot during World War II but was unable to identify Hirohito as the Emperor of Japan during the 1940s).

Studies

Studies suggest that past lives are likely false memories, implanted through the susceptibility of the hypnotic method. A 1976 study found that 40% of hypnotizable subjects described new identities and used different names when given a suggestion to regress past their birth. In the 1990s, a series of experiments undertaken by Nicholas Spanos examined the nature of past life memories. Descriptions of alleged past lives were found to be extremely elaborate, with vivid, detailed descriptions. This, however, is not indicative of the validity of this therapeutic method. Subjects who reported memories of past lives exhibited high hypnotizability, and patients demonstrated that the expectations conveyed by the experimenter were most important in determining the characteristics of the reported memories. The degree to which the memories were considered credible by the experimental subjects was correlated most significantly to the subjects' beliefs about reincarnation and their expectation to remember a past life rather than hypnotizability. Spanos' research leads him to the conclusion that past lives are not memories, but actually social constructions based on patients acting "as if" they were someone else, but with significant flaws that would not be expected of actual memories. To create these memories, Spanos' subjects drew upon the expectations established by authority figures and information outside of the experiment such as television, novels, life experiences and their own desires. In sum, it is therefore suggested that past lives are likely false memories, implanted through the susceptibility of the hypnotic method.

Ethical questions

Past life regression has been critiqued for being unethical on the premises that it lacks any evidence to support these claims, and that the act increases one's susceptibility to false memories. Luis Cordón states that this can be problematic as it creates delusions under the guise of therapy. The memories are experienced as vivid as those based on events experienced in one's life, impossible to differentiate from true memories of actual events, and accordingly any damage can be difficult to undo. As past life regression is rooted on the premise of reincarnation, many APA accredited organizations have begun to refute this as a therapeutic method on the basis of it being unethical. Additionally, the hypnotic methodology that underpins past life regression places the participant in a vulnerable position, susceptible to implantation of false memories. Because the implantation of false memories may be harmful, Gabriel Andrade points out that past life regression violates the principle of first, do no harm (non-maleficence).

See also

References

  1. ^ Carroll RT (2003). The Skeptic's Dictionary: a collection of strange beliefs, amusing deceptions, and dangerous delusions. New York: Wiley. pp. 276–7. ISBN 978-0-471-27242-7.
  2. ^ Spanos NP (1996). Multiple Identities & False Memories: A Sociocognitive Perspective. American Psychological Association (APA). pp. 135–40. ISBN 978-1-55798-340-4.
  3. ^ Sumner D (2003). Just Smoke and Mirrors: Religion, Fear and Superstition in Our Modern World. San Jose, : Writers Club Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-595-26523-7.
  4. ^ Linse P, Shermer M (2002). The Skeptic encyclopedia of pseudoscience. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. pp. 206–7. ISBN 978-1-57607-653-8.
  5. Tomlinson A (2006). Healing the Eternal Soul: Insights from Past-Life and Spiritual Regression. O Books. pp. 35–53. ISBN 978-1-905047-41-3.
  6. Plowman J (1996). "Past life memories and present day problems". European Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. 3 (2): 36–39.
  7. Spanos, Nicholas P.; Menary, Evelyn; Gabora, Natalie J.; DuBreuil, Susan C. (1991). "Secondary identity enactments during hypnotic past-life regression: A sociocognitive perspective". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 61 (2): 308–320. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.61.2.308.
  8. Tomlinson, Andy (2006). "Beyond past lives and into the soul memories between lives: Applications of hypnosis". European Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. 7 (2): 18–25.
  9. Simoes M (2002). "Altered States of Consciousness and Psychotherapy". The International Journal of Transpersonal Studies. 21: 150. doi:10.24972/ijts.2002.21.1.145.
  10. Peres JF (February 2012). "Should psychotherapy consider reincarnation?". The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 200 (2): 174–9. doi:10.1097/NMD.0b013e3182439836. PMID 22297317. S2CID 9909884.
  11. ^ Cordón LA (2005). Popular psychology: an encyclopedia. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. pp. 183–5. ISBN 978-0-313-32457-4.
  12. Wilson I (1987). The After Death Experience. Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 978-0-283-99495-1.
  13. Wilson I (1981). Mind Out of Time?: Reincarnation Claims Investigated. Gollancz. ISBN 978-0-575-02968-2.
  14. Edwards P (1996). Reincarnation: A Critical Examination. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-57392-005-6.
  15. Harris M (2003). Investigating the Unexplained. Prometheus Books. ISBN 978-1-59102-108-7.
  16. Spanos NP, Burgess CA, Burgess MF (October 1994). "Past-life identities, UFO abductions, and satanic ritual abuse: the social construction of memories". The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. 42 (4): 433–46. doi:10.1080/00207149408409369. PMID 7960296.
  17. ^ Andrade G (December 2017). "Is past life regression therapy ethical?". Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine. 10: 11. PMC 5797677. PMID 29416831.
Categories: