Have you ever been hypnotized?
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Now, but I'd like to give it a try, see for myself if it's possible (unless it doesn't work on me, then oh well).
I actually know a good hypnotist. Grew up in the same area. Taught me a few things, too.
http://www.lucashandwerker.com/
And yes, that is his actual name. He once told me that, when over at a friends house, he ended up hypnotizing the kid into learning shit from an encyclopedia. Even he was surprised.
Do I sound like I'm advertising?
http://www.lucashandwerker.com/
And yes, that is his actual name. He once told me that, when over at a friends house, he ended up hypnotizing the kid into learning shit from an encyclopedia. Even he was surprised.
Do I sound like I'm advertising?
I don't think hypnotism works.
I've heard from people who believe in it that it won't make anyone do something that they don't want to do, and perhaps it's possible that, being someone who wants proof, I take the opposite position of a person trying to do hypnosis and not wanting to do anything they tell me to do so that, if I do it, I know it wasn't of my own volition. My guess, however, is that it 'works' on stage mostly due to people wanting to play along. they know it's not really working, but they want it to work, so in the end, it does to some extent.
As for the hypnosis regarding, say, addiction rehab, my guess is that it's mostly due to the placebo effect.
I've heard from people who believe in it that it won't make anyone do something that they don't want to do, and perhaps it's possible that, being someone who wants proof, I take the opposite position of a person trying to do hypnosis and not wanting to do anything they tell me to do so that, if I do it, I know it wasn't of my own volition. My guess, however, is that it 'works' on stage mostly due to people wanting to play along. they know it's not really working, but they want it to work, so in the end, it does to some extent.
As for the hypnosis regarding, say, addiction rehab, my guess is that it's mostly due to the placebo effect.
i imagine that got a big laugh from the audienceCAPTCHA said:
OT: ive never experienced it personally but ive seen it done like at a show and on youtube videos, it looks cool but im always skeptical that maybe that person was a plant.
But i would never let someone do it to me cause me paranoid that they might do something to me while im under
So... you do believe in hypnosis then?Mr F. said:
A few years back I took an introductory course in hypnotherapy, so during the practice I was both hypnotised and practiced hypnotising other people. We didn't do any outrageous stage-hypnosis stuff like pretending to be chickens, practice mostly focused on inducing a relaxed state, guided imagery, and waking up - but that's the "sandwich" within which you'd try to implant happy thoughts, or an aversion to cigarettes, or whatever.
It was very interesting. Being put under myself, sometimes it felt like lucid dreaming - you know, when you're dreaming but also in control of what person pops up next or what you see when you walk through a door. Other times I'd go completely under and not remember any details unless I was reminded afterwards, and then I'd be like "oh yeah, shit, that happened, didn't it?".
Putting others through the induction process is, for the most part, a very long, drawn-out, and intentionally tedious process. Like some other people have said it starts off pretty much the same as relaxing yourself to go to sleep, or meditation - basically "letting go" of your inner monologue and allowing free association to happen. I did a basic induction on my brother and he said that initially he found this part very twee and difficult to "play along" with, it was only when he allowed himself to suspend his disbelief that he started to experience the guided imagery.
The cynics in the room might well jump up now and say "A-ha! So it IS just placebo!" but it's really not the same thing at all. The person being hypnotised needs to be complicit, but once that's in place, they're not "pretending" or "imagining" in a second-hand manner (like you might remember a smell or imagine a taste), they're actually experiencing the suggested or self-generated stimuli in real-time and in a way that's much more vivid than dreaming.
So, Myth Busters time: an unwilling person (or somebody who doesn't understand what's being said to them) can't be hypnotised. Intelligence isn't really a factor (beyond having a good enough vocabulary to understand the hypnotist, but this is partly also the hypnotist's responsibility), imagination is much more important. Also, I'm fairly skeptical and I don't believe some of the more "out there" claims of some hypnotists. For example, one of the touted benefits of hypnosis is hypermnesia, or greatly improved memory and recall. Personally I think that's bullshit, somebody under hypnosis is more likely to just imagine details in a self-generating way rather than magically remember details they didn't notice first time round. Some spiritually-minded hypnotists also believe that hypnotism is a gateway to past-life experiences, but again I think this is bunk.
You make an assertion there I would simply not agree with. No, I do not believe in hypnosis, but I do believe that some people believe in hypnosis and this might cause them to enter a state that could be described as hypnotised. Some people believe that magical water with statistically negligible amounts of crap in it might be able to heal them and as a result get better.Batou667 said:
Sure, people might enter a state in which they are suggestible to random shit. I just do not believe that such a state is anything more than someone being rather suggestible. Nothing more. You can talk people into a lot, talk people through a lot, talking can do that. Talking can calm someone down and make them feel all gooey inside. But Hypnotism and Hypnotherapy?
Meh.
I simply cannot get my mind around either. My own explanations (Expectations of the person being hypnotised, expectations of the one doing the hypnotism) just make more sense to me. It is significantly easier for me to swallow hypnotism as smoke and mirrors combined with CBT then for me to accept hypnotism as a valid "Thing".
And once you get past stage-hypnotism and start to refer to it as a clinical tool? Well, it shows no higher success rate than other talking therapies, it shows no higher ability to influence behaviour than other talking therapies so, overall, I believe it should be ignored.
Sorry if I am coming across as a penis. Perhaps it is down to the type of person who believes in hypnotism. As you mentioned, the outlandish claims are there. Until such a time as it is distanced from crystals, past lives, aroma therapy and other such bullshit I simply cannot take it seriously. Actually, scratch that. I cannot take it seriously on any level. Sorry.
I tried once, but the guy pulled me out after a few minutes. And I was totally ready to be hypnotized, too! I looked forward to it all night. Kind of a let-down.
One of my friends was hypnotized at another hypnotist show, though. I believe that she was hypnotized, in that she did as she was told and didn't remember it afterward. I highly doubt that she was a plant.
One of my friends was hypnotized at another hypnotist show, though. I believe that she was hypnotized, in that she did as she was told and didn't remember it afterward. I highly doubt that she was a plant.
No worries, hypnotism makes big claims and you'd be a mug not to have questions.Mr F. said:
It's exactly as you said: hypnotism works because the person being hypnotised allows it to happen (but not simply because "they believe in it"). What you'd call a "hypnotic state" is something you probably do yourself all the time but by accident and in a non-purposeful way. Have you ever relaxed to the point where your body felt distant, or even disembodied? Have you ever daydreamed? Have you ever had a dream where you get to control what you say and do, and can influence what happens next (lucid dreaming), possibly even with the knowledge that you're asleep and therefore you can make the rules? That's pretty much "all" hypnotherapy is.
Where hypnotherapy differs from a simple placebo is the fact that it isn't just reliant on a positive attitude and then confirmation bias when your complaints eventually go away on their own (although actually it's common for a hypnotherapy session to end with a "feel-good" suggestion, simply because positive reinforcement is much more effective than negative reinforcement alone). Unlike crystals and ear candles and sticking pins in yourself, hypnotherapy can have immediate and effective results. It's often used for lessening phobias (fear of flying, spiders, etc), or to induce a negative association (like feeling a revulsion towards cigarettes, or feeling fuller quicker during a meal). If there's any kind of "placebo" or "self-fulfilling prophesy" present, it's the fact that the person has sought out hypnotherapy in the first place and had therefore laid the foundations for change. Same basic rule as ever: you can't hypnotise an unwilling individual.
I wish hypnotherapy would lose its (mis)associations with the mystical and magical too, because honestly it's neither. I also wish it was regulated in some way, as some hypnotherapists try to make their therapy "multi-disciplinary" by bringing in bullshit like numerology and Reiki, or making grandiose claims like hypnotherapy being able to cure serious physical conditions, which frankly adds to public misunderstanding and makes genuine, clinical hypnotherapists look bad by association. Unfortunately hypnotherapy really is still in its infancy and there's no recognised qualification or regulatory body in the UK - literally anybody can claim to be a hypnotherapist, regardless of how proficient they are or if they're an absolute quack. I have no idea if there's any more regulation or recognition in other Western countries.
Never been hypnotised, but I believe its possible. Not in the magic, mystic, telepathic way, just in that you can lure people into a suggestible state and get them to follow orders. The Derren Brown approach, in other words
Book-wise, I can recommend the "textbook" we used during the beginner's course.Katatori-kun said:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hypnosis-Change-Josie-Hadley/dp/8178220296
There really are no prerequisites (although arguably there should be) - you could teach yourself without too much difficulty and then take turns practising on a willing friend.