Narcosynthesis

Narcosynthesis
Intervention
ICD-10-PCS	[1]
ICD-9-CM	94.21
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In clinical psychology and psychiatry, narcosynthesis — also called narcoanalysis, amobarbital interview, and amytal interview — is a group of techniques which has its origins in the practice of "narco-hypnosis". Narco-hypnosis, as its name implies, is the use of various narcotics to induce various types of hypnotic states.

In recent years, injections of sodium amytal and pentothal have put this knowledge to practical psychological use, not only to elicit information from suspects under interrogation, but as a means of treatment for shell-shocked soldiers in World War II. There has also been some use of barbiturate hypnosis therapy in interviewing both the defendant and plaintiffs in some court cases.

The accuracy of the therapy's results is debated. As in frank hypnosis, repressed unconscious thought may be more likely to come forth rather than consciously suppressed evidence. Yet there is a deficiency of the ego mechanism; therefore, the true manner for determining truth would most likely be carried out by uncovering conflicting responses through multiple questionings.

In one prominent court case, a man was charged with housebreaking and sodomizing a disabled woman. Under hypnosis and the administration of sodium amytal, the man denied the charges, and said that he and the woman had engaged in a consensual encounter. The woman, after undergoing narcosynthesis herself, gave many conflicting versions of her initial claim of sexual assault. Eventually, she admitted to fabricating the story due to anger over past relationships. The judge in this case permitted for the first time the results of sodium amytal to be admitted as evidence in a federal case. He stated that although any testimony under the influence of barbiturates could not be foolproof, he found the exculpatory evidence was in this case very helpful in uncovering discrepancies that lead to a not guilty verdict.

Opponents of narcosynthesis argue that there is little scientific evidence to warrant its use as a reliable source of interrogation, citing misuses by the CIA and several Indian police agencies. The CIA is said to be responsible for at least one death due to the administration of LSD as a truth serum. India is referred to as the narcoanalysis capital of the world with so-called biscuit teams (behavioral science consultation teams) using pseudoscience to back illegal interrogations. Though security agencies worldwide have shown interest, inconsistent results have proven objective truth elusive, despite increased suggestibility.

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