Every Day Is Special: January 4 – World Hypnotism Day

January 4 – World Hypnotism Day

Posted on January 4, 2020

I'm not sure I can be hypnotized.

Being hypnotized means going into a state of focused attention - so focused that one drops awareness of much of one's surroundings and usual concerns - and becoming more able to respond to suggestion.

Have you ever been hypnotized? Have you seen someone being hypnotized as part of a live stage show? Or in a fiction show on TV?

Hypnotists often use soothing voices and use a variety of tricks to help people focus on what they're saying. The stereotypical trick is for the hypnotist to swing a large pocket watch in front of the target, saying something like "You are getting very sleepy..."

Hypnosis in stage shows results in some very silly behavior. Like, the hypnotist gathers a few people from the audience and puts them into a trance - and then he gives them several ridiculous instructions such as "bark like a dog" or "dance like little children." The intent is to entertain the audience by embarrassing fellow audience members...and I don't find it at all entertaining.

When a stage hypnotist tries to hypnotize an entire audience, I don't feel a thing - and, it turns out, a person who doesn't want to succumb to suggestion really cannot be "put into a trance" and cannot be made to do absurd and embarrassing things. Basically, you're safe from hypnotists if you don't want to be hypnotized.

Non-stage hypnotists attempt to help people cope with pain or remember troubling memories. Hypnosis has been used in education, sports, and crime solving. It's been used to increase creativity and to decrease anxiety; it's been used to help people lose weight, stop smoking, and sleep better. Some people are more open to suggestion and do quite well with hypnotic suggestion. (I am not very open to suggestion, which is why, even when I try to be open to helpful hypnosis, I have never gone into a "trance" or "altered state.")

Apparently hypnosis really does NOT work to remember things and should never be used to dig up "repressed memories" nor to tap into memories to help solve crimes. This is because, as the hypnotist asks questions or gives suggestions to the target in order to get the person to focus on their memories, the hypnotist is actually changing the memories! False memories often form based on the hypnotist's words, and those false memories can become hardened so that the target becomes very certain that the memories are real. Even if the hypnotist is really, really careful not to make any suggestions at all - like, even if she or he just says, "Tell me what you remember about last Wednesday" - studies have shown that hypnosis doesn't help people recall things accurately. So it's not worth the risk of creating false memories!