Spontaneous hypnotic age regression: case report.

Age regression--reliving the past as though it were occurring in the present, with age appropriate vocabulary, mental content, and affect--can occur with instruction in highly hypnotizable individuals, but has rarely been reported to occur spontaneously, especially as a primary symptom. The psychiatric presentation and treatment of a 16-year-old girl with spontaneous age regressions accessible and controllable with hypnosis and psychotherapy are described. Areas of overlap and divergence between this patient's symptoms and those found in patients with hysterical fugue and multiple personality syndrome are also discussed.