Psy 202

19 March 2017

Hypnotic Hyperbole

First, a brief rundown on the history of hypnosis:

The exact origin of hypnosis is unknown, although it is believed it was first

practiced by shaman, religious and cult leaders, medicine men and the like and it

was utilized in ancient Egypt and Greece for healing and medical purposes. In the

late 1700s, a clergyman name Father Gassner reportedly used it to expel demons

from the afflicted and is considered responsible for bringing it to the attention of

modern medicine (Brown, 2007). Around 1840 it was officially named Hypnosis

by James Baird who said it is a, "phenomena due to suggestion alone, acting upon

a subject whose suggestibility had been artificially increased" (Nash & Barnier,

2012).

Even though hypnosis has been very well researched, many facts about it have

been misrepresented. Many people believe that you give up control over your mind

during hypnosis or that you cannot resist the suggestions given by a hypnotist and

that you can be made to do things completely out of your nature. Some think that

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hypnosis is some kind of induced deep trance or altered state of consciousness in

which a person (or at least their mind) is able to be programmed or controlled.

Many also believe that the person being hypnotized could get stuck in a hypnotic

trance and that they would not remember this being done to them. Another

common mis-belief is that only the mentally weak or damaged are able to be

hypnotized and that if you are intelligent enough you cannot be compelled into a

hypnotic state.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint), none of these beliefs

is actually true. Apparently when hypnotized, only the persons body appears to be

asleep or in a trance-like state, their mind is in an alpha state and is fully awake,

fully aware, and in a state of 95%+ concentration (Nash & Barnier, 2012). The

person is really in full control of the situation, most people remember everything

about the hypnotic session the majority of the time, they will not actually say or do

anything that they truly do not want to, and they are still fully able to ultimately

resist any suggestions they so choose.

Hypnosis is merely a mindstate in which the person is more receptive to

suggestions than they usually may be and has absolutely no correlation to

intelligence or mental health (Brown, 2007). Even those who think that they cannot

be hypnotized can be put into hypnotic trance if there is sufficient motivation to do

so provided. In fact, we have all unknowingly experienced hypnosis many, many

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times such as when you daydream, when heavily concentrating on some form of

media, or when thinking about your day at work or school while you are driving

and you miss your turn. Additionally, we focus things in and out of our thoughts all

the time and everyone experiences hypnosis at least twice a day: As we fall asleep

and when we are first awakening (Nash & Barnier, 2012).

Although everyone experiences hypnosis at least twice a day, it is still not very

well understood by the general public. When a person is hypnotized, they do not

have strong experiences or strange feelings like you might think. When a light

hypnotic trance is induced, a person may not even believe they were hypnotized.

Under deeper hypnosis, only slightly more effects are experienced such as; feeling

extremely light, or feeling extremely heavy (Nash & Barnier, 2008). When a

person undergoes hypnosis, they relax, slow their breathing, and they narrow their

attention concentrating on one subject or object. During hypnosis, the person also

experiences disassociation which is a state where part of the mind is separated

from its consciousness (Nash & Barnier, 2008). This is why a hypnotized person is

ultra-susceptible to suggestions or programming and they will believe pretty much

anything you tell them to, and this is done merely with power of suggestion.

There are three different clinical definitions of hypnotization: Self-Hypnosis,

Hetero-Hypnosis, and Auto-Hypnosis (Barrios, 2009). Self-Hypnosis is the act of

inducing hypnosis upon yourself and Hetero-Hypnosis is hypnosis that is induced

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by a hypnotist or other professional and Auto-Hypnosis occurs when your mind is

heavily concentrating on something such as reading or watching a movie causing

extreme focus (Barrios, 2009). Having three different characterizations of this

phenomena may be overkill however, as most experts now consider all hypnosis

self-hypnosis and say that the hypnotist does not create a trance nor do they have

mind control of the subject, they are merely a guide or an aide to the persons

hypnotic experience (Brown, 2007).

While this report has kind of burst the mystical romanticism that hypnosis held for

me, there are many promising and productive uses for hypnotism in use and being

developed every day. It is being used in classrooms to speed up the learning

process, to promote self-esteem, and to help with developmentally disabled

children (Koester & Delisle, 2009). Law enforcement has used it to help witnesses

accurately recall details of events and judges are instituting the use of hypnotic

techniques in their courtrooms (thats kind of scary) (Koester & Delisle, 2009).

The medical field is using it to calm patients and it is even being used in some

surgeries as a replacement for anesthesia (Koester & Delisle, 2009). And probably

the largest, most common use of hypnosis is in the self-help field (Koester &

Delisle, 2009). The mind develops conditioned responses (or reflexes) to stimuli

which develop habits, either good or bad, and hypnosis can be used to replace bad

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habits with positive, helpful suggestions which can help to break them(Koester &

Delisle, 2009)..

While hypnotism is not the mystical, mysterious mind-control practiced by

gypsies, mad scientists, cult leaders, and magicians to create un-wavering minions

to do their bidding, it does have many practical, helpful uses in many facets of

society and I am even more interested in its uses and its practice than I was before.

References:

Barrios, A. (2009). Understanding Hypnosis Theory, Scope and Potential. New

York: Nova Science.

Brown, D. (2007). Tricks of the mind. Channel 4 Books imprint of Transworld

Publishers

Koester, G. D., & Delisle, P. R. (2009). Hypnosis: theories, research and

applications. New York: Nova Science .

Nash, M., & Barnier, Amanda J. (2008). The Oxford handbook of hypnosis :

Theory, research and practice. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.