Hypnosis Essay

771 Words2 Pages

A lot of the time the brain will come up with bizarre and far-fetched ideas and scenarios when it is idle. When thinking about this essay my mind was no different. What if I could influence the behavior of a person for my benefit or entertainment? Perhaps I could help someone by getting in their head and helping them out of a bad situation. The possibilities of such an ability would be endless, dangerous and fascinating. In reality, there are many forms of psychological manipulation available and hypnosis is one of them. Hypnosis can be defined loosely as requiring the consciousness of a person to drown out surrounding stimuli, focusing in on one voice, eventually making them open to suggestion(s). If hypnotizing people is possible, does the …show more content…

This practice has been around for centuries with no real origin. However, Frank Mesmer is credited with giving the practice credibility within the scientific community but applying the scientific method to test his theories on animal magnetism ( Crabtree, 2006). But is hypnosis real? Studies have proven that this technique reduces pain, regulates blood and removes physical ailments. This method has even been administered to help reduce the use of anesthesia and other drugs (Michael, 2004). Despite the overwhelming evidence that hypnosis works, it is still hard for many to accept this technique as more than a placebo effect of …show more content…

According to an event with Paul Ramsay at Whittier College, hypnosis occurs by using your imagination to bypass how the conscious mind thinks which creates a connection to the subconscious (Campus, 2014). Essentially the subconscious takes over leaving you very impressionable. Some studies suggest however, that a subject is not entirely at the mercy of the hypnotist. Hypnotizing is easier to accomplish when the participant is open to it. In other words, a person cannot be hypnotized without fully participating. The hypnotist also cannot make you do anything that goes against your moral code and must be within the context of the treatment (Sheenhan, 2015). The person performing the hypnosis is going to need you to use your imagination to get you to the state of mind necessary to activate your subconscious but once there they cannot make you hurt someone or do anything that would break your personal moral code because you are ultimately in

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