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Hypnosis

Hypnosis is trance state where the individual is relaxed, extremely suggestible, and possesses a heightened imagination. It had been described similar to daydreaming or the feeling of losing yourself in a movie or book where you focus intensely on the book or movie, to the elimination of any other outside thought. In this imaginary state, one’s emotional feelings are totally involved in whatever they are focused upon. By this definition, many have speculated that many of us self-hypnotize ourselves a little bit each day. 

However, psychiatrists refer to their use of hypnosis as a trance state invoked by deep relaxation and guided imagery processes. By tuning out normal inhibitions that, in a waking state, the conscious mind controls, one enters an imaginary state that is relaxed, uninhibited and highly suggestible. A deep state of pretend, similar to when children play.

This is not meant to infer that one can be manipulated into believing or behaving in a criminal or immoral way that is not part of their nature. A hypnotist can't cause you to do anything against your will and no one can be forced into a hypnotic state. They have to believe that they can be hypnotized, be relaxed, feel safe, and desire to enter that state.

Hypnotism is method to access the subject’s subconscious mind, the part of the brain that operates without your conscious awareness. Our subconscious performs many functions every day. You don’t have to think about breathing, it happens unconsciously. Have you ever experienced driving home, lost in thought, and arrive safely without remembering any of the particulars of your journey? The subconscious is your “autopilot,” performing many routine things you do without consciously thinking about them. And this only happens when we’re in a relaxed state, daydreaming about other stuff.

Psychiatrists use the deep relaxation and guided imagery of hypnotism to suppress the conscious mind’s controlling function and gain access to speak directly to the patient’s subconscious, which is less inhibited, more creative and more in touch with emotional feelings and past memories. 

Physiological and Brain Wave Changes

Researchers have studied changes in the body and brain of hypnotized subjects and found that the only physical differences are that the person’s heart rate, breathing rate, and often blood pressure, are lowered. For this reason, hypnosis has been grouped in this website into the area of natural balance, as it guides the person to regain natural balance and homeostasis. Deep breathing techniques, (see breathing techniques), are often used by therapists to guide the subject into a state of deep relaxation.

Electroencephalographs (EEGs) have measured electrical activity in subject’s brains and found a drop in beta waves (associated with logical reasoning, rapid thinking and stress) and an increase in lower frequency waves such alpha and theta waves (associated with healing relaxation and creativity). In addition, researchers have also found changes in the cerebral cortex during hypnosis with: a decrease in left-hemisphere activity (associated with conscious, objective thought and reasoning), which suppresses the conscious mind’s inhibition function; an increase in right-hemisphere activity (associated with creative, subjective abilities (supporting the notion that hypnotism is a gateway to the subconscious mind).

For the attainment of deep relaxation, a person might require just one or two sessions with a qualified hypnotist to gain the facility of using autohypnosis for this purpose.

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Sources: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org) National Institutes of Health (http://nccam.nih.gov/) Hypnosis in Autonomic Function (http://clinicaltrials.gov)

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