Hypnosis has had a checkered history. Ever since the Austrian physician Franz Anton Mesmer took Paris by storm with his demonstrations of "magnetic influence" in the 1780s, its reputation has suffered at the hands of entertainers and fraudsters. Yet the evidence strongly suggests that hypnosis is a genuinely altered state of consciousness, with real clinical applications.
Hypnosis is not well understood, though it has been known in one form or another for almost two hundred years. It appears to be a state of deep relaxation in which the subject is highly susceptible to suggestions made by the hypnotist.
The word "hypnosis" was coined in the early 19th century by the British surgeon James Braid, who was the first to subject the phenomenon to serious examination. Some researchers view hypnosis as a trance state while others have analyzed it in terms of classical or instrumental conditioning. Social psychologists have discussed it in terms of modeling or role playing, suggesting that "hypnotized" individuals are simply acting out the behaviours expected of them. As evidence for this, they point out that most of if not all of the feats performed under hypnosis can be performed just as well when the subject is not hypnotized. Some subjects may be simply pretending.
Braid originally proposed that hypnosis was a form of "nervous sleep", similar to natural sleep, caused by brain fatigue resulting from sustained concentration on the voice or actions of a hypnotist. But in his later studies, Braid noticed that subjects would continue to hold on to objects after hypnosis: their muscles did not relax as in normal sleep. In the light of such evidence, he played down the importance of physiology, and suggested that hypnotism was essentially psychological. Modern studies show that the brain waves of hypnotized subjects are much like those of the waking state.
When subjects are hypnotized, they can speak, walk and carry out instructions. Yet there are some noticeable changes from from normal consciousness: attention becomes very selective, with the subject ignoring everything but the hypnotist's voice; the subject rarely initiates thought or activity, but waits for suggestions from the hypnotist; and fantastic ideas or situations are more readily accepted as reality. So what then is the curious state of hypnosis? American psychologist Arnold Waxman defines it as "an altered state of consciousness effected by total concentration on the voice of the therapist": it is almost as if th ewilling, relaxed subject relinquishes control over part of his or her consciousness to the hypnotist. Others argue that hypnosis is no more than a form of role playing, the result of social pressure to cooperate with the hypnotist. However, they struggle somewhat to explain either post-hypnotic suggestibility or the way in which hypnosis can evoke valid memories, two phenomena that suggest that the hypnotic trance is an altered state of consciousness.
The "classic" method of hypnotism is to put a subject into a relaxed frame of mind and ask him or her to concentrate on an object, such as a swinging pocket watch. But even this is not necessary. One of the early researchers into hypnosis, George Estabrooks, made a recording of the verbal instructions usually given to hypnotize subjects, intending to play them to a group of volunteers. Unfortunately, Estabrooks played the wrong record, exposing the group to Swiss yodelling. He found to his amazement that one of the subjects feel into a deep hypnotic trance. This story reveals that some people are far more easily hypnotized than others. There are no measurable differences between teh susceptibility of men and women, or between people of different ages(except children aged between 8 and 12, who are particularly easy to hypnotize). But there is some evidence to suggest that individuals who readily accept fantasy, and are able, for example, to empathize with characters in books or films, are more likely to be susceptible.
There are three phenomena associated with the hypnotic state that are especially intriguing. Two - the use of hypnotism to control pain, and post-hypnotic suggestion -- have been proved in hundreds of experiments. The mechanism by which hypnotism brings about pain relief is a mystery. Unlike other psychological methods of pain control, such as visualization, hypnotism does not cause the body to produce endorphins, the neurotransmitters that block pain receptors. Pain relief and other messages have been shown to persist after the hypnotic session has ended.
Post-hypnotic suggestion is another startling phenomenon. They hypnotist can make two types of lasting suggestions to a subject during the trance: negative suggestions, such as not to feel pain or not to remember what transpired during the session; and positive ones, improving the subject's overall mental state.
The third phenomenon, the use of hypnosis to recover memories -- remains more controversial. Although some subjects have been seen to relive childhood experiences and to recall details of events witnessed fleetingly, some experts say that this results from eagerness to please the hypnotist.
Applications of Hypnosis
Whatever its origins, hypnosis has long been effectively used for pains control in surgery and dental procedures, and it is found by many psychologists to be a useful adjunct to psychotherapy.
Neodissociation Theory
Ernest Hilgard, a leading researcher of hypnosis, suggests in his Neodissociation theory that consciousness itself is capable of division into distinct streams. The hypnotized individual experiences a passive state of deep relaxation, while a deeper or separate aspect of consciousness, called the hidden observer, witnesses all that transpires with the first part but is usually not accessible unless "called out" under hypnosis.
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