HYPNOSIS
Hypnosis refers to a state or condition in which the subject
becomes highly responsive to suggestions. The hypnotized
individual seems to follow instructions in an uncritical,
automatic fashion and attends closely only to those aspects of the
environment made relevant by the hypnotist. If the subject is
profoundly responsive, he or she hears, sees, feels, smells, and
tastes in accordance with the suggestions given, even though these
may be in direct contradiction to the actual stimuli that impinge
upon the subject. Furthermore, memory and awareness of self can be
altered by suggestions. All of these effects may be extended
posthypnotically into the individual's subsequent waking activity.
It is as if suggestions given during hypnosis come to define the
individual's perception of the real world. In this sense the
phenomenon has been described as a "believed-in fantasy."
Procedures
What typically occurs when a responsive individual is
hypnotized can be described as follows. The subject is asked to
relax and focus his or her attention, usually on some object. It
is suggested, in a quiet but compelling tone, that relaxation will
increase and that the eyes will become tired. Soon the eyes show
exaggerated signs of fatigue, and it is suggested that they will
close. The subject's eyes do shut, and he or she begins to show
signs of profound relaxation, with quiet, regular breathing,
superficially resembling sleep. It may now be suggested that the
subject's eyes are so heavy that he or she does not care to open
them and that he or she could not do so even if that were
attempted. When invited to try, the subject finds, often to his
or her surprise, that the eyes will not open. Through analogous
suggestions, the subject's experience may be altered in virtually
every sensory modality. The memory for ongoing events may be
interrupted, but the apparent reliving of events that transpired
in the individual's past may be facilitated; that is, age
regression can be induced by suggesting that the subject is
growing younger and younger. Gradually, the subject will begin to
respond in the manner of a child and may describe events, people,
rooms, and feelings as if he or she were currently reliving an
episode in his or her past life. The subject's descriptions and
total behavior may take on characteristics seemingly appropriate
to the age to which the subject has regressed.
Response to posthypnotic suggestion may be demonstrated by
telling the hypnotized subject to forget what has occurred and,
further, that after the individual is awake, he or she will carry
out a specific action at a particular time or in response to a
prearranged signal. When awakened and asked what has happened, the
subject will be unable to describe the events that have just
transpired. The bulk of these memories can, however, easily be
recovered by suggesting that the subject will remember all that
has occurred.
While the responsive subject will carry out the posthypnotic
response suggested during hypnosis at a prearranged signal without
being aware of the reasons for such actions, he or she will do so
only as long as they are not truly unacceptable. Stage hypnotists
capitalize on the fact that posthypnotic suggestions may include
apparently embarrassing actions. However, the actions of
volunteers for stage hypnosis are less bizarre or embarrassing
than those elicited without hypnosis from volunteers for
television game-show programs.
The Hypnotic State
The hypnotic state is a response of normal individuals, but
there are wide individual differences in the ability to respond.
The capacity to be hypnotized resides in the individual rather
than in the hypnotist's technique and is one of the many basic
psychological characteristics of normal individuals. This capacity
does not seem directly related to a particular personality type,
although it is closely related to the ease with which an
individual can become totally absorbed in fantasy while, for the
moment, ignoring the real world. However, despite the relative
ease with which hypnosis may be induced in an individual who has
the skill of responding, it is not possible to hypnotize a person
against his or her wishes.
Although the hypnotized individual may at times appear
superficially asleep and his or her responses may initially appear
slow and trancelike, resembling those of the spontaneous
sleepwalker, the individual is physiologically awake at all times.
In contrast to the true sleepwalkers, the subject's brain waves
are those of a waking individual. Similarly, although the
hypnotized subject may be instructed to ignore surrounding events
and will apparently be unaware of their existence, such material
does register and can be shown to exert an effect on the subject.
Even deeply hypnotized, an individual will not only refuse to
act against strongly held moral, ethical, or religious beliefs,
but can, if he or she chooses to do so, resist responding to any
specific suggestion. For example, despite suggestions to tell the
truth, it is possible for him to purposively lie with little more
effort than in his normal waking state. Further, although age
regression is useful in psychotherapeutic treatment, the memories
called forth may validly reflect the individual's feelings about
past events; the events that are relived, however, may or may not
be historically accurate. Although compelling, both to the subject
and to the observer, these memories often are in fact a
combination of many events, not only from the same epoch but also
confounded by later experiences, a matter of concern if historical
accuracy is important, as in legal matters.
Uses
Hypnosis is not an independent science or art; rather, it is a
technique useful in the context of medical, psychological, or
dental treatment. It is used to control acute and chronic pain as
in childbirth, skin transplants, dental procedures, and the
treatment of burns. There are many other medical applications
including the treatment of some skin disorders, allergies, and
intractable insomnia. In legal use, most states in the United
States permit the introduction of hypnotically induced evidence.
The problem of induced false memories has become a matter of
increasing controversy in recent years, however, and courts in
several jurisdictions now bar such testimony or impose procedural
safeguards on its use.
In psychiatric or psychological therapy, hypnosis may be used
to facilitate recall of traumatic events that have been pushed out
of mind and to help the patient deal with neurotic symptoms.
Hypnosis, particularly as it is used in treatment, is a
cooperative enterprise that depends upon the patient's ability to
respond, and it is important for him or her to understand this
fact. From this perspective it has been used with varying degrees
of success in such disorders of self-control as obesity and
addictions. It is particularly useful in the treatment of phobias
and functional disorders of memory. Hypnosis and relaxation
exercises have been integrated into many behavioral as well as
psychodynamic treatment approaches. The use of hypnosis to suggest
away symptoms has a more limited application than is generally
recognized.
The technique of inducing hypnosis is easily learned, but even
extensive experience in induction does not provide the necessary
knowledge to use hypnosis appropriately in treatment. Health
professionals employ hypnosis in their area of competence and are
equipped to use this method as well as a variety of other
treatments so that they can choose the one most appropriate for a
particular patient. Generally, codes of ethics prevent health
professionals from advertising themselves as hypnotists.
Therefore, those who do advertise are unlikely to have the
necessary training to appropriately treat medical or psychological
problems. Broad diagnostic and therapeutic skills are
indispensable in avoiding inappropriate and potentially dangerous
uses of hypnosis in treatment.
Bibliography: Connery, Donald S., The Inner Source (1982);
Crasilneck, Harold B., and Hall, James, Clinical Hypnosis (1975);
Ellenberger, Henri E., The Discovery of the Unconscious (1970);
Frankel, Fred, Hypnosis: Trance as a Coping Mechanism (1976);
Fromm, Erika, and Shor, Ronald, eds., Hypnosis: Research
Developments and Perspectives, rev. ed. (1978); Gill, Merton M.,
and Brenman, Margaret, Hypnosis and Related States (1959);
Hilgard, Ernest R., Hypnotic Susceptibility (1965) and Hypnosis in
the Relief of Pain (1975); Kroger, William S., Clinical and
Experimental Hypnosis in Medicine, Dentistry, and Psychology, 2d
ed. (1977); Moss, Claude S., The Hypnotic Investigation of
Dreams (1967); Tinterow, Maurice M., Foundations of Hypnosis, From
Mesmer to Freud (1970); Waxman, D., et al., eds., Modern Trends
in Hypnosis (1984); Wolberg, L. R., Hypnosis (1982).