title: Attachment in detachment: The positive role of caregivers in POWs' dissociative hallucinations.
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.
authors.affiliation: a Israeli Centers of Research Excellence (I-CORE), Mass Trauma Research Lab, Bob Shapell School of Social Work , Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv , Israel.
authors.forename: Jacob Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.affiliation: a Israeli Centers of Research Excellence (I-CORE), Mass Trauma Research Lab, Bob Shapell School of Social Work , Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv , Israel.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Crompton
authors.affiliation: b Sackler Faculty of Medicine , Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv , Israel.|c Reuth Medical Center , Tel Aviv , Israel.
authors.forename: Avi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohry
authors.affiliation: a Israeli Centers of Research Excellence (I-CORE), Mass Trauma Research Lab, Bob Shapell School of Social Work , Tel Aviv University , Tel Aviv , Israel.
authors.forename: Zahava
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Solomon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D063906:Prisoners of War / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012934:Social Isolation; D014104:Torture
keywords: Attachment; hallucinations; peritraumatic dissociation; qualitative research; war captivity