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Hypnosis
- Thread starter Ancax
- Start date
Hypnosis can work if you want it to.
Meanwhile "bullshit" stage hypnosis can easily be explained.
The person may not actually be acting. They simply act irrationally because they have an excuse to. Then when they are told to "snap out of it" they convince themselves that they really were not in control of their actions.
Meanwhile "bullshit" stage hypnosis can easily be explained.
The person may not actually be acting. They simply act irrationally because they have an excuse to. Then when they are told to "snap out of it" they convince themselves that they really were not in control of their actions.
i was a skeptic of hypnosis for a looong time but my senoir grad party changed my mind. during the party a hypnotist came to entertain us and i was one of the 15 people chosen to come up on stage and i was definitely hypnotized. the guy explained how it worked extremely well. the first thing he said is that anyone who doesn't want to be hypnotized cant be. there is no walking up to a random person and spinning a gold pendant etc and having a mindslave to do your bidding. you have to be willing to relax and can literally come up whenever you want. it was a really weird sensation for me, i remember everything that happened but it was kind of like i was controlling myself from outside my body. i dont really know how to explain it that well. he also told us that there was no way to make us do something that we were completely opposed to doing. like he couldn't make a girl strip because she would be completely opposed to it (unless she is a dirty, dirty whore lol) or make you kill someone or things like that. basically anything you are morally opposed to. you really have to experience it to understand what its like though. i mean, he convinced me and everyone else that we were martians and could only speak martian and we all acted how we thought a martian would and babbled incoherently, which i definitely wouldn't do on my own haha.
all in all it was a really cool experience and if you have the chance i'd definitely take it
all in all it was a really cool experience and if you have the chance i'd definitely take it
Luckyyyyy. That sounds sweet. I've always been interested in Hypnosis, Psychics, and all that paranormal stuff. =)
Hypnosis is a state of deep relaxation which has unusual properties. One is posthypnotic amnesia, which is not remembering what happened while under hypnosis, and another is posthypnotic suggestion, which is the implantation of a certain way that someone will act upon cessation of the hypnotic state.
There are three major theories of how hypnosis works, although it is not entirely understood. The first is the psychosocial Role Theory, which relies on the idea of Hypnotic Suggestibility. People with high Hypnotic Suggestibility tend to be very imaginative, fantasy-oriented, obedient, and able to concentrate on a single task for an extended period of time. These factors suggest that hypnotism is a social occurrence in that someone under hypnotism is merely acting how they feel a person under hypnosis should act and only following the suggestions of the hypnotist because they believe that they should do so. This accounts for the assertion from Vespa that only people who believe that hypnosis exists can be hypnotized.
Another theory is State Theory, in which researchers believe that hypnosis is a state of consciousness separate from the conscious (what you are immediately aware of), non-conscious (what you aren't aware of but is still occurring: heatbeat, breathing etc.), preconscious (memories you're not accessing, like your mother's maiden name), subconscious (information we're not aware of, but has to exist in memory because of behavioural clues, like mere-exposure effect), unconscious (the Freudian area of the mind where thoughts that are repressed from consciousness live), and sleep. This theory tries to explain why hypnosis has dramatic health benefits in certain people like pain control or why some people's repressed memories from the unconscious mind seem less inhibited during hypnosis than during consciousness, and also how hypnotists are able to control the level of awareness of a hypnotized person. This theory is quite vague.
Ernest Hildegard's Dissociation Theory of hypnosis suggests that hypnosis causes voluntary division of consciousness. This allows one part of consciousness to respond to the hypnotist, while another part, completely unaware of the other, will stay focused on reality. He did an experiment in which he asked hypnotized subjects to dip their arms in a bucket of very cold water. Under hypnosis, the subjects felt no pain until it was suggested by the hypnotist that they should take their arm out of the water if they felt any pain.
There are three major theories of how hypnosis works, although it is not entirely understood. The first is the psychosocial Role Theory, which relies on the idea of Hypnotic Suggestibility. People with high Hypnotic Suggestibility tend to be very imaginative, fantasy-oriented, obedient, and able to concentrate on a single task for an extended period of time. These factors suggest that hypnotism is a social occurrence in that someone under hypnotism is merely acting how they feel a person under hypnosis should act and only following the suggestions of the hypnotist because they believe that they should do so. This accounts for the assertion from Vespa that only people who believe that hypnosis exists can be hypnotized.
Another theory is State Theory, in which researchers believe that hypnosis is a state of consciousness separate from the conscious (what you are immediately aware of), non-conscious (what you aren't aware of but is still occurring: heatbeat, breathing etc.), preconscious (memories you're not accessing, like your mother's maiden name), subconscious (information we're not aware of, but has to exist in memory because of behavioural clues, like mere-exposure effect), unconscious (the Freudian area of the mind where thoughts that are repressed from consciousness live), and sleep. This theory tries to explain why hypnosis has dramatic health benefits in certain people like pain control or why some people's repressed memories from the unconscious mind seem less inhibited during hypnosis than during consciousness, and also how hypnotists are able to control the level of awareness of a hypnotized person. This theory is quite vague.
Ernest Hildegard's Dissociation Theory of hypnosis suggests that hypnosis causes voluntary division of consciousness. This allows one part of consciousness to respond to the hypnotist, while another part, completely unaware of the other, will stay focused on reality. He did an experiment in which he asked hypnotized subjects to dip their arms in a bucket of very cold water. Under hypnosis, the subjects felt no pain until it was suggested by the hypnotist that they should take their arm out of the water if they felt any pain.
It's only got 60% accuracy, don't trust it.
...Seriously though, I believe that it can work but that it can be dangerous. I mean what if it's a dude and he hypnotizes you into boning him? :(
...Seriously though, I believe that it can work but that it can be dangerous. I mean what if it's a dude and he hypnotizes you into boning him? :(
Perhaps you need to actually read the other posts in the thread before posting such a ridiculous concern. Hypnosis is not something that will get you an army of mind slaves. A hypnotist can't force you to do something you find repulsive.
While I was doing medical work experience, I had a session where I was observing an anesthetist doing a pain clinic. This clinic was basically for patients with any kind of chronic pain, be it after some kind of trauma or even post-op pain, and if the source of the pain wasn't obvious, they came here. He had a wide range of therapies, and one of the things he used was hypnosis.
One of the patients that came while I was there was a police diver. He used to search rivers for bodies, etc, but on one of his dives he suddenly and unexplainably got a severe headache and had to come up. The headache didn't abate for days afterwards, and no one could say what the reason behind it was. So he started coming to the pain clinic to see the anesthetist there, and they began hypnosis sessions together. When I saw him at the clinic it was his fourth or fifth session there so the diver had a good grasp of how it worked. Basically the patient lay down on the bed, and the lights were turned off, and as much sound as possible was blocked out of the room.
Then the doctor began to speak to the patient, continuously and monotonously, telling him to feel every part of his body with his mind, imagine a warm feeling engulfing his entire body, picture some far off calm place from his childhood or somewhere he visited on holiday, etc. After about 5 minutes of the doctor talking, the patient was completely in a trance, and then the doctor showed me how he could use hypnotic suggestion while the patient was in this state, and got the patient to rub his stomach with his left hand and various other movements. I was quite amazed because this was my first encounter with real hypnosis; I'd thought it was just some stage trick before, but I saw that the patient was really in a state in which he would do almost everything the doctor would ask him to, and not remember any of it when he woke up. Surprisingly this hypnosis therapy helped the diver get rid of his hounding headache for a week or so afterwards, and so he continued having these sessions with the doctor.
One of the patients that came while I was there was a police diver. He used to search rivers for bodies, etc, but on one of his dives he suddenly and unexplainably got a severe headache and had to come up. The headache didn't abate for days afterwards, and no one could say what the reason behind it was. So he started coming to the pain clinic to see the anesthetist there, and they began hypnosis sessions together. When I saw him at the clinic it was his fourth or fifth session there so the diver had a good grasp of how it worked. Basically the patient lay down on the bed, and the lights were turned off, and as much sound as possible was blocked out of the room.
Then the doctor began to speak to the patient, continuously and monotonously, telling him to feel every part of his body with his mind, imagine a warm feeling engulfing his entire body, picture some far off calm place from his childhood or somewhere he visited on holiday, etc. After about 5 minutes of the doctor talking, the patient was completely in a trance, and then the doctor showed me how he could use hypnotic suggestion while the patient was in this state, and got the patient to rub his stomach with his left hand and various other movements. I was quite amazed because this was my first encounter with real hypnosis; I'd thought it was just some stage trick before, but I saw that the patient was really in a state in which he would do almost everything the doctor would ask him to, and not remember any of it when he woke up. Surprisingly this hypnosis therapy helped the diver get rid of his hounding headache for a week or so afterwards, and so he continued having these sessions with the doctor.
Hypnosis is interesting. In Richard Feynmann's autobiography "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynmann!" he recounts a time when he had been hypnotized by a professional hypnotist in a show at an auditorium somewhere. He says he was skeptic, but before he'd been brought back to full awareness, the hypnotist said he would go back to his seat in the auditorium by walking around the whole room, rather than straight to the seat. Feynmann gets up, and begins walking straight back, but then says an uneasy, annoying feeling comes over him and he decides to walk the whole way around to his seat. He says he believes it may have something to do with the brain saying "I could do what I want if I really wanted to, but I'm not going to," if I remember correctly.
There is a Youtube.com channel called jnspire if you're curious. Search it up, he's got plenty of good videos. http://www.youtube.com/user/jnspire. I dunno if I was really hypnotized by the videos though. I'm the only one who I believe it even may have worked on. I only went through a few. But it's relaxing more than anything. I watched one once and found I was asleep afterwords. Or was I? Perhaps I had just become aware from being in the unconscious hypnotized state, but it seemed like I'd been out for hours. All the other times I tried the videos, I was aware the whole time but I was really relaxed and unusually focused.
I googled how to hypnotize a person two years ago and tried it on all of my classmates. I took a bunch of different methods and tried to implement a lot of ideas together. I copied a bunch of jnspire's stuff to try on my friends but it never really worked. However, it still is a very interesting field of study. I really want to finally really succeed just to say I'm able to hypnotize a person, but it's difficult as a person just looking for a neat trick.
There is a Youtube.com channel called jnspire if you're curious. Search it up, he's got plenty of good videos. http://www.youtube.com/user/jnspire. I dunno if I was really hypnotized by the videos though. I'm the only one who I believe it even may have worked on. I only went through a few. But it's relaxing more than anything. I watched one once and found I was asleep afterwords. Or was I? Perhaps I had just become aware from being in the unconscious hypnotized state, but it seemed like I'd been out for hours. All the other times I tried the videos, I was aware the whole time but I was really relaxed and unusually focused.
I googled how to hypnotize a person two years ago and tried it on all of my classmates. I took a bunch of different methods and tried to implement a lot of ideas together. I copied a bunch of jnspire's stuff to try on my friends but it never really worked. However, it still is a very interesting field of study. I really want to finally really succeed just to say I'm able to hypnotize a person, but it's difficult as a person just looking for a neat trick.
Hypnosis can work if the person performing it knows what they're doing. Also, contrary to popular belief - if you are hypnotized, you will still be fully aware of what's going on.
Yep it's true, it was actually a myth on the show mythbusters if you want to look into it (well, the myth was if you remember events better while hypnotized, which is came up confirmed).
Although, some percentage of the population cannot be hypnotized. (10% if I recall correctly)
Although, some percentage of the population cannot be hypnotized. (10% if I recall correctly)
"Can't" it think is a bit of a misleading word. I would think that everyone can be hypnotized, although some people are easy to force into relaxation and others aren't. Social compliance, mental tension, subconscious doubt, etc, are probably factors of whether it's easier to hypnotize or not.
I've met people who attempted to be hypnotized by a professional during a show, and they say it didn't work. It was most likely that they are just harder to hypnotize than others.
I'd like to see, since most psychologists say social compliance is a big factor, whether autism or other similar "disorders," if you want to use the word, affect the ability to be hypnotized.
However, hypnotism is really obsolete for the most part. The wanted effects can be obtained with simple medications, according to one psychologist (a family friend) I talked to. It's good for shows and is interesting, but a few pills can fix a person's head better in clinical use. Not any pills in any doses, but prescribed specific medication can do the trick more efficiently. I dunno if it has anything to do with street drugs which can make you high, whether it's a similar effect or what, but meh.
I've met people who attempted to be hypnotized by a professional during a show, and they say it didn't work. It was most likely that they are just harder to hypnotize than others.
I'd like to see, since most psychologists say social compliance is a big factor, whether autism or other similar "disorders," if you want to use the word, affect the ability to be hypnotized.
However, hypnotism is really obsolete for the most part. The wanted effects can be obtained with simple medications, according to one psychologist (a family friend) I talked to. It's good for shows and is interesting, but a few pills can fix a person's head better in clinical use. Not any pills in any doses, but prescribed specific medication can do the trick more efficiently. I dunno if it has anything to do with street drugs which can make you high, whether it's a similar effect or what, but meh.
Speaking from a Neurologist's point of view, I can say in great confidence that hypnosis does exist. What Phizzlax said is true, as in some people are "immune" to hypnotising. The Human brain tends to be more complex than other animals (chickens can be hypnotised with a watch strap in about 15 seconds), and every brain is different. Which is why some people can do a lot of commands, others less, and some none.
To put it basically, you are put in a semi-coma (or deep sleep) whilst still awake. Your brain can then react accordingly to instructions that have been given. This is how people will follow a set of instructions and dogs won't. Unless you can communicate with the "sleeping" subject, it will just stand there, appearing asleep. So toddlers with little english can't be hypnotised.
Also, self-preservation normally comes before these commands, which is why most people won't stab themselves while under, and most people will come out of the "trance" is hurt. However, as I said before, some people could kill themselves (this is very rare) because their subconscious self is more obedient or manipulative.
To put it basically, you are put in a semi-coma (or deep sleep) whilst still awake. Your brain can then react accordingly to instructions that have been given. This is how people will follow a set of instructions and dogs won't. Unless you can communicate with the "sleeping" subject, it will just stand there, appearing asleep. So toddlers with little english can't be hypnotised.
Also, self-preservation normally comes before these commands, which is why most people won't stab themselves while under, and most people will come out of the "trance" is hurt. However, as I said before, some people could kill themselves (this is very rare) because their subconscious self is more obedient or manipulative.
I've been into Hypnosis for a while, it's really interesting. I put myself into an unconscious state of mine quite a bit, to relieve stress, or just because it makes you feel good inside. There's a few things you should know though.
At shows, the volunteer will always go with the flow, even if the trick didn't work. For example, if the hypnotist wanted her to wall asleep while looking at Metronome, the volunteer would make it look like he/she would be asleep, even though he/she wasn't. It really is a partnership activity too, someone can't perform Hypnosis on someone unless they're willing to do it.
Also, in hypnosis, in all 3 of the trances, hypnotists CANNOT make their volunteer do something they don't want to do. So, to the person who said a hypnotist made someone kill themselves, that person must've had a death wish.
You should look at a few youtube videos on Hypnosis (ones that are on how to hypnotize yourself), they actually work well, and are calming and soothing to the body.
At shows, the volunteer will always go with the flow, even if the trick didn't work. For example, if the hypnotist wanted her to wall asleep while looking at Metronome, the volunteer would make it look like he/she would be asleep, even though he/she wasn't. It really is a partnership activity too, someone can't perform Hypnosis on someone unless they're willing to do it.
Also, in hypnosis, in all 3 of the trances, hypnotists CANNOT make their volunteer do something they don't want to do. So, to the person who said a hypnotist made someone kill themselves, that person must've had a death wish.
You should look at a few youtube videos on Hypnosis (ones that are on how to hypnotize yourself), they actually work well, and are calming and soothing to the body.
I remember at the end of this hypnotist show the hypnotist said that every time you say "how was the show" to the recently hypnotized audience members, they would respond by say something along the lines of "it was great, it was fantastic, it was like cats in a bag".
My buddy was one of those recently hypnotized people so I asked him "how was the show" and he responded by saying that phrase. I said the trigger phrase again RIGHT after... and again he repeated his response phrase. I tried it again and it worked, again. On the fourth try he was half way through and then he started stuttering as he was saying the phrase and then said, "what the hell am I talking about?"
It worked on a bunch of other people who did the same thing too. I also knew many personally, so it definitely wasn't staged.
HYPNOTISM IS REAL
My buddy was one of those recently hypnotized people so I asked him "how was the show" and he responded by saying that phrase. I said the trigger phrase again RIGHT after... and again he repeated his response phrase. I tried it again and it worked, again. On the fourth try he was half way through and then he started stuttering as he was saying the phrase and then said, "what the hell am I talking about?"
It worked on a bunch of other people who did the same thing too. I also knew many personally, so it definitely wasn't staged.
HYPNOTISM IS REAL
At a Christmas work party like 9 years ago we had a hypnotist who did one of the group sessions. I was hypnotized along with the group. Honestly, it works, but only as long as you let yourself be open to the suggestions. That's why a hypnotist could never force you to do anything that you find morally reprehensible, because your higher brain functions (or superego, or conscience, or brain failsafe, or whatever you want to call it) kicks in and you wake up. Contrary to what pokemon will have you believe, hypnosis is a voluntary process :P