Do you believe hypnotism really works?

Well, do you?

I started to think about this the other night after watching a tv show where the host supposedly hypnotised everyone watching. My friend claims she couldn't leave her seat or stand up once she was "under the hypnotism".

If you do believe it works, do you think there is a way of resisting it?

also inb4DF&Amber

 

I'm not really too sure, it's a bit unsettling to think that maybe it could work. I guess to an extent, I mean I don't think I'm able to be hypnotized into flapping around like a duck. I've heard that hypnotism can help people quit smoking. My dad tried it like ten years ago and he claims it worked for a few days.

 

I actually went to a hypnotism show a few weeks ago on campus. Not all of the volunteers were affected. Some were affected more than others. It seems to be more of an influence than actually getting someone to do something​

 

no...........look into my eyes not around my eyes look into my eyes..when i click my fingers you will believe cupboardy is a real word...*click*

 

It works, to an extent. It's just another alternative medicine, like acupuncture or herbal drugs. As I understand it, the subject must be willing to be hypnotized, and have a certain mindset. I doubt I could be hypnotized, since I have a very literal, scientific mindset, and prize my independence and individuality too much. Also, the extent to which a person can be persuaded varies from person to person, as well, based on the same factors - willingness and mindset. Some people can snap out of it quite quickly and naturally, other people keep the post-hypnotic suggestion for the rest of their lives (that's why anti-smoking hypnosis is actually legal - it works for some, therefore there is no false advertising). All it takes is either an empirical training in hypnosis, or, theoretically, a very good working knowledge of the workings of the subject's brain.

I think, though I'm not sure, several of our studies and breakthroughs on brain activity have come from studying authentic hypnosis patients.

 

I believe that hypnotism works on people who either believe it will work on them, or who want it to work. I think it's one of those state of mind things, where if you let it affect, it will affect you. If you resist, doubt, or fear it, it won't work.

 

To an extent, hypnotism is a proven therapeutic device. I'm not entierly convinced that it works though.

 

I'd venture to guess that 'hypnotism' is some kind of psychological thing. I think you say or do something that taps something in a person's mind and they tick.

 

... Well fine then. To answer your question much more shortly than I would've liked, yes I believe it works, and yes it is possible to resist by just not paying attention. *leaves*

EDIT: I'm just gonna stick this in right here that if anyone actually wants to hear my thoughts on this, please say so, as I happen to have experience with this particular matter.​

 

Well after I saw the video of my dad thinking he was a dancer for another man, I do truley believe that hypnotism works, but I know that it only works if you want it to work.​

 

Oh lol.

Anyway, I think it works; I've been hypnotized before.
It was a really weird experience, and I think the level of hypnosis people go into depend on their psyche - one of the girls that was hypnotized really did think she lost her puppy and couldn't find it. Not a fun night in the dorms. ._.

Personally, for me, I did have a sort of out of body experience; not in the sense that I was looking at myself but in the sense that I was not where I was sitting at first.

...According to my friends I did some really stupid stuff too, but to this day I neither remember it nor will they tell me. xD

 

That is cruel

Do you recommened it?​

 

I think it is a possibility yes, I am quite sceptical about it myself, but I do know people who have had experiences. I think it comes down to the mental strength of the individual being "hypnotised" and I also think you have to want to be hypnotised for it to be able to work, otherwise you are resisting, even if it is subconsciously.

I guess IMO it comes down to the power of suggestion, the human mind is easily open to suggestion and if you are in a trance like state then I believe it is possible to use that.

There have been reported cases where people have died after being hypnotised, I remember reading an article in which a woman died after being hypnotised to think she had suffered a sever electric shock.

I do not think there has been enough research into it to denounce it or prove it either way, as with most things concerning the mind it comes down to personal beliefs and openmindedness (yes this is now a word ¬¬)

I think that was a tad un-needed, especially since DF and Amber probably would be able to add a lot to this discussion >> not having a go, just saying.

 

I was hypnotised as well, but not to this extent. I think it had to do with the fact that I was in complete doubt about it and may have mentally refused to be hypnotised >>​

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WHen I went to the show, the hypnotist (Gabriel Holmes if I remember right) started by making everyone close their eyes and hold their hands out, one palm down, one palm up. He then put on some music and started talking, telling us to imagine that one hand had a pile of books that was getting heavier and heavier and the other one had a string that someone was pulling upwards on. I kept peeking and thinking too much about it, but when I opened my eyes, my hands were still farther than I expected. He chose his "volunteers" by whoever had the most space between their hands because they were the most susceptible to be hypnotized.
It was pretty obvious too that the volunteers weren't actors that were in on it. Some did almost everything he said, while some just stayed in a trance like state. The ones that didn't do much, he made them go back to the audience. Less than half were still up there at the end and when he snapped the others out of hypnotism, they seemed to freak out, wondering where the other volunteers were and saying only a few minutes had passed since they closed their eyes.
I'll have to experience for myself to know for sure though...​

 

If your talking about that Derren Brown show, he isn't specifically what you would call a hypnotist.
He's a Mentalist. Basically he uses mental suggestions to make the audiences sub-conscious act in different ways. THe 'tricks' include hypnotism, memory loss, reading peoples minds and so on.

TO tell the truth, most mental suggestion is about mathmatic averages. About the stastics of how like someone is likely to do or think something and then using key phrases and body language the audience can be manipualted into acting the way he wants.

Don't be scared though. Mental suggestion isn't powerful enough to override some's will and force them to do certain acts for a long time. It's the main reason why it's not used as a military application, because it's not that effective of a weapon.

And it CAN be resisted. Mainly you have to break away at some ponit and either look away, think of something else or so on. Counting back from 50 and then changing it to counting forward from 100 is a basic one.

 

lol i honestly think its the strength of a persons' mind and how gullible they are, you know? maybe thats what makes the difference if it works or not :D

 

I thought so, until on a cruise ship, I saw one, and I talked to the people that were in it, and they said that whenever he put the microphone away from his mouth, he said things like, "please cooperate and make like you're sleeping." Now, I know it was an act, so it may be different than a "real" one, but that was my only experience with one, so I don't exactaly believe yet.

 

it does
i went on field trip recently and i saw classmates getting hypnotized right in front of me in a performance
and i also got hypnotized a little
it was awesome
hypnotism is that state where you are not sleeping but not fully aweake either
kinda like sleep walking
supposedly we get hypnotized twice a day

 

I think it could work. Of course, hypnosis is just a form of giving instructions and suggestions. I also believe that you don't have to be a willing subject to be hypnotized, because some hypnotists can supposedly tap into your subconscious mind.

 

I agree with you on that although there was a time at school where they had this "hypnotist guy" come in and try to hypnotize my classmates onstage. It seemed like it worked but in the end, they were acting and it was a fraud. As for me, depends on the hypnotist and so forth.