What_Is_Hypnosis

Hypnosis which in other words is alerted state of awarness is amongst the oldest phenomena known to man and is found, in one form or another, in virtually every culture throughout the world. It could also be legitimately described as the orginal psychological therapy and somewhat more contentiously, as the basis for many of the more recent styles of psychological intervention. Although such alerted states have been known for thousands of years , the term 'hypnosis' was only coined circa 1840 by Dr James Braid, a Scottish physician. It probably may be better to define 'hypnosis' by what it does rather than what it is regard, it is widely accepted as a most excellent method by which may access our inner potential. Also it is probably fair to say that there are as many deifinitions of hypnosis as there are hypnotherapists because when it comes to the topic which is so intangible, the definition is based upon one's exepereince. There are numbers of misconceptions about hypnosis. People fear that being hypnotized will make them lose control, lose counsciousness or reveal their secrets or do something which would embarrass them. They are also very often afraid that they won't be able to come out of hypnosis or that they will have amnesia. While amnesia may occur in very rare cases, people generally remember everything that occured while they were hypnotized. Hypnosis can have a significant effect on memory. Posthypnotic amnesia can lead an indivindual to forget certain things that occured before or during hypnosis, but this effect generally is very limited and temporary. Many people base their assumptions about hypnotism on stage acts but fail to take into account that stage hypnotists screen their volunteers to select those who are cooporative, with possible exhibitionist tendencies, as well as responsive to hypnosis. Stage acts help create a myth about hypnosis which discourages people from seeking legitimate hypnotherapy. Stage hypnosis seems to be done for entertainment purposes and it is quite different from the more serious aims of those who work in a clinical setting. In reality, real hypnosis bears little resemblance to these stereotyped images. According to John Kihlstrom , "The hypnotist does not hypnotize the indivindual. Rather, the hypnotist serves as a sort of coach or tutor whose job is to help the person become hypnotized". That means that all hypnosis is felf-hypnosis. This is because in order for a person to enter the hypnotic state, she or he must follow the hypnotist's instructions, and his or her conscious and subcounscious minds must accept the hypnotist's suggestions and make them his or her own. Hypnosis is only a safe procedure when it is employed by a qualified and licensed health-professional and it is not some sort master / slave relationship because nobody can be hypnotized unless they want to be and unless they are willing to be a cooperative subject. Hypnosis is a natural state of mind for humans and many animals and evryone of us experienced that thousands of times without even realizing it. Walking is a great example of that. It is something that we do automatically as we have learned that at a very young age, therefore this skilll has been stored in our subconscious. On occasions when we need to walk to a certain place, we don't give it a second thought - we just get up and start walking which allows our conscious mind to be free and daydream. Another very good example of a every day hypnosis is so called ''highway hypnosis'' which is a mental state in which person can drive a vehicle, responiding to external events in the expected manner with no recollection of having counsciously done so. In this state, the driver's conscious mind is apparently fully focused elsewhere, with seemingly direct processing of the masses of information needed to drive safely. Contrary to popular belief, hypnosis in therapy is not a state of deep sleep. It involves the induction of a trance-like condition, but when in it, the patient is actually in an enhanced state of awarness and concentraiting entirely on the hypnotist's voice. In this state, the counscious mind is supressed and the subconscious mind is revealed. One of the best known theories is Hilgard's neodissociation theory of hypnosis. According to Hilgard, people in hypntoic state expereince a split consciousness in which there are two different streams of mental activity. While one stream of consciousness responds to the hypnotist's suggestions, another dissociated stream processes information outside of the hypnotized individuals conscious awarness. Subject may expereince coldness or warmth, tingling, relaxation and sleepiness. It is not unusal to have a sense of unreality and see yourself and surrondings in a totally new light. Breathing becomes slower and deeper, the pulse rate drops and the metabolic rate falls. Changes along nervous pathways and hormonal channels enable the sensation of pain to become less acute, and the awarness of unpleasant symptoms, such as nausea and indigestion, to be alleviated. Changes regards the brain activity are witnessed by electroencephalographs or EEG's. These measure the electrical activity of the brain. Reasearch shows that the brain produces different brain waves depending on the mental state of the patient. Deep sleep waves look different that waves of the person who is awake. Waves of the highly alert person differ from the person who is relaxed. EEG's from those under hypnosis show a boost in the lower frequency waves that are associated with dreaming or sleeping and a drop in the higher frequency waves that are seen in those who are fully awake. This would support the theory that the conscious mind goes on vacation during hypnosis and the subconcious mind takes over. The brain has two spheres or hempispheres of the cortex. During hypnosis it has been shown that subjects have a reduced activity level in the left hemisphere of he cerebal cortex while increasing activity in the right hemisphere. Hypnosis is a natural state akin to night time dreaming, which happens during the Rapid Eye Movement phase of sleep, otherwise known as REM. REM sleep is called 'paradoxical sleep' because brain wave patterns are similar to how they are during waking hours. During the last three months in the womb, the human neonate expereinces more REM than at any other time during its life. It is during this time that many human instincts are 'programmed' - such as empathy, fear of heights and the ability to learn language. So if instincts are laid down through the REM state before birth, then it makes sense, during life outside the womb, to go back into the REM state in order to change your responses to things. Which is what hypnosis does. Our instincs try to help us out, but sometimes they have just learned the wrong response. The instincts may have learned to produce anxiety when it is not actually helpfull - such as during public speaking, dating or socialazing. Hypnosis is like 'instinctive programming' - we can understand why we have a problem, but if we want the problem to disaappear, it is our unconscious responses that ultimately need to change. Hypnotherapy is thought to date back to the healing practices of ancient Greece and Egypt. Many religions such as Judaism, Christianity, Islam , and others have attributed trance-like beahviour to spiritual or divine possesion. The Australian Aborigines have used a hypnotic trance state for thousands of years and still do. Hypnotherapy is a kind of psychotherapy and it aims to re-programme patterns of behaviour within the mind,enambling irrational fears,phobias,negative thoughts and supressed emotions to overcome. It is very commonly used as an alternative treatment for reduction of pain during childbirth, reduction of the symptoms of dementia, control of pain during dental procedures, elimination or reduction of skin conditions like eczema, warts or psoriasis. These are just a few of the applications for hypnosis. While many people think that they cannot be hypnotized, reseach has shown that a large number of people are more hypnotizable than they believe. Fifteen percent of people are very responsive to hypnosis and children tend to be more susceptible. Approximately ten percent of adults are considered difficult or impoissible to hypnotize and people who can become easily absorbed in fantasies are much more responsive to hypnosis. Hypnotizability is measured by standardized psychological tests such as the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility and it is substantially related to other individual differences in conformity, persuasibilty, or response to other forms of social influence. When studied in psychology , relaxation refers to a focusing on the mind and a relaxing of the body's muscles. Research has shown that being too tense and/or living with too much stress has a siginificant negative impact on our lives. It can lead to physical illnesses such as high blood pressure , ulcers , fatigue , and headaches and many psychological issues , including inappropriate or misdirected emotions , confusion , difficulty concentrating , and burn out. People utilize relaxation , in combination with stress managment , to improve their quality of life, reduce the physical components of stress , and improve their quality of life , reduce the physical components of stress , and improve their psychological functioning. Genreally, the more relaxed we are, the better our mind works and the more capable and adaptable we can be. Healthy living is a matter of balance. Relaxation is part of the balancing process alongside other aspects of our lifestyle such as what we eat, our physical activity and how we handle stress. There are different forms of relaxation , including breathing excercises , deep muscle relaxation , meditation and yoga. Although each of these has different components , the main goal in each is to relax the body's muscles and focus the mind. Since the body and the mind cannot be separated , most agree that both of these components must be present for any relaxation technique to work. Hypnosis is very similar to relaxation in that the same two components of physical and mental must be addressed together. Regular and deep relaxtaion has massive general benefits. Deep and profound relaxation is just one type of trance state. Most people will, effectively, be 'relaxing' as they perceive the meaning of the world in their day to day lives. You might think of yourself relaxing when you are sitting down in a comfy chair in the evening watching TV, reading a book or listening to music but whilst your body may be relaxing, your mind is likely to be dealing with a lot of 'chatter' inside. We need to relax more , not just as individuals but as whole societies and cultures. Biologically we need to go slow sometimes , to zone out and relax. Yet culturally life demands we be constantly focused and active. If not properly managed , these cultural pressures can wreak huge damage on our health and efficiency. Being driven by an external mechanical clock means we pay less attnetion to our own highly evolved yet intricate and subtle internal bilogical clocks. For example , every ninety minutes or so , it is natural for the dominance in brain function to switch from left hemisphere to right hemisphere focus. This happens so we can update new information , housekeep the body and recoup lost energy and focus. We expereince this as 'zoning out' or just 'switching off' for a few minutes. This is not a sign of weakness to be fought , but a vital part of recouping lost energy and re-focusing. The so-called 'power nap' improves focus and productivity precisely because it allows for nature's natural cycles. Deep calm restores your capacity for complex learning , objectivity and long term planning. All things that someone in the highly emotional state of depression finds extremely difficult. Relaxation helps you get back control of your body as well as your mind. People who are able to zone out enjoy : more energy, better sleep , enhanced immunity, increased concentration, better problem solving abilities, better self control, greater efficiency, less turbulent emotions, less headaches and pain.