Hypnosis, << hihp NOH sihs, >> is a temporary condition of altered attention or a heightened state of concentration. A person in such a condition is said to be in a hypnotic state or hypnotic trance state or to be hypnotized. A hypnotist is a person who uses hypnosis. Hypnosis can be useful when it is practiced by a qualified professional. Some doctors, dentists, and therapists use hypnosis in the treatment of patients. Some professionals also use hypnosis to improve people’s performance in such tasks as athletic competition, public speaking, or test-taking.
People have practiced hypnotic techniques since ancient times. At times, various groups have condemned hypnosis, either because of its misuse or because of myths and misconceptions. Such misconceptions include ignorance about the nature of hypnosis, mistaken beliefs about hypnosis, and overstated claims about hypnosis that have no basis in science. Today, many professional organizations accept the use of hypnosis for certain medical or scientific purposes.
The term hypnosis comes from the Greek word hypnos, which means sleep. However, hypnosis is not actually related to sleep. Hypnosis involves a more active and intense mental concentration. Hypnotized people can talk, write, walk, and even give speeches in public. They are usually fully aware of what they do and say.
The nature of hypnosis
Scientists have shown that people experience a hypnotic trance state naturally for short periods several times a day. Daydreaming is an example of this natural state that most people experience.
When properly used by trained professionals, hypnosis can affect psychological, social, and physical experience in good ways. The outcomes of hypnotic treatments can be dramatic. But there is no magic connected with hypnosis, and the hypnotist has no special power. The effects of hypnosis depend on the ability, willingness, and motivation of the person being hypnotized.
A hypnotist uses certain methods to induce (bring about) and guide hypnosis in another person. As people respond to hypnotic methods, their state of attention changes. Various other changes often accompany this change in attention. For example, a person may experience different levels of awareness, consciousness, imagination, memory, and reasoning. The person may become more responsive to suggestions. Physical effects may include blushing, changes in blood flow, relaxation, sweating, temporary paralysis, tensing of muscles, and anesthesia (loss of pain sensation). However, none of the experiences of hypnosis is unique. Some or all of the effects can occur without the use of hypnotic techniques.
Many popular misconceptions arise from public performances of hypnosis. Others come from the misuse of hypnosis by unqualified hypnotists and misrepresentations of hypnosis in literature and movies. People are often first exposed to hypnosis through a magic show or a motion picture. Such presentations often make hypnosis appear simple. Performers often appear to induce a person to outrageous or unusual behaviors.
People once believed that hypnotists could force people to perform criminal acts or other actions against their will. There is no evidence to support this belief. Hypnotized people can resist suggestions. They can distinguish between right and wrong. They do not lose control of their actions.
The hypnotic experience
Some people can go into a hypnotic trance within a few seconds or minutes. Other people cannot be hypnotized easily. Researchers have shown that children can usually enter hypnosis much more easily than can adults. In addition, there are various levels of hypnosis. With light hypnosis, for example, a person usually becomes rested and follows simple directions easily. In deep hypnosis, complete anesthesia may result.
Inducing hypnosis.
Hypnosis can be induced with several techniques. The best-known techniques make use of a series of direct suggestions or directions. These simple directions guide the subject into a different focus of attention. For example, a hypnotist may instruct the subject to focus his or her attention on an object or fixed point, such as a spot on the ceiling. Then the hypnotist tells the subject to relax, to breathe deeply, and to allow the eyelids to grow heavy and to close. Eventually the subject’s attention becomes focused inward. The trance can then be deepened through suggestion. It may seem that the hypnotist has caused a hypnotic state in the subject. But really, it is the subject who achieves hypnosis by following the hypnotist’s instructions.
Many professionals induce hypnosis using verbal and nonverbal techniques that do not involve direct suggestions. Such techniques are known as indirect inductions. They include special breathing patterns and relaxing postures. Indirect inductions usually do not require the subject to focus on a particular object. Instead, the subject responds to a story or a mental puzzle presented by the hypnotist. The hypnotist does not tell the patient to relax or to close his or her eyes. Instead, the hypnotist suggests these actions indirectly through the story or challenging mental activity. This helps subjects to focus their concentration inward.
Hypnotic phenomena.
Some scientists believe that hypnosis is simply a form of role playing in which the subject works to meet the expectations of the hypnotist. But studies show that hypnotized people undergo distinct changes associated with the hypnotic state. A hypnotized person may experience changes in awareness, creative imagination, reasoning, and wakefulness. Physical changes can also be produced. They include changes in blood flow, blood pressure, and heart rate. Other hypnotic phenomena include analgesia (reduced or absent response to pain) and sensations of cold or heat. They also include amnesia (loss of memory) and hypermnesia (improved memory).
Hypermnesia is also associated with the recovery of forgotten memories. People who have a shocking or painful experience sometimes dissociate—that is, block or hide from their conscious thoughts memory material that is associated with painful experiences. Sometimes, the dissociated memory experiences influence the person’s normal behavior and result in certain forms of mental illness. During World War II (1939-1945), for example, people noticed that soldiers occasionally developed amnesia. Hypnosis helped them reclaim lost memory material.
Ending hypnosis
is generally not difficult. A person usually remains in hypnosis until given a signal by the hypnotist. The hypnotist often helps the subject exit hypnosis by counting, repeating suggestions, and using a stronger tone of voice. Sometimes, the subject ends the experience even when no signal is given. Occasionally, a hypnotist may have difficulty ending hypnosis. It is vital that the subject be brought out of hypnosis before resuming usual activities. This is one reason why hypnosis should only be done with trained professionals.
Uses of hypnosis
Modern methods of hypnosis have helped scientists increase their understanding of the human mind and body, and normal and abnormal behavior. Hypnosis is used in research, medicine, and dentistry; and psychotherapy. It is also used in a kind of treatment called psychotherapy (see Psychotherapy).
Enhancing health care.
Health care professionals may use hypnosis to soothe patients who are nervous or in pain. Doctors may use hypnosis as a form of anesthesia. Such use helps patients feel little or no pain while undergoing surgery, childbirth, or painful or frightening medical procedures. Hypnosis can also help prepare people for surgery and for the side effects of anesthesia, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments. It is also used to ease the discomfort of patients recovering from surgery or other medical procedures. In addition, it is used to hasten the healing of burns, fractures, and surgical wounds. The soothing aspect of hypnosis is helpful in the treatment of many chronic illnesses.
Dentists may use hypnosis to help reduce pain for patients. Hypnosis helps the patient remain relaxed and feel comfortable throughout a dental procedure. Dentists may also use hypnosis to help patients maintain good dental habits or to help treat teeth grinding.
Mental health professionals who may use hypnosis include psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, and nurses. Therapists may use hypnosis as the main focus of treatment or as a part of a treatment. Hypnosis is often used to calm anxiety.
Modifying thoughts and behaviors.
In the hypnotic state, people can develop a more objective state of mind. This state enables them to modify their behaviors and learn new ways of thinking. Psychological conditions that may be treated through hypnosis include anxiety, depression, obsessions and compulsions, panic, phobias (fears), stress, and difficulties with problem solving. Hypnotic suggestion can be used to help increase self-esteem and self-confidence.
Hypnosis helps some people control or stop problem habits, such as nail-biting or smoking. Hypnosis can improve learning, reading, sleep, speech problems, sports performance, and behavioral problems.
Many professionals teach and encourage self-hypnosis for their patients. Self-hypnosis is also called autohypnosis. It is used for relaxation, stress management, and pain control. It is also used to break such habits as nail-biting, overeating, and smoking, and for treating phobias, such as fear of flying. Self-hypnosis should be used only after an expert has determined that it is the appropriate treatment. A person should only learn self-hypnosis from a professional instructor.
Enhancing memory.
Mental health professionals have used hypnosis in the treatment of dissociative disorders. These are disorders that involve a loss or change of memory or identity. Professionals may use hypnosis to help patients recall their dissociated experiences. Such treatment can relieve the emotional tensions that result from dissociation.
Hypnosis is not a “truth serum.” Memory experiences recovered under hypnosis may or may not have a basis in reality. Experts have debated the accuracy of memories accessed though hypnosis. They caution that even memory without the use of hypnosis can be fallible. Studies have shown that memories retrieved through hypnosis are often accurate. But caution must always be used in interpreting memory experiences that emerge in a hypnotic state. Such material may be distorted. The material may also represent fantasies or thoughts with other causes, such as physical or mental illness.
Hypnosis has occasionally been used with witnesses and victims of crime. In hypnosis, people may remember important clues. Such clues may include a criminal’s appearance, a license plate number, or another detail that might help solve a crime. However, many scientists believe that the use of hypnosis in legal situations can cause problems. In 1985, the Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association (AMA) reported that memories refreshed through hypnosis may include inaccurate information, false experiences, and confabulation (the creation of imaginary experiences). The report recommended guidelines for the use of hypnosis in legal situations. In 1987, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that in some instances, recollections obtained through hypnosis could be used by defendants as testimony in criminal cases.
Dangers of hypnosis
Hypnosis can only be dangerous if abused or misused. Skill in hypnosis is not a substitute for training in dentistry, medicine, and psychology. People who practice hypnosis need sufficient education and experience to analyze a condition, determine that hypnosis is an appropriate treatment, and evaluate the results. They must also be able to safely bring a subject out of hypnosis.
The AMA requires all physicians who use hypnosis to do so only for purposes related to their special practice. Similar standards have been set for clinical psychologists and dentists. Some physicians, dentists, psychologists, and clinical social workers take special board examinations. These tests certify that the professionals have met qualifications in the use of hypnosis.
History
Throughout history, various cultures have used rituals and techniques that can be described as hypnosis. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks described hypnotic experiences. Such experiences have also been described by tribal cultures, including those in modern times. References to deep sleep and anesthesia appear in the Bible. They are also found in the Talmud, a collection of sacred writings of Judaism.
Mesmerism.
The scientific development of hypnosis can be traced to the efforts of Franz Anton Mesmer during the 1770’s. Mesmer was an Austrian physician. He called his study animal magnetism.
In Mesmer’s time, some people believed that disease developed when invisible magnetic fluids were cut off or improperly distributed. Mesmer used water tubs and magnetic wands to direct the “fluids.” Many of his patients claimed to be cured from this treatment. Many scholars believe that Mesmer used a combination of hypnosis and energy therapies (treatments to change the energy fields of the body) such as acupuncture and reiki, a Japanese technique in which a healer uses his or her hands to transfer healing energy to a person.
In 1784, a French commission studied the claims of Mesmer and his followers. It reported that the magnetic fluids did not exist. It explained the cures as merely a product of the patients’ imagination. Still, many of Mesmer’s patients and students helped spread the belief in animal magnetism. It became known as mesmerism. Students continued to experiment with some of Mesmer’s methods. Some soon found that magnets or wands were unnecessary. The Marquis de Puységur, a French aristocrat and student of Mesmer’s, used hypnosis to diagnose and treat a variety of conditions. He removed it from the theories of animal magnetism. De Puységur is often credited as pioneering true hypnosis. The common belief is that Mesmer initiated the field, but de Puységur was its true founder.
Scientific studies.
The term hypnosis was first used by James Braid. Braid was a British physician who studied suggestion and hypnosis in the mid-1800’s. He pointed out that hypnosis differed from sleep. He also showed that hypnosis was a response in the subject, not the result of a hypnotist’s secret powers as Mesmer had theorized. Perhaps Braid’s most valuable contribution was his attempt to define hypnosis as a scientific phenomenon. During this same period, James Esdaile, a Scottish doctor working in India, began to use hypnosis as an anesthetic in major surgery, including amputations. He performed about 200 operations with the aid of hypnosis.
During the late 1800’s, the French neurologist Jean Martin Charcot performed landmark experiments involving hypnosis. A neurologist is a physician who specializes in diseases of the nervous system. Charcot found that hypnosis relieved many nervous conditions. His clinic for nervous disorders achieved a widespread reputation among scientists of the time, including the French psychologist Alfred Binet, the Austrian physician Sigmund Freud, and the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. Also in the late 1800’s, the French physicians Hippolyte Bernheim and Ambroise-Auguste Liébeault explored the role of suggestibility in hypnosis. They used hypnosis to treat more than 12,000 patients.
Freud was especially interested in the work of Charcot and Bernheim. He used hypnotized people in his early studies of the unconscious. For various reasons, Freud abandoned the use of hypnosis in his clinical practice. However, he continued to view hypnosis as an important research phenomenon.
Several American scientists made important advances in the study of hypnosis during the 1900’s. Morton H. Prince showed that hypnotized people can maintain several mental activities at the same time. Clark L. Hull demonstrated that hypnosis is a form of heightened suggestibility. Milton H. Erickson developed new strategies of hypnosis that emphasized the usefulness of hypnosis in activating many unconscious resources.
Hypnosis was widely used by doctors and psychologists during World War I (1914-1918) and World War II. It was used to treat battle fatigue (now known as post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD) and mental disorders resulting from war. After the wars, scientists found additional uses for hypnosis in clinical treatment. Research studies measured the experience of hypnosis and the ability to enter hypnotic state and to determine the depth of the trance itself. This work contributed to a wider acceptance of the use of hypnosis for treatment of many conditions. The Vietnam War (1957-1975) brought an increased awareness of PTSD. Doctors found hypnosis could be useful in treating PTSD, as well as other conditions that involve mental and physical trauma. See Post-traumatic stress disorder.
Scientific studies of hypnosis have placed it into the mainstream of medicine and psychological science today. Professionals who use hypnosis find that it can be a powerful tool in the treatment of a wide variety of conditions. They often use hypnosis to remove symptoms, to enhance patients’ self-esteem, and to accelerate and enhance treatment.
