Hypnosis is used as an entertainment tool and it's utilized as a behavior modification and treatment tool. However, certain myths and characteristics associated with hypnosis are not real and there exists no scientific evidence to support certain misconceptions surrounding hypnosis.
Hypnosis is not a new process. In the past, hypnosis has been used to treat hysteria, demonic possession, possession by animal spirits and magnetism, among other uses.
Hypnotized Subjects: Zombies or Active Participants?
Hypnosis has always been associated with myths. People are afraid of being hypnotized, afraid of falling into trance or being passive or becoming zombies. But according to the psychological research done by P. W. Sheehan and K. M. McConkey in 1982, hypnotized subjects can be active and constructive even in successful hypnotic response.
It is possible for a hypnotized subject to choose how to respond to a certain suggestion while hypnotized. The individual can also intentionally choose not to respond. The individual's final response will suit their preferences, beliefs or values.
Many people remain passive while being hypnotized because the subjects do not always realize they have a control over the situation. This does not mean that suggestibility is somehow connected with willpower. Subjects’ negative expectations and beliefs enchain their thoughts and make them think they are weak and in trance. This, in turn, influences their experiences and reports.
Does Hypnotic Trance Exist?
According to P. W. Sheehan and C. W. Perry's book titled "Methodologies of hypnosis: A critical appraisal of contemporary paradigms of hypnosis", the debate concerning the existence of hypnotic trance and hypnotic state is the result of unreliable reports from hypnotized subjects.
There are several methods that can be utilized to determine whether a hypnotized subject's reports are truthful. In his scientific article "The nature of hypnosis: Artifact and Essence" Martin Orne had offered the real-simulator design, which helps to separate people who simulate hypnotic experience from really hypnotized subjects.
During their psychological research N. S. Ward, D. A. Oakley, R. S. J. Frackowiak and P. W. Halligan discovered that true hypnotic responses and faked responses produced different brain activity patterns. Thus, a brain scan will reveal whether the reported experiences are real or fake. These two experiments and also the results of the research performed by T. Kinnunen, H. S. Zamansky and M. L. Block. The research revealed that highly-hypnotizable subjects do not tend to give deceptive reports of their experiences; it was also found that highly-hypnotizable subjects were more likely to have genuine hypnotic experiences.
Modern Use of Hypnosis
Today, hypnosis is used for pain relief (e.g. during childbirth, various medical and dental surgical procedures) and it is also added to therapy and behavior modification programs (e.g. smoking cessation or weight loss). The use of hypnosis is limited due to a relative lack of scientific knowledge of this field. There are still questions about the precise nature of hypnosis and suggestibility; it remains unclear if and how the latter can be altered.
Sources
Kinnunen, T., Zamansky, H.S., and Block, M.L. (1994) Is the hypnotized subject lying? Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103(2), 184-191.
Orne, M.T. (1959) The nature of hypnosis: Artifact and Essence. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 58, 277-299.
Sheehan, P.W., and McConkey, K.M. (1982) Hypnosis and experience : the exploration of phenomena and process. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.
Sheehan, P.W., and Perry, C.W. (1976) Methodologies of hypnosis: A critical appraisal of contemporary paradigms of hypnosis. Hillsdale, N.J.: Laurence Erlbaum.
Ward, N.S., Oakley, D.A., Frackowiak, R.S.J., and Halligan, P.W. (2003) Differential brain activations during intentionally simulated and subjectively experienced paralysis. Cognitive neuropsychiatry, 8(4), 295-312.
Kseniya Malykh - Kseniya Malykh has always had an interest in journalism and creative writing. She started writing when she was 12 and by the age of 17 ...
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