Why is hypnosis dangerous for the human psyche? Covert hypnosis: main signs

We all seem to know something about hypnosis and at the same time, it is shrouded in an aura of mystery for us. Psychotherapists argue that not all the secrets of hypnosis have been discovered and, obviously, will not be solved any time soon. Hypnosis is a special state of the human psyche, which differs from wakefulness and normal sleep. This state is mostly caused artificially, by external influence, in some cases self-hypnosis is possible. While under hypnosis, a person has an increased ability to perceive suggestion, while his sensitivity and susceptibility to all other influences decreases. Hypnosis is used in psychotherapy, both as an independent method and in combination with other methods.

Hypnosis includes a number of techniques that are based on the influence of the sounds and words of the hypnotist on the conscious and subconscious mind of the patient. In this case, the patient’s consciousness is in a inhibited state, it is inactive. The patient follows the hypnotist's commands while under hypnosis unconsciously and almost in a state of sleep. It has been established that hypnosis causes a specific state of the brain and the entire human body. The phenomena that occur in the human body during hypnosis are largely due to the post-stress response of the brain to the influence. The hypnotist introduces into the patient the information that pursues certain goals and is necessary for suggestion. Information is perceived by the patient and interacts with that stored in his memory. During the process of suggestion, old information is replaced with new, more important information. As a result, a new image of reality is formed, which is perceived by the patient as a new goal or life goal. For example, if the hypnotist sent an instruction for recovery, then the patient feels healthy.

The effectiveness of hypnosis for the treatment of somatic illnesses and mental disorders is obvious. Treatment using hypnosis, which enables the patient to counteract his problems, is called hypnotherapy.

In a hypnotic state, the patient, placed in a calm and comfortable environment, is asked by the hypnotist to imagine that he is in a real stressful situation. After a hypnosis session, the patient experiences a feeling of relief that prevents anxiety. The patient, again faced with a similar stressful situation, is less susceptible to stressful situations. Hypnotherapy is used to treat excessive sweating, to reduce pain in cancer patients and in dentistry. Hypnotherapy also has an impact on improving athletic fitness and personal achievements of athletes, improving the quality of the voice of singers and the abilities of people in various areas.

Hypnosis treatment is a joint effort between the hypnotherapist and the patient. At the beginning of treatment, the hypnotheraut relaxes the patient and then places him under hypnosis. To relax, the patient is asked to count to ten or imagine walking in the garden. During the process of hypnosis, the patient feels increasing relaxation with each new step. The hypnotherapist then asks the patient to feel as comfortable as possible and imagine that they are in a safe place. This method is used to relieve the patient of anxiety and fear in a state of hypnosis. Patients, imagining a safe place, no longer feel the fear of finding themselves in the same stressful situation that forced them to seek help. Some see this place in bright colors, for others it is important to hear everything. If there is no visual picture, then patients still clearly feel that they are in a safe place or participating in the same events. During a hypnosis session, the patient often loses the sense of time and it seems to him that much less time has passed than it actually was.

Many people understand hypnosis as the submission of a weak-willed person to a hypnotist with a stronger will. This misconception is more inspired by the performances of pop hypnotists demonstrating “magical” power. We associate the image of a hypnotist with Kashpirovsky, Chumak and Grigory Grobov. They promised the whole country from TV screens that they would cure everyone through the magical power of hypnosis from all diseases and even resurrect dead relatives. The fact that many believed them can be explained by the fact that every person seeks his own salvation from the disorder and difficulties of everyday life, from life’s troubles and hopelessness. And the appearance of such miracles fascinates and makes you believe in miracles with the help of hypnosis. It is not general illiteracy, but the collective suggestibility of hypnosis that forces a person to do things that contradict his moral principles and beliefs.

For more detailed information, consult a psychotherapist.

1. Contrary to various myths, hypnotists do not have supernatural powers. They have only the necessary knowledge and skills. The hypnotist is just a “conductor” into a trance state, helping a person to throw off psychological pressures and relax as much as possible.

2. If a person is easily suggestible, he can be convinced that he is a brilliant artist or musician. When one person was convinced that he was a brilliant American chess player and was asked to play chess, his first reaction was to demand a fee of 1 million dollars.

3. Popular experience of hypnosis. In a large auditorium, a piece of cotton wool is moistened with some liquid. At the same time, it is reported: “Now a fairly strong unpleasant odor will begin to spread. Whoever feels it, please raise your hand.” A few minutes pass, and hands begin to go up in the front rows. There are more and more of them... Finally, the entire audience sits with their hands raised: some hold their nose with their free hand. Someone from the first row is taken out of the hall: he felt ill... In fact, the cotton wool does not emit any smell at all: anyone can verify this.

4. When a person is under hypnosis, any allergic reactions disappear. It turns out that allergies largely depend on consciousness.

5. In Austria, hypnosis courses are successfully running for employees of banks and jewelry stores. They will learn how to quickly hypnotize a burglar in the event of an attack.

6. No person can be hypnotized unless he wants to be hypnotized. Without the necessary motivation and desire, it is impossible to enter a hypnotic state.

7. According to statistics, hypnosis is most often used in the world as a sedative, in second place is the treatment of depression, and in third place is coding for alcoholism.

8. Once, a famous English hypnotist was sued by a man who voluntarily went on stage and was there under hypnosis for about 2 hours. During this time, he conducted an orchestra, danced like a ballerina, acted like he was a bus conductor, and acted like he had won $1 million in the lottery. After this event, Mr. Man's personality under hypnosis changed and he began to exhibit strange behavior. Four doctors diagnosed him with acute schizophrenic syndrome. But the court sided with the hypnotist.

9. Many hypnotists prefer to demonstrate their abilities in huge halls, as if confirming their extraordinary abilities: they say, it’s easy to hypnotize one or two, but try a thousand! In fact, conducting an individual hypnosis session is many times more difficult than working in a large audience. Each person in a large crowd becomes more suggestible because he is influenced by those around him. This is the so-called phenomenon of “mutual hypnosis.”

10. When a person is hypnotized, his brain activity becomes more active. He does not lose control of himself, so the hypnotist cannot force a person to do whatever he wants.

11. Any person of the appropriate character can conduct hypnosis sessions: someone who is quite emotional and has the ability to express their thoughts figuratively. No “gift from above” is required.

12. The attributes of hypnosis are scientifically based, although they are taken straight from ancient Egyptian medicine. Shiny balls, twilight, rhythm of sounds close to human biological rhythms, construction of phrases and intonation of the voice - all this is the arsenal of the hypnotist.

13. Hypnosis really helps you quit smoking. However, it should be combined with other methods - diet and exercise. And you should refuse the services of “healers” who promise to get rid of bad habits in one hypnosis session.

14. Back in the 19th century, doctors proved that 80% of success in treating physical ailments depends on whether a person is determined to improve or not. Therefore, the attitudes communicated during hypnosis treatment set the person up for a positive outcome, for rapid improvement.

15. A hypnosis session affects everyone differently. For example, inducing a “pleasant warmth” may cause the skin to flush in some people. And after one of the “mood boosting” sessions, two girls started laughing and couldn’t stop... for two days. The main condition for the safety of hypnosis is feedback from the doctor.

One day, while walking with my 10-year-old daughter Masha in the park, we unwittingly witnessed a conversation in a raised voice between a mother and her teenage son. A woman scolded her child for something, and he silently listened to her lectures.

Probably, his silence angered her even more, and we heard the phrase: “Well, why are you looking at me, as if hypnotized, why are you silent?” What happened next is unknown, we hastened to quickly pass by this not very pleasant scene. But Masha, after being silent for a while, asked me: “What is hypnotized?” The topic, of course, is not for children, and I had to explain in a language understandable to a child that this is like a state when a person is as if in a dream, but hears everything and can even follow instructions.

This was enough for the first time, but the topic will most likely continue in the future, since, knowing your child, there will be a discussion of how hypnosis works on a person and who can carry it out.

What is hypnosis and how does it happen?

Such questions arise not only among children. By and large, adults rarely understand what hypnosis is and how it affects a person, and moreover, they do not know that they themselves can be in a state close to hypnotic, which occurs without the help or special influence of a specialist. hypnologist.

A frequent question among those who begin to be interested in this topic is whether the states of trance and hypnosis are different, whether these concepts are common, or whether there are differences between them.

Often there is no difference between hypnotic and trance states. It is believed that a person can go into trance on his own, and does so every day. And indeed it is. Each of us is in a trance state at least 40 times a day. This happens when we fall asleep or wake up, think, travel in public transport, watch TV. At these moments, we seem to be distracted from what is happening around us, and at this moment we often do not hear what we are told, we do not see what is shown, we perform actions automatically, without controlling our movements.

Hypnotic states are very similar to trance states. But in order to immerse yourself in them, you will need a hypnologist - a specialist who manages the entire process, from the moment of immersion to the exit from hypnotic influence.

Hypnosis is an intermediate state between sleep and wakefulness, which is characterized by the fact that a person responds only to the voice of the hypnotist, does what he asks him to do, and does not respond to any other stimuli coming from the outside.

Based on the strength of its impact, hypnosis is divided into several types.

The first degree is similar to a state of drowsiness, in which a person’s muscles relax, he does not want to “wake up”, open his eyes, or start moving. At the end of the exposure, he fully retains all memories of what he heard and what was discussed.

The second degree is characterized by the fact that the hypnotized person cannot perform any voluntary movements, performing all actions following the instructions of the hypnologist.

The third degree is deep hypnosis, in which a person is completely subordinate to the hypnotist, he can move, move in space, carry out commands, remember facts from the very long past, he does not feel pain. As a rule, after leaving the hypnotic state, he does not remember anything about what happened, what he did or said.

So what is hypnosis used for, if we are not talking about tricks in front of an audience, in order to surprise or amuse them.

This method of influencing the human psyche has long been successfully used in medical practice and psychotherapy.

It is used for:

• conducting psychotherapeutic sessions in order to understand the patients’ phobias and problems, help change attitudes towards them and get rid of obsessive states;
• treatment of alcohol and tobacco addiction;
• reduce pain and even lower blood pressure;
• to reveal abilities that the client did not even suspect, but they were inherent in him from childhood or were once already manifested, but were lost.

Thus, the main goal of hypnotic influence is to gain access to a person’s unconscious, understand its contents and help solve problems that he has encountered and which he cannot solve, even if he understands the reasons for their occurrence.

Hypnosis: how it affects a person

The physiology of hypnosis is to reduce the activity of the cerebral cortex and turn on the inhibition function to immerse yourself in a trance. In this state, a person is unable to perceive and evaluate signals coming from the senses and concentrates on the signal that is strongest for him at that moment - the voice of the hypnologist.

If at the first stage of immersion in a hypnotic state the work of the cerebral cortex slows down, then at the deepest phase inhibition occurs at the subcortical level, and it is at this moment that access to the person’s unconscious appears.

To slow down and activate the inhibition processes, special techniques are used: calm relaxing music, monotonous movement of an object in front of the eyes, special speech formulas used by the hypnotist, plunging a person into a trance.

As a rule, if the specialist managed to guide the patient through all three stages, then after deep hypnosis the person experiences post-hypnotic amnesia, with a complete absence of memories of the session. But the loss of memories of what happened can occur without complete immersion in a deep trance if the hypnologist gives instructions to forget what happened during the session.

Exactly the same thing happens with other settings that were given to a person by a hypnologist. The client does not remember their content, but will follow them after the session.

But if this is exactly the case, is it worth fearing such an influence, thinking that a person can be programmed with any behavioral programs?

Scientists have conducted a large number of experiments to find out which settings the patient will not carry out both during the session and after it. As a result, it was possible to determine that even when consciousness does not control a person’s behavior at the moment of a hypnotic trance, he refuses to do something that contradicts his basic values ​​and moral guidelines.

For example, a person cannot be forced to commit a crime if it is within his “taboo” sphere. He will resist and refuse to perform actions that contradict his moral principles, even in a state of complete immersion in a trance.

Which people are hypnotizable and which are not?

Firstly, it is worth remembering that a person must give voluntary consent to a hypnosis session. If he agrees, then there will be no resistance to the hypnologist’s actions, and a session involving immersion in a deep trance will most likely take place. The overall effectiveness of the session, of course, depends on the level of preparedness of the specialist who knows the secrets of hypnosis.

Since the main thing of any hypnotic effect is suggestion, suggestible people with a mobile and unstable psyche are quite easily immersed in a trance.

The same thing happens to those who are very emotional and subject to strong emotional experiences.

The most difficult group of people who are not susceptible to suggestion are those who are skeptical of any attempts to hypnotize them, not believing in this mechanism of working with the human consciousness.

A person who has a strong will, who does not allow his consciousness to be manipulated, and who does not allow interference in his inner world, is difficult to hypnotize.

It is also difficult for a hypnologist to work with reasonable and logically thinking people who have developed critical thinking, rarely experience strong emotions, and have the ability to maintain emotional balance even in stressful situations.

A separate group of clients and patients with whom it is useless to conduct hypnotic sessions consists of those who suffer from various types of mental disorders. These include those suffering from autism, anxiety disorder syndromes, and mental retardation.

People who are in a state of alcoholic or drug intoxication are not susceptible to hypnosis, not only because they may not understand the words of the hypnologist, but also due to the fact that their state already belongs to the category of altered, close to trance.

Conclusion

Is it necessary or not to undergo a hypnosis session? Having understood what hypnosis is and how it works, you can be sure that doing it as a joke or for the sake of entertainment does not have much meaning or benefit. But if you really need the help of a psychotherapist, then before agreeing, try to collect information about the doctor in advance, understand the purpose of the session, and then decide whether it is worth going through with it.

Remember that today psychotherapists and psychologists have the official right to conduct hypnosis sessions. The professions of “hypnotist” and “hypnologist” are absent in today’s official practice, so pay attention to the educational diplomas of those to whom you plan to entrust your health.

The power of hypnosis has no limits. Many professional hypnologists claim that by learning how hypnosis works and putting certain skills into practice, you can achieve amazing results.

Hypnosis has a power that knows no bounds

Definition of methodology

Hypnosis is a sleepy state in which a person’s consciousness can be controlled. The most effective area of ​​application of hypnosis is psychiatry. A qualified hypnologist can conduct therapeutic sessions using hypnosis for existing signs of neuroses and psychoses.

The boundaries of the powers of hypnotic influence are unknown. According to doctors, developing the right approach to putting a person into a trance and subsequent suggestion can lead to inexplicable phenomena and actions. Hypnosis influences the human psyche so much that it can lead to rapid recovery of the patient in somatic pathologies.

An example of an inexplicable and miraculous effect was described by the famous hypnologist Rozhnov. In his personal practice, there was a case of restoration of the musculoskeletal system through hypnosis. A woman who stopped walking after a nervous shock, succumbing to hypnosis, was able to get out of bed and move freely without the help of crutches or other devices.

While under hypnotic influence, the patient is in a state similar in its characteristics to sleep. The only difference is the nerve cells in the brain, which continue to work actively, amenable to the control of the hypnotist. Fatigue and forced resistance to it have a similar effect. A simple example: this is a tired sentry on duty, he can fall asleep while standing, his body remains tense, and his consciousness turns off. According to doctors, such a person has only one small focus of excitation.

Degrees of impact

The effect on the human psyche depends on the strength of hypnosis. The stronger the method used, the more the person becomes subject to the manipulator. Experts confirm the existence of 3 degrees of hypnotic influence:

• drowsiness;
• hypotaxia;
• somnambulism.

Drowsiness is a drowsy state characterized by muscle relaxation and slight clouding of consciousness. This is a trance, after emerging from which a person remembers what happened to him. The second stage (hypotaxia) is submission. The hypnotized person cannot control his movements. He is ready to carry out orders.

Of particular interest is the third stage of hypnotic influence - somnambulism. This is the deepest stage of hypnosis, in which the suggestible person can:

• execute any commands;
• feel inspired hallucinations;
• remember individual phrases and movements that were performed in early childhood;
• don't feel pain.

More than 25% of people are susceptible to this effect on the psyche.

In Levenfeld's experiment, which attracted special attention at the time, an elderly woman, under the influence of hypnosis, began to dance as she had done in her youth. Coming out of the influence of hypnosis, she did not believe the doctors' stories.

Hypnosis acts on a person like sleep. The only difference from it is the active work of individual parts of the nervous system. Animals use similar skills. Bats sleep upside down, horses sleep standing up, etc. A “guard point” in the nervous system, which works differently in people, is responsible for such functions. It can only be controlled and regulated under the influence of hypnosis.

Hypnosis acts on a person like sleep. The only difference is the active work of individual parts of the nervous system

Application of the method

The method has been used for a long time. The oldest mention of it is A. Mesmer’s 1848 work “Mesmerism”. The scientist considered this effect to be magnetism of animal origin.

Modern hypnology has been improved thanks to the proven theories of Pavlov, Platonov, Bekhterev and others. Today, the use of hypnosis allows you to “program” the patient to perform at least two tasks: he can be amenable to therapeutic treatment by suggestion and use skills of professional or amateur activity that have long been lost over time.

Possible consequences

The main feature of hypnotic suggestion is the appeal of one person to the unconscious subconscious of another.

The goal of therapy is to identify the contents of a person’s inner world, his subconscious. Using modern techniques, it is possible to identify:

• experienced events in the life of the individual;
• previously received settings;
• individual details of the past, described to the smallest detail;
• change the biological characteristics of the body (reduce or cause pain, eliminate addiction to psychoactive substances, combat individual signs of psychosomatic diseases).

Despite the power of possibilities that open up to a person under hypnotic influence, hypnologists consider this a dangerous activity. Any mistake by a specialist can affect the patient’s health and even take his life. By changing the pain threshold, the patient risks causing injury to himself in the future, the presence of which can lead to complications.

Modern experiments

The effect of a hypnotic session on a person is limited. And this has been proven in practice. Despite the theoretically possible full impact on the psyche, it is impossible to achieve the maximum effect.

P. Boul and V. Pushkin proved this with their experiments.

Special attention is paid to V. Pushkin’s experiment, based on the results of which the scientist concluded that a hypnotized person cannot carry out attitudes that contradict his moral principles. The point of the experiment itself was to suggest the need to kill a person with a plastic card. The patient, under the influence of hypnosis, was told that he was holding a knife in his hands and that in one action he should take a person’s life.

The result of the experiment surprised scientists. The patient, under the influence of hypnosis, began to have a seizure and was unable to comply with the doctor’s instructions. Under hypnotic influence there is an internal struggle between the conscious and subconscious, and the result can be unpredictable.

Conclusion

Hypnotic effects can have different intended uses. It is successfully used in the treatment of neuroses and psychoses, with its help you can achieve the desired results in the treatment of somatic diseases, etc.

Hypnosis helps cure nervous and psychotic conditions

The strength of the hypnotic effect on the psyche depends on many factors. Under favorable external conditions and the professional skills of a hypnotist, a person can carry out any inspired orders, experience hallucinations and not even experience physical pain. Hypnosis is not omnipotent. According to the results of some studies, psychologists have determined that, being in a state under the control of a hypnotist, a person can fight suggested commands.

Two years ago I worked as a cashier operator in a small company, it was a hot summer, my head hurt terribly after the birthday of one of the employees and, I must say, I was not in a working mood at all. I sat and just looked at the clock, begging time to move a little faster.

The man came in like an ordinary customer and asked me something. I got up from the table, went up to him, answered the question and that’s it... I still don’t remember the next few minutes, I woke up only after a shortage was discovered during the shift change. The management did not believe that the money disappeared in such a supernatural way, and I suddenly lost my memory. Of course, I remember some moments of communication with this man, but it’s so fuzzy and blurry that I can’t even explain what we talked about with him.

How could this person influence me? After he left, I wanted to sing, dance and tell everyone how happy I was. I no longer felt pain in my head, and about how he looked I could only say that he was not black or, for example, a dwarf. He was the most ordinary person, but he was able to hypnotize me and force me to give him money from the cash register. When I found out about the missing money (the amount was almost equal to my monthly salary), I cried, because the shortage was blamed on me, but the feeling of incomprehensible delight and happiness lasted until the evening. If this story had not happened to me personally and I would not have had to work off this money, denying myself everything for a whole month, I would also consider it a fiction.
However, hypnosis does exist. They say that there are people who, in principle, cannot be hypnotized. They have a very high degree of awareness, good willpower or something like that. I decided to study as much literature as possible on this issue. In addition, I was very interested in whether anyone could learn how to manage people? If only this person is not from another planet, I thought then, then I can learn this and never be under the influence of hypnosis again.

So how does hypnosis work? In general, the word hypnosis translated from Greek means sleep. The person disconnects from the outside world and immerses himself, while the hypnotist completely controls him, since the sleeping brain is not able to comprehend the commands given to it. The hypnotized person does what he is ordered and immediately forgets about it. But how can you put a person into such a state? For some reason, it is generally accepted that the hypnotist must look with an imperious gaze, while speaking in an orderly tone and rotating some object on a string in front of the subject’s eyes. But it turned out that you can easily put a person into a trance right on the street, at the workplace, or even at his home.

The American Milton Erickson once invented a new way of influencing people, based on the fact that one of the areas of the cerebral cortex can be brought into a state of “hyper wakefulness”. That is, this state is fundamentally different from sleep. The person completely surrenders to the hands of the hypnotist, since he already subconsciously trusts him. Every person can learn the methods of this hypnosis; books are also not difficult to get. I liked the self-hypnosis technique of Milton’s wife, Betty, most of all. With its help, you can convince yourself not to eat sweets at night, not to smoke so often, or not to be influenced by any charlatan hypnotists.