Even though hypnosis has been around for over two hundred years, there is still no full explanation as to how it actually works. When hypnotized, a person’s actions are fully controlled by another – we can see them doing it, but we don’t understand why they are following the commands in the way that they do. How the human brain works is largely a mystery, even in today’s world of modern science and psychology.
Hypnosis then is largely a mystery also, and is usually just owed to a clever use of psychological tricks and covert persuasion. When a person is hypnotized, they are placed in a trace like state, and are usually recognized by the person’s sharpened imagination, extreme relaxation, and suggestibility. The person is not asleep, they are fully awake and alert, but in an altered state of consciousness. Some people compare hypnosis to daydreaming, or getting lost in thought.
It is often considered that such everyday activities such as watching a movie or getting lost in a book are comparable to hypnosis. After all, these often leave us in a relaxed and trance like state of mind, where our full attention is given to just one thing. Some people describe these types of activities as ‘self hypnosis’ – in other words, the act of hypnotizing yourself.
When you are under hypnosis in the conventional sense of the word, what you are told by the hypnotist becomes reality for you. For example, if he tells you that your foot is broken, then you may experience a pain in your foot and will not be able to walk on it. If the hypnotist tells you that you are currently eating a vanilla ice cream, then you would be able to feel the sensation of it in your mouth and sliding down your throat. If he tells you that the temperature is hot or cold, then you would feel that, too. Under hypnosis, people usually feel extremely relaxed and without inhibitions.
It is believed that this is because any conscious worries the person carries are forgotten about whilst hypnotized. Because of this relaxation that is brought about under hypnosis, hypnotism is used as a form of therapy for many things. For instance, it is now becoming a more widespread therapy for people suffering with anxieties and other mental illness and anguishes. It is also a very common practice for people who are trying to get over addictions. Hypnosis is now a very popular method that is used to aid stopping smoking. The hypnotist will make you believe that you do not want to smoke, and after enough time, it is believed that you will carry that belief into your conscious mind, too.
Hypnosis makes you very susceptible to many things – essentially, you are fully in the hypnotist’s control – as you are very suggestible, they can tell you to do practically anything, and in your altered state of consciousness, you can be made to do anything at all. Some people are scared by this idea, believing it to be a gross loss of control, but more and more people are embracing hypnosis as a modern therapy.