Hypnosis is a sleep-like state that is induced by another person (called a hypnotist) to a subject. Under hypnosis, the subject is aware only of the presence of the hypnotist and becomes very susceptible to everything the hypnotist says. Subjects under hypnosis have intense concentration, extreme relaxation and high suggestibility.

The big hypnosis debate

The definition and use of hypnosis has long been a subject of controversy.

Some say that hypnosis is similar to a ‘trance,’ so it is, in effect, an altered state of consciousness. Those who accept this view believe that hypnosis is a way by which the unconscious mind is reached to reveal repressed memories, multiple personalities, memories of past lives and even mystical insights. Hypnosis, by this definition, is a passageway to the occult.

Believers of this viewpoint argue that there are anecdotes of numerous people who, while in a hypnotic state, recall events from their present or past lives – events that they have no conscious memory of. Some hypnotists even claim to have the ability to make their subjects ‘travel’ to another location, perform functional tasks and assume different personalities under hypnosis. Psychologists argue that these ‘anecdotes’ have no scientific bases and should be considered as nothing more than myths.

Scientific hypnosis, on the other hand, is totally different. Called hypnotherapy, it is used medically to relieve strong pain (such as migraines) and to treat people who are addicted to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and other fixations.

Hypnotherapy is also frequently used in clinical psychology – subjects are put under hypnosis to help them recover repressed memories and deal with them. It is a proven and widely accepted method to heal trauma.

Hypnotherapy is also used to solve crimes. Witnesses are sometimes required to undergo hypnosis to help them remember details of the experience.