You're Getting Veeeeerrry Sleepy: The Truth About Four Hypnosis Myths
You're feeling extremely relaxed and peaceful...and after you read about these hypnosis myths, you'll want to keep reading Mythbusters all day... read more Mythbusters...read more Mythbusters...
Modern hypnosis myths are rapid approaching the level of a meme -- that is, a set of ideas that propagates like a virus through pop culture. While these myths all very interesting and provide the grist for innumerable TV shows, books, and movies, hypnosis in real life isn't much like the pop version.
When it comes down to it, hypnosis is simply a deep state of relaxation in which a person is more open to suggestion than they normally are. It doesn't work for everyone, and without the use of drugs and brainwashing techniques, it can't make you do anything truly against your will.
Myth 1: Only weak-willed people can be hypnotized.
Actually, most people can be hypnotized, though it may take some effort. If you're willing to focus and work with the hypnotist or hypnotherapist, it's likely you'll end up slipping into a hypnotic trance. If not, no amount of effort will put you under. You can't be hypnotized against your will; that's just a tired old hypnosis myth.
Myth 2: A hypnotized person will do anything the hypnotist tells them to.
You mean, cluck like a chicken or bark like a dog? This can happen, sure, because there's no harm in it (except perhaps to the hypnotee's dignity). But a hypnotist can't really control your mind. You won't do anything under hypnosis that you find morally repugnant or unacceptable.
In fact, professional hypnotists report that only about one-fifth of all subjects are actually amenable to direct suggestion (the "bark like a dog" thing). However, while complete control is just a hypnosis myth, hypnosis can still be a good way to slowly modify habits and remove deep-seated fears.
Myth 3: You're unconscious when you're hypnotized.
Not really. Hypnosis isn't sleep; it's more of a deep trance. So while you may be extremely relaxed (although you don't have to be), in most cases you'll still be alert enough to hear the hypnotist and respond to them.
That said, a few people really do go into very deep trances, and may not remember anything about it later. This is very likely the effect that generated this particular hypnosis myth. It's also possible for you to get so relaxed that you'll lose track of the hypnotist's voice and really will fall asleep.
Myth 4: Hypnosis can cure just about anything.
Hypnosis is no more a panacea than anything else, from Vitamin C to Honest Al's Cure-All Tonic. It's an interesting and useful therapeutic tool, which accounts for the fact that almost all hypnotists work in medicine rather than on the stage; however, you have to believe in yourself before hypnotism can work for you.
That's why hypnosis can help you lose weight, stop smoking, or sooth your irrational fears and phobias. But it can't cure cancer, help you become a lady's man, or make you handsome -- and anyone who says otherwise is trying to palm a harmful hypnotism myth off on you.
