Is hypnosis real?

The skepticism to the phenomenon of hypnosis is quite prevalent and for good reason. Hypnosis has the same reputation that perhaps politicians do. Ridiculed by the public imagination and my media in general, you can't deny there are those who have good intentions, but then again there are those who tend to over-promise.

There is, of course, significant literature on the uses of hypnosis in therapy and it is, in fact, a common tool. In fact, it is essentially a recognize mind-body therapy and has the same recognition in medical circles that meditation or yoga has. To put it in the bluntest terms, it is considered viable integrative medicine.

Apart from my own personal experience, one can go through academic journals and case reports of hypnotherapy patients. Apart from the usual reduction in anxiety or depression, there are numerous cases of people who have been able to quit smoking, give up drinking, resolve irritable bowel syndrome, skin problems and in one case even stopped bleeding! Of course, if you 'only' look at the successful cases your judgment does tend to become biased.

A lot of the cases might seem magical, however like any magic when you decipher it, the phenomenon becomes rather bland. The connection between irritable bowel syndrome and mood is well established and a correction in mood can easily resolve such gut issues. The same goes for skin problems. As for anxiety and depression, the underlying mechanism is usually similar to regular 'talk therapies' and therefore is not a far fetched idea. Movies might make it appear as if hypnosis is something 'otherwordly', but the basics are so ingrained in behavioral and cognitive science, that it truly instantly makes sense if you try to understand it.

For those who still do not believe that hypnosis is one of the tools that can be used to resolve mental health issues as well as related psychosomatic issues, I have an example. An example of group hypnosis, that may help you show that the emperor truly is wearing no clothes (metaphorically).

THIS IS NOT A HISTORICAL ACCOUNT, BUT A FICTIONAL EXAMPLE OF HOW GROUP HYPNOSIS CAN WORK:

Imagine you are in Nazi Germany. You have a charismatic leader that gives you motivational speeches in wild crowds. He knows exactly what to say to get your spirits high. You go and see him or listen to him on the radio all the time. Not only the fact that he's the leader makes you want to listen to him but he tells you the merits of being a German. How you are from a great Nation. Not only that but when you look around yourself, you see everyone going wild. A time comes that the leader becomes rather more authoritative. His speeches repetitive, but you still go see him or listen to him on the radio because of its sort of expected. His speeches go from motivational to hate-filled, but you lap it up because you are used to it, and also, everyone else seems to agree. You don't really care about the hate part much, but over time it seems like some of the things he says makes sense. Overtime it truly seems like the world is against our nation, and there are things that need to be done that may be painful but necessary. Overtime you have gone from a person who never cared that much about politics to have a strong opinion on the policies of the state and essentially support it fully. So much so that you may even give your life for it. Not just because of the speech, but also because you are a young guy and the Army is recruiting and you want to do something good as well. But perhaps also because of the speeches because you don't disagree with the policies are supercharged for what comes next. Perhaps however it is because everyone around me is doing it.............

The above example is a representation of how group hypnosis can work on a massive scale. Nazi Germany context was for dramatic effect, but I hope the message is delivered. The above is not only the essence of group hypnosis and propaganda but also of hypnosis in general. An authoritative, compassionate figure talking to you constantly over a period of time, (willingly and sometimes out of habit) helping you change your thoughts, beliefs, and behaviours (in any order). We see manifestations of this not only on a large scale but also in practitioner offices and clinics all over the world, every single day.

As I said, all magic seems bland once the mechanism is revealed....but its still magic

Umair Usman is a Rapid Transformational Therapy Practitioner, a businessperson, and a blogger. You can know more about him at www.thecognitiveconsultants.com. To book a free consultancy session, please fill the form https://tinyurl.com/y6n2vv8w