Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness into which a person enters voluntarily. It is usually accompanied by feelings of deep relaxation. When the mind and body are calm and relaxed and the subject is in a trancelike state, the suggestions given by a hypnotist pass directly into the subject’s consciousness and are much more likely to be accepted.

Hypnosis: An Ancient Practice

Hypnosis is an ancient practice that has employed the use of drumming, chanting, and dancing for the purpose of healing. Its scientific history, however, began in the latter part of the 18th century with Franz Mesmer, a Viennese physician, who used it for the treatment of patients. Mesmerism, as it was then named after him, continued to interest medical men and extensive use was made of it by a number of clinicians, without adequate recognition of its nature.

In the middle of the 19th century, the English physician James Braid studied this phenomenon and coined the terms hypnotism and hypnosis. Thereafter, many scientifically trained people studied hypnosis, but it was not until after World War I that much progress was made, and the re-educative possibilities afforded by hypnosis were recognised. In the mid-1950s, both the British and American medical associations formally approved its medical use.

How Hypnosis Works

Hypnosis is a state of consciousness which lies between being awake and being asleep. Usually accompanied by a feeling of deep relaxation, hypnosis can often result in physical and psychological changes in a person’s emotions, sensations, and imagination.

Hypnosis is essentially a ‘consent’ state. To be susceptible to hypnosis a subject must have a certain degree of trust in the hypnotist and willingness to put aside any resistance. The hypnotist acts primarily as a guide to the subject, giving simple instructions, which when followed, lead the subject gradually into a trance.

Hypnosis can be induced in all normal persons under suitable conditions, as also in many persons suffering from various forms of functional disorders.

When the mind and body are calm and relaxed, the suggestions given by a hypnotist pass directly into the subject’s consciousness and are more likely to be accepted. For this reason, there must be a prior agreement between the subject and the therapist about the nature of the suggestions to be given. It is particularly important that the instructions are given in a calming, reassuring, and positive manner, because in some instances, unpleasant and unsettling memories and feelings might be brought to the surface of the mind during the course of treatment.

It is often much easier to explore disturbing aspects of one’s life in hypnosis than in the normal waking state because the resistance or critical censor, which the mind normally imposes on such material, is in abeyance. In such hypno-analysis, the therapist must have considerable skill, sensitivity, and knowledge to be able to conduct safe and effective treatment.

Treatment Techniques

A popular image of the hypnotist at work, has the subject looking at a pendulum or a swinging watch, or gazing into the hypnotist’s eyes. These techniques and others have been used in the past and may still be in use. What is important about any method is that it should focus the attention of the subject and exclude distractions. Most modern hypnotists use a wide variety of methods. For example, the subject may be asked to count backwards from, say 300, or to gaze at a fixed spot on the ceiling. Often, however, it is sufficient for the subject to sit and listen to the hypnotist’s suggestions. By following these suggestions, the subject allows himself to be guided into an altered state of intense but narrow concentration.

In a willing and cooperative subject, a trusted operator can progressively, persuasively, and repetitiously suggest relaxation, eye closure, loss of interest in externalities, and an increasingly absorbing interest in inner experiential processes, until the subject can function with increased adequacy at the level of unconscious awareness.

Individuals vary considerably in their susceptibility to hypnosis. About 20-30 per cent of the general population has a high enough susceptibility for easy induction of trance. Such people are, therefore, suitable subjects for repeated treatments or anaesthesia. About 10 per cent of most populations are found to be unsusceptible. Susceptibility is higher among women than among men Children, aged 9-10 years have been found to be mos susceptible to hypnosis; thereafter, their susceptibilit; steadily declines.

Once hypnosis is induced, further procedures depend upon the therapeutic indication. Analgesia and anaesthesia, for example, are induced by simple suggestion, and reinforced usually by painful stimuli such as a pinprick. The therapist may also induce profound muscular relaxation, changes in the heart rate, respiration, circulation, and gastric secretion. It is relatively easy to produce post-hypnotic amnesia for events experienced during or shortly before hypnosis. Finally, the therapist may re-establish a complex, experimental psychophysiological state from the patient’s past, going as far back as infancy.

After having achieved his goal, the therapist simply ‘commands’ the patient to return to his normal state, using a series of discrete steps. A state of alertness and well-being is usually suggested to follow hypnosis.
The subject is not, as is sometimes wrongly believed, without will power, or under the power of the hypnotist. Instead, the relationship between the subject and the hypnotist is one of interpersonal co-operation based upon mutually acceptable and reasonable considerations. Hence the subject cannot be forced, as a function of hypnosis itself, to do things against his will, as is sometimes claimed. He can be aided in achieving possible and desired goals, but frequent failures in hypnotherapy prove the limitations of hypnosis in accomplishing even desired goals.

Treatment is carried out in private quiet surroundings, free from interruption. The therapist gives repetitive verbal suggestions designed to encourage the patient to relax, listen, become drowsy, and close his eyes. This is followed by the suggestion that the subject’s arms and legs have become heavy and, therefore, difficult to move. Thereafter the therapist suggests to the patient that he will experience sensations such as cold, tingling, numbness and warmth, and that his arms or legs will move involuntarily. At this stage, a critical point is reached when the therapist challenges the by saying that his eyes will remain closed however hard he may try to open them. Beyond this stage, the therapist usually does not have to repeat stimuli to induce suggestions or deepen hypnosis. Individuals can be trained to hypnotise themselves or respond rapidly to a simple hypnotic stimulus.

Precautions and Prospects

Hypnosis should not be used in patients suffering from psychosis, mental disorders, or antisocial personality disorders. Some patients experience anxiety and disorientation following hypnosis.

Hypnosis is used in a wide variety of conditions and is sometimes used in combination with other forms of treatment. It is used to prepare healthy individuals such as athletes, university students, and mountaineers to face stressful challenges. Hypnosis also helps individuals to overcome addictive tendencies like cigarette smoking and alcoholism.

The conscious control of certain autonomic functions is facilitated by hypnosis and this has led to its use in various autonomic disturbances such as pathological blushing, irregular or rapid heart beats (technically sinus bradycardia, ventricular ectopics, sinus arrhythmias), appetite loss, excessive appetite, excessive sweating, and frequent defecation or urination (without underlying pathological causes).

One of the most important uses of hypnosis is in the management of various psychosomatic illnesses, that is, conditions in which pathological bodily changes occur as a result of the patient’s emotional state. These conditions include asthma, migraines, tension headaches, and dermatological complaints like urticaria. Prolonged hypnotic states are sometimes used to control gastric and duodenal ulcers, hypertension, and some forms of cardiac disease. Hypnosis is also successfully applied as a treatment for stammering and sexual dysfunctions, including vaginismus, impotence, and premature ejaculation.

Since subjects under hypnosis are able to ventilate feelings and recall experiences which are normally repressed, hypnosis is used as an adjunct to psychotherapy. It is claimed that by facilitating the ventilation of repressed memories and feelings, hypnosis can dramatically shorten classical forms of psychoanalysis for the treatment of neurosis and personality disorders. More dramatic and immediately effective is the use of hypnosis in abreactive therapy, that is, the free expression and consequent release of a previously repressed emotion. Patients suffering from hysterical conversion symptoms such as paralysis, blindness, or mutism due to an unusually frightening, stressful, or painful event, can relive the experience under hypnosis and react in an explosive and cathartic manner, giving vent to the feelings which have been repressed. Following such abreaction, the hysterical symptoms usually disappear, either permanently or temporarily.

Hypnosis is also an effective technique for controlling pain and inducing anaesthesia. Autohypnosis can be taught to women during their pregnancy and used to alleviate pain and promote relaxation during labour. Some surgical procedures such as dental extractions, mastectomy, caesarian sections, simple gynaecological procedures and thyroidectomy can be carried out under hypnotic anaesthesia. Various forms of chronic pain can be managed by hypnosis: cases of severe burns, trigeminal neuralgia, spinal cord compression, and the terminal stages of cancer.

Now You Know

In the 1950s, hypnosis was approved of by the British and American Medical Associations for healing, though its practice existed years ago. Used mostly as an adjunct to other treatment, it has a scientific basis but does not help in prevention of disease.

There must be an excellent rapport between the hypnotist and the subject, else, the treatment cannot succeed. Often adequate as a single mode of treatment in overcoming stress, bad habits, and psychosomatic problems, it cannot, however, be used for life-threatening conditions and should be undertaken only after medical advice.