TY - JOUR
T1 - Attachment in detachment
T2 - The positive role of caregivers in POWs’ dissociative hallucinations
AU - Stein, Jacob Y.
AU - Crompton, Laura
AU - Ohry, Avi
AU - Solomon, Zahava
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Taylor & Francis.
PY - 2016/3/14
Y1 - 2016/3/14
N2 - ABSTRACT: Humans are social creatures and therefore exhibit a pervasive need for others. Hence, when benevolent human contact is scarce, this dearth may be compensated imaginatively. War captivity is an extreme example of such deprivation and one wherein dissociative hallucinations have been exhibited. Although hallucinations may serve to virtually summon benevolent others and thus provide the prisoner of war (POW) with a platform for compensation, the contents of such hallucinations have yet to be investigated. The current qualitative study is the first to examine whether the content of such hallucinations may harbor positive effects. Guided by the notion that people search for compensation in lack of companionship, we scrutinized testimonies of former POWs for accounts of hallucinatory experiences. A narrative analysis was utilized in an attempt to understand the meaning of the hallucinations for the POW. Findings reveal that benevolent figures and concomitant acts of care are exhibited in war captivity hallucinatory experiences. Thus, it is argued that the content of such hallucinations may be protective. These findings are discussed in light of the literature concerning peritraumatic dissociative experiences. In addition, attachment theory is suggested as a plausible framework for understanding these findings. Finally, limitations of the study are discussed, and future researched is suggested.
AB - ABSTRACT: Humans are social creatures and therefore exhibit a pervasive need for others. Hence, when benevolent human contact is scarce, this dearth may be compensated imaginatively. War captivity is an extreme example of such deprivation and one wherein dissociative hallucinations have been exhibited. Although hallucinations may serve to virtually summon benevolent others and thus provide the prisoner of war (POW) with a platform for compensation, the contents of such hallucinations have yet to be investigated. The current qualitative study is the first to examine whether the content of such hallucinations may harbor positive effects. Guided by the notion that people search for compensation in lack of companionship, we scrutinized testimonies of former POWs for accounts of hallucinatory experiences. A narrative analysis was utilized in an attempt to understand the meaning of the hallucinations for the POW. Findings reveal that benevolent figures and concomitant acts of care are exhibited in war captivity hallucinatory experiences. Thus, it is argued that the content of such hallucinations may be protective. These findings are discussed in light of the literature concerning peritraumatic dissociative experiences. In addition, attachment theory is suggested as a plausible framework for understanding these findings. Finally, limitations of the study are discussed, and future researched is suggested.
KW - Attachment
KW - hallucinations
KW - peritraumatic dissociation
KW - qualitative research
KW - war captivity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84961216380&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/15299732.2015.1086851
DO - 10.1080/15299732.2015.1086851
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AN - SCOPUS:84961216380
SN - 1529-9732
VL - 17
SP - 186
EP - 198
JO - Journal of Trauma and Dissociation
JF - Journal of Trauma and Dissociation
IS - 2
ER -