Hypnosis
HypnosisHypnosis
The common view of hypnosis is that it is an altered state of consciousness, a trance-like state characterized by intense concentration, extreme relaxation, and high suggestibility. Many who accept this view also believe that hypnosis is the way of accessing the unconscious mind, thereby allowing the recovery of repressed memories, multiple personalities, and even memories of past lives. Since at least the 1960's this view of hypnosis has been seen as a myth by scientifically-minded psychologists, who deny that hypnosis is an altered state which somehow allows the hypnotist to communicate directly with the unconscious mind. There are two distinct, though related, aspects to the mythical view of hypnosis: the myth of the altered state, and the myth of the unconscious mind as a reservoir of repressed memories, numerous personalities, past lives, and for some, mythical insights and occult truths.
Thoughts of hypnosis began in the 1970's with an Australian physician Franz Mesmer who would rely heavily on the power of suggestion. Franz's last name is where the term mesmerize came about. Later the term hypnosis emerged through an English surgeon named James
Braid. Hypnosis is a Greek word, which means sleep. Braid used it to describe the hypnotic state people would be in after hypnosis. We now know that hypnosis is not sleep, but an altered state of consciousness.
Many people believe the hypnosis is mythical and magical. Those supporting the mythical view of hypnosis often cite studies which show that during hypnosis the brain shows electrical changes and that the brain waves under hypnosis differ from those during waking consciousness.
There are many problems with the realism of hypnosis. Many people feel that it's brought up upon the troubled people themselves. One clue as to the falsehood of the common view of hypnosis is the fact that it usually occurs under very dramatically different social settings: The showroom, the clinic, the classroom, and the police station. Showroom hypnotists usually work bars and clubs, and their subjects are usually people those idea of a good time is to join dozens of hundreds of others in a place where alcohol is the main social bonding agent. The subjects of clinical hypnotists are usually people with problems who have heard that hypnotherapy works for relieving pain or overcoming an addiction, fear, weight problem, etc. Another group of people who...
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