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Does Hypnosis Really Work?
Being Hypnotized
Being placed under hypnosis has been described as being placed in a trance or dream like state; this is achieved by tricking the mind into suppressing the conscious mind and allowing the subconscious mind to take the forefront. It is thought that the subconscious mind is more open to suggestion and imaginary play than our conscious mind. This would explain why in a state of hypnotism, that people are willing to act a way that they might not normally act.
It is a common misconception, that hypnotism allows the hypnotist to control the mind; this is not true, but to the contrary, they are accessing the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is more open to suggestion because it controls the body's automatic functions such as breathing, the heart beat, all of the "how to's" of the body, the subconscious mind is responsible for.
For example, people don't have to think about walking, they simply do; nor do they have to think about reading or tying a shoe, once a skill is learned our brain puts the skill onto the "auto pilot" section of our brains, this is our subconscious mind. As it is accustomed to reacting automatically is not hard to imagine that it would have fewer inhibitions than our conscious mind.
Because the subconscious mind is so sensitive to suggestion, the use of hypnosis in a medical capacity is highly debated, while it can sometimes be useful there is also risk of imprinting the brain with false memories. These false memories are thought to happen because something is suggested while the mind is in this highly relaxed and heightened awareness state. People who are especially susceptible to hypnosis can even experience memory loss from the experience.
The human brain itself is an enigma to the scientific world, everything that is learned about the brain raises more questions; this is why understanding hypnotism can be so difficult, every brain reacts a little different to the experience and some brains are not affected by it at all.
Scientist have found that for a person to be hypnotized there must be certain factors: the brain must be completely relaxed, allowing the subconscious mind to take the foreground of the mind; the person must want to be hypnotized or at least feel the social pressure to perform; and the person has to be willing to do whatever is suggested of them, while the subconscious mind is more open to suggestion it still will not put the body into danger, the survival instinct is still prevalent even in the subconscious mind.
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