(English Translation...)

The (psycho-)physiological effects of Reich's Orgone accumulator on the human organism, with special consideration of physical aspects.

Psychological diploma thesis by:

Stefan Müschenich

Fischteich 26

3550 Marburg-Gisselberg

Conducted at the Department of Psychology at the Philipps University of Marburg/Lahn.

Starting: August 1984

Submitted: March 1986

Library

Institute of Psychology

University of Marburg

Germany

E) Summary

This coordinated diploma thesis is an experimental study of the (psycho-)physiological changes that occur during sessions with human subjects in a Reich Orgone accumulator.

Based on clinical observations and further research in the biological and physical field, the Austrian physician and psychotherapist Wilhelm Reich postulated a bio-energy manifesting itself in the organism and described it with the term "Orgone".

The basis for this was provided by extensive biophysical studies that Reich carried out between 1934 and 1957, e.g. at the Universities of Oslo and New York. Stations of this development were experiments on stimulus-dependent endosomatic skin potential changes, the description of energy-carrying vesicle-like structures ("Bions") in the microscopic observation of the decomposition process of biological preparations as well as investigations on previously unexplained atmospheric energy phenomena that are said to play a role in weather formation.

Reich finally came to the conclusion that Orgone is a universally existing form of energy, which is attributed to a specific (psycho)physiological effect on the human organism.

Around 1940, Reich published the construction plans for a device in whose interior, according to him, this energy could be concentrated. He claimed that staying in this so-called "Orgone accumulator" caused certain psychological and physical reactions, and later used the device for therapeutic purposes for certain medical conditions.

The Orgone accumulator is a box-like device whose walls each consist of a number of alternating layers of organic material (outside) and metal (inside). In the theoretical part of our coordinated work, we first discussed a selection of empirical papers by various scientists dealing with the physical aspects of the atmosphere within the instrument. Of importance here are the phenomenon of a constantly increased air temperature inside the box (the "T0 - T-Effect"), the observation of a slowed down electroscopic discharge velocity as well as processes related to a changed humidity and water evaporation rate in the Orgone accumulator.

Furthermore, some medical case presentations were discussed, illustrating the health-promoting effects of Orgone irradiation on the basis of various clinical pictures.

The studies mentioned were presented in their substantive and historical context with Reich's research and concepts, whereby, in the course of a critical reception, we discussed the validity of the theses put forward against their scientific background.

The focus of our own experimental investigation was placed on a verification of the (psycho-)physiological effects attributed to the Orgone Accumulator.

Reich postulated that body temperature increased as the sessions progressed and went on to describe a general vagotonic activation resulting from Orgone accumulator use.

Due to content-related aspects and the results of a preliminary experiment, we decided to explore the systematic changes in core body temperature, skin temperature, and heart rate (EKG), although, to our knowledge, the latter two parameters had not yet been scientifically examined in this context.

A longitudinal study was then conducted with 15 volunteers, each of whom volunteered for 20 hours.

As part of this experiment, the physiological variables listed above were continuously recorded during the sessions using an electronic measuring device.

Ten of our subjects underwent ten 30-minute sessions in an Orgone accumulator constructed according to Reich's specifications. They also use an almost identical-looking mock-up on the same scale. This control box was built by us for comparison purposes and consisted only of organic material, but did not differ fundamentally from the original in terms of shape, dimensions and thermal insulation properties.

In addition, five other randomly selected subjects performed all 20 sessions in the same box: three stayed in the Orgone accumulator each time, while two subjects always visited the control box.

To establish a physiological baseline, the test subjects sat down in a comfortable relaxation chair for 15 minutes before the start of each box session. The corresponding physiological data were already recorded during this period of time. In this way, on the one hand, a comparison of the physical reaction patterns between the Orgone accumulator and the dummy was possible; on the other hand, the values obtained during a box session could be related to the previous level of activity in the relaxation chair.

The entire study was designed as a "double-blind experiment" so that neither the subjects nor the experimenters hired specifically for this purpose were informed about the function of the experiment. The subjects’ clothing was standardized, as was the location of the two boxes, the order in which they were used, and the other test modalities.

In contrast to the medical publications mentioned, for example, psychological confounding variables and superposition effects were also taken into account in the present psychological thesis. For this purpose, the subjects were given a questionnaire on their psycho-physiological state at the end of each session and at the end of the entire study. This exploration, like the blinding of all persons involved in carrying out the experiment, served to control the influence of suggestion and auto-suggestion. In this way, the subjective quality of perception of the changes that occurred was determined, while the EKG values also allowed conclusions to be drawn about the psychological state of arousal of the test subjects. Furthermore, physical and meteorological data were continuously collected in order to correlate them with the psycho-physiological values.

The results of the investigation carried out in this way were as follows:

All a priori set-up hypotheses that refer to the fact that there would be no major psycho -physiological changes between the relaxation armchair and the Orgone accumulator session than between relaxation armchairs and control box session, could be rejected with a statistical significance at the 1% level. This means that one can assume with 99% probability that the mentioned physiological variables measured in the Orgone accumulator were subjected to a greater change from the initial level than was the case with the data obtained in the control test.

Both body temperatures showed a significant increase during the stay in the Orgone accumulator.

On the other hand, the interpretation of the EKG behavior caused difficulties, because the heart rate increased between the baseline level and the Orgone accumulator, which at first glance would rather suggest a sympathetic activation. This problem may have resulted from the fact that the EKG had a relatively larger variance and was more susceptible to interference and momentary psychological states, than the more stable body temperatures. It would have to be clarified in follow-up studies to what extent a vagotonic activation may have been overlaid by cognitive processes, nervousness and anxiety. It should be noted, however, that the assumption of vegetative reactions during the accumulator stay was verified as statistically highly significant.

The impression created by the data of the first 10 subjects could tend to be confirmed by the results of the five subjects who only used one of the two boxes, although the number of these subjects was too low in order to be able to interpret the (indeed) significant testing meaningfully.

It is also worth mentioning the occurrence of some other interesting effects, such as the phenomenon that one subject apparently proved to be "resistant" to the potential Orgone accumulator effects, while another subject seemed to be markedly "accumulator-sensitive". This fact was expressed in the two subjects both by their extremely low and high physiological change values, respectively, and by their statements in the questionnaire. The mentioned "accumulator-resistant" person was also the only one, in contrast to the rest of the volunteers, who stated that she usually felt more comfortable in the ‘dummy’ than in the Orgone accumulator.

In general, the results of the questionnaire survey corresponded with the physiological changes that occurred during the sessions.

The evaluation showed that participants also (subjectively) felt more psycho-physiological reactions (e.g. heat sensations, tingling and tingling on the skin, feelings of rest and relaxation) than in the dummy.

Furthermore, a connection between psycho-physiological changes and meteorological-physical processes can be assumed. In the second half of the test series, in the late summer, the physical reactions were more pronounced than in the cold season. In particular, the air pressure prevailing outdoors seemed to be a relatively good predictor of the physiological pattern of progression in the Orgone accumulator. The phenomenon of a constant positive T0 - T-Difference, was confirmed in our study.

The totality of the data showed that the air temperature in the Orgone accumulator differed with a statistical significance on the 1% level from that in the control box.

Overall, the results of our experimental measurements provided some evidence that the physical properties of the Orgone accumulator and its (psycho-) physiological effects on the human organism, postulated by Reich and his co-workers, actually exists.

The extent to which the assumption of a previously unknown biophysical form of energy - the Orgone - is justified as the causative factor of the changes described, should be clarified in more extensive scientific studies.

We hope that further follow-up studies with a larger number of participants, longer duration of experiments, and psycho-diagnostic instruments will clarify one or the other effect, that has not been fully understood so far.

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