So What Is Hypnotherapy For Weight Loss? Read On To Find Out How It Feels

Q: What is hypnosis?

A: That’s a difficult question to answer quickly and precisely. Some people think that it is an ‘altered state of consciousness‘, but since there is currently no agreed definition of consciousness this argument can go around in circles. When we talk about hypnosis we often tend to be either talking about the relaxed, focussed, absorbed feelings associated with a ‘trance state’ (although some people don’t like the term trance), or we tend to be talking about the interesting things people can do when hypnotised -these are the products of ’suggestion’.

Q: Can anyone be hypnotised?

A: Yes, everybody is hypnotizable to some extent -some more than others. Susceptibility to hypnosis can be measured with a hypnotic susceptibility scale.Researchers tend to classify people as ‘highs’, ‘mediums’, or ‘lows’. About 80% of people are in the ‘medium’ band -meaning that they can experience many of the effects of hypnotic suggestion, and are likely to benefit from its clinical use if necessary. Approximately 10% of the population are considered highly hypnotizable -meaning that they can readily experience quite dramatic changes in sensation and perception with hypnosis. Roughly 10% are classified as ‘low’ -meaning that they have not responded strongly to hypnosis (although there are some skills programmes which aim to increase susceptibility to hypnosis).

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Q: Can hypnosis make me do things I don’t want to do?

A: The simple answer is no, you can’t be made to do anything you don’t want to do in hypnosis. In hypnosis you retain power over your ability to act upon suggestions, although if you do allow yourself to act upon a suggestion you may feel as though the effects are happening by themselves. Orne & Evans (1965) conducted a study to find out if they could make hypnotised subjects perform antisocial acts, such as throwing a jar of acid in the face of a research assistant (for safety the jar didn’t actuallly contain acid, but the subjects in the experiment didn’t know this). They found that 5 out of 6 high hypnotizable participants did throw the ‘acid’, but that 6 out of 6 low hypnotizable participants who were asked to simulate being in hypnosis threw the ‘acid’ too. This experiment shows that it’s not something special about being in hypnosis which could make people perform antisocial acts, but rather something about the social situation the experiment was conducted in.

Q: Is hypnosis like sleep?

A: The short answer is no. Although the word hypnosis is derived from the Greek god of sleep, Hypnos, studies have shown that hypnosis and sleep differ. Studies of brain activity have shown that although there are characteristic patterns of brain activity associated with sleep the same has not been demonstrated of hypnosis. To observers hypnosis might appear to be like sleep because suggestions of relaxation are commonly given as part of a hypnotic routine, but hypnotised people are in a state more similar to wakefulness (and hypnosis has even been induced in people riding exercise bicycles -so called ‘active alert’ hypnosis).

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Q: What does hypnosis feel like?

A: The answer is that hypnosis probably feels different for everybody. Many hypnotists (researchers & clinicians) use elements of relaxation procedures, so people commonly associate a feeling of relaxation with hypnosis. Different people have all sorts of bodily responses to relaxation instructions -some feel as though their body is very heavy, whereas some can feel very light, almost as if they were floating. Mentally, again people have all sorts of responses. People typically report feeling very focussed or absorbed, often effortlessly so. Since instructions for imagery are often used people can have very vivid imaginative experiences -many report feeling ‘as if they were there’.

Q: Can I get ’stuck’ in hypnosis?

A: There is no evidence that anybody can become stuck in hypnosis. The worst that mightnhappen could be that you fall asleep -and wake up unhypnotised! Orne & Evans (1966) conducted a famous study where participants were hypnotised, and the experimenter leaves the room under the pretense that there is a problem he has to attend to, the participant is then observed (without his knowledge) to see what happens. The result was that participants spontaneously woke up, the high hypnotisables taking slightly longer to do so.

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