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Hypnosis has always been misled by society norms. However, the social norms are still there with incorrect ideas about hypnosis.

“What the mind expects to happen, tends to be realized.” – Gerald F. Kein

In order to relieve some of the misconceptions, let’s talk about some of the most common ones.

Hypnotists do not necessarily use a hypnotic circle during their induction. Hypnotists may use it to satisfy the client’s expectation of the social norm.

Although one looks like he or she is sleeping when under trance, hypnosis is not the same as sleeping. Technically, the word “sleep” should not be part of the hypnosis vocabulary but the social norm creates the necessity to use the word “sleep”. In fact, a research article on brainwave activity showed that the wavelength when under hypnosis was almost similar or even better than when one was awake, compared to when one was simply asleep. Nevertheless, the term “hypnosis” itself is coined after the Greek god “Hypnos” since in the past, no one could have confounded the alertness of the mind when the person looks asleep.

The research article accounts the brainwaves to be of the beta band rather than the delta band while under hypnosis.

Secondly, with in reason with the first argument, a person cannot be manipulated in a way that goes against one’s beliefs or values. A person is not only fully alert under trance but is also in control of oneself. This is because heightened suggestibility due to hypnosis is cannot override the one’s values. Thus, the person under hypnosis is able to make decisions on whether to follow the suggestion given, and if it is not to one’s liking, you can simply reject the suggestion.

Thirdly but neither the last or the least, is the misconception of amnesia: You will be able to remember everything while under hypnosis. Again, as stated in the first argument, you are fully alert under hypnosis. Therefore, the person can make the decision of whether to follow a suggestion or not, and thus is consciously aware of the choices they make under hypnosis. However, this loss of memory does occur frequently and this is due to social norm. As mentioned above, “what the mind expects to happen, tends to be realized.” People have the social norm that they will not be able to remember what happens under hypnosis, and this belief causes them to indeed forget. With this in mind, it is also true that the things that one wants to remember is what is remembered.

Here is a video by Morpheus Hypnosis on these misconceptions, as well as two additional misunderstandings.

It is still a progressive goal for hypnosis to become accustomed by the society, since the misconceptions will remain misconceptions as long as it is not frequently discussed. However with increasing interest in hypnosis, it may be possible to break these misconceptions and make hypnosis become more approachable.

Some religions even believe that hypnotists are necromancers. For you information, a necromancer is “one who practices divination by conjuring up the dead.” They may (or may not) be referring to past life regressions

References:

Vaughan Bell: hypnosis is no laughing matter, Dance of the Soul Hypnotherapy, Studies reveal the effectiveness of medical hypnosis, Putting Yourself First, Free Online Hypnosis Community

Baghdadi, G., Motie, A. N. (2009). An Investigation of Changes in Brain Wave Energy during Hypnosis with Respect to Normal EEG. Sleep and Hypnosis, 11: 40-45.