Hypnotism

[Mythopoeika]

A friend of mine is a hypnotist, if he makes 'yumm yumm' noises in front of his dogs face whilst at the same time making plucking motions with his hand the dog rolls over and plays dead. I dare say this is probably just a normal dog trick but it does make me wonder, is it possible to hypnotise dogs?

I'm not an authority, but I've read one or two things that suggest that this is possible.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Zoe.

Do modern hypnotic techniques bear much relationship to those used by Franz Anton Mesmer? or were his successes merely a by-product of his work with magnetism?

Er.. I don't really know. I think it has changed quite a bit since his day.


You can hypnotise animals, usually by turning them upside down, they will remain motionless like this until you intervene but different techniques work on different animals. I can't say I've actually tried it.

 

[fluffle9]

You can hypnotise animals, usually by turning them upside down, they will remain motionless like this until you intervene but different techniques work on different animals.

not quite indefinitely, but they'll sit there for a minute or two i think.

for birds you put their head under their wing.
ferrets go a bit weird if you kind of, erm, stroke them in a funny way. i've seen it done.

 

[lemonpie3]

I used to hypnotise ducks when I was a kid.
You just stare at them really hard, eventually they'd kind of slump their heads down in a cartoony going-under-stylee

 

[strangefruit]

hmmmm,

Maybe with animals we can communicate by thought. As a kid at the zoo I always used to want to see the monkeys do the 'wanking' thing (sorry to be crude). More often than not, they did!

Telepathic/ dirty monkeys / strange child

You decide!

 

[Mythopoeika]

They probably do that every 5 minutes anyway.

 

[ramonmercado]

Hypnosis 'reduces cancer pain'
By Paul Rincon
BBC News Online science staff, at the BA festival


Childhood cancer patients suffer less pain when placed under hypnosis, scientists have claimed.
Children who had been hypnotised in trials reported they had less pain from medical procedures as well as cancer-related pain.

Dr Christina Liossi, from University of Wales, Swansea, suggested there was even tentative evidence that hypnosis prolonged the lives of cancer patients.

The research is being presented at the BA Festival of Science in Exeter.

In one study, 80 children were placed in four groups: two experimental groups who were treated with an anaesthetic and hypnosis.

Two control groups were just given the anaesthetic.

"All [40] children who used hypnosis with a local anaesthetic felt much less pain than children who were just given the local anaesthetic," said Dr Liossi.

The children, aged six to 16, were placed under hypnosis by experts and then taught to hypnotise themselves before they underwent procedures.

Children not treated with hypnosis were talked to and counselled instead.

"We asked children to rate their pain from 0 to 5 on a graded scale. Before we perform hypnosis we ask them to rate their pain on this scale," Dr Liossi explained.

"Then we introduce hypnosis and then we ask them to rate pain again and they report much less."

Brain changes

Other evidence presented at the festival also supports the idea that hypnosis is a genuine physical state and that people are not simply deceiving themselves into thinking they are hypnotised.


There are some studies and there are some encouraging results from these that hypnosis can probably improve the survival of cancer patients. But at the moment there isn't enough evidence
Dr Christina Liossi

Individuals who are highly susceptible to being placed under hypnosis show that there are changes in the left frontal cortex of the brain and a structure called the cingulated gyrus when viewed through a functional MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanner.
"The frontal lobe is concerned with our planning, our future actions, our analysis of the here and now, our critical evaluation and the things we do so we don't make silly mistakes," said Dr John Gruzelier of Imperial College, London.

"If you think about what the hypnotist does, he asks you to go with the flow and not critically analyse what you're doing."

Dr Liossi suggested there was even evidence that hypnosis might prolong life in adult cancer patients.

"There are some studies and there are some encouraging results from these," she said.

Adult cancer patients placed under hypnosis show fewer cancer-related symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and pain, said Dr Liossi.

"There are some studies and there are some encouraging results from these that hypnosis can probably improve the survival of cancer patients.

"But at the moment there isn't enough evidence."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/3642764.stm

Published: 2004/09/10 08:12:20 GMT

 

[ramonmercado]

Brain scans show hypnosis at work

Brain scans show hypnosis at work

Trance impairs brain's ability to plan one's own actions.

From the BA Festival of Science, Exeter, UK.

http://www.nature.com/news/2004/040906/full/040906-18.html

Being hypnotized really does have a physical effect on the brain.

A brain-imaging study has shed light on why some people are more susceptible than others to hypnosis. By hinting at the brain processes involved, the analysis also suggests that hypnosis - both the stage and therapeutic varieties - does have genuine effects on the brain's workings.

Those who are easily hypnotized show different activity in a brain region called the anterior cingulate gyrus, which is involved in planning our future actions, reports John Gruzelier of Imperial College London. In a hypnotic trance, the function of this region may be impaired, he says, meaning that subjects are more likely to follow a hypnotist's suggestion: "The hypnotist tells you to go with the flow, and so you don't evaluate what you're doing."

The evidence really is there; hypnosis is not miraculous

Peter Naish
Open University, UK



This is consistent with the idea that those who are easiest to hypnotize tend to describe themselves as generally letting go of their inhibitions quite easily, Gruzelier told the British Association Festival of Science in Exeter, UK, on Thursday.

Mind games

Some experts have argued that hypnotism is not a real physiological phenomenon at all, but rather the result of hypnotists imposing themselves on their subjects, who may be simply swept along. Stage hypnotists are often accused of intimidating their 'volunteers' into playing along for the sake of the show.

This effect is certainly part of the picture in performance hypnotism, says Gruzelier. "Lots of it is due to personality and persuasiveness, but then that's showbusiness," he told [email protected]. Such tactics can cause people to ignore the potential of genuine hypnosis to ease painful diseases, he adds: "Unquestionably, stage hypnotists give hypnotism a bad name."

"Humans like to comply; they don't like to be embarrassed," agrees Peter Naish, who studies hypnosis at the Open University in Milton Keynes, UK. But he insists that underneath the coercion used by charismatic stage acts, a physiological effect is occurring. "The evidence really is there; hypnosis is not miraculous," he adds.

Unquestionably, stage hypnotists give hypnotism a bad name

John Gruzelier
Imperial College



Hardcore trance

Gruzelier studied 24 subjects, half of whom were categorized as succumbing easily to hypnotism, and half of whom were resistant. He scanned the volunteers' brains while they tackled a problem called the Stroop task, a test of mental flexibility that requires subjects to categorize a list of colours presented in a different colour - the word 'green' printed in blue, say - depending either on the name or the actual colour.

Gruzelier tested the subjects before and after they underwent a standard procedure used by hypnotists to put their subjects into a trance. In resistant subjects, the anterior cingulate gyrus was less strongly activated after the procedure than before, showing that their brains were working less hard as they got better at planning how to complete the task.

Lots of it is due to personality and persuasiveness; it's showbusiness after all

John Gruzelier
Imperial College



But in hypnotized volunteers, the anterior cingulate, and the regions that govern it, were more strongly activated when they were in a trance, showing that they were struggling harder to plot their actions, Gruzelier reported. He suspects that this impaired ability to plan for oneself makes people more suggestible.

This process may underlie hypnotists' ability to influence their subjects' behaviour, be it stopping smoking or barking like a dog whenever they hear Elvis Presley. Subjects frequently report that they feel compelled to do something even though they know they don't really want to.

Gruzelier also suspects that hypnotism may interfere with subjects' evaluation of future emotions such as embarrassment. A region in the brain's medio-frontal cortex, close to the anterior cingulate, governs our perception of how we will feel if we take a certain course of action, he says. If connections between the two regions are impaired, stage volunteers might happily act without thinking.

That may well be the final weapon in the showbiz hypnotist's arsenal, says Gruzelier. By not only making volunteers suggestible but also taking away their sense of shame, the possibilities for public ridicule are immense. "The structure that monitors the emotional consequences of future actions becomes disconnected," he suggests. "So you make a fool of yourself."

 

[Anonymous]

I recently was struck by a coincidence.

I have so far been impossible to hypnotise. I get so far down, but there's always a bit inside my head watching and monitoring, and there comes a certain point where it seems to go "Nu-uh. Oh no you don't," and that's it. I'm completely out of it again.

I also suffer from insomnia. I get all three types (can't get to sleep, keep waking up, wake up early) but most commonly the keep waking up kind.

Discussing insomnia with someone the other day, he suffers from the same kind, and whenever someone has tried hypnotising him the exact same thing happens.

I wonder if this says something about our insomnia/inability to be hypnotised, or whther it is just random coincidence.

Sam

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Hypnosis really changes your mind

13:28 10 September 04



Hypnosis is more than just a party trick, it measurably changes how the brain works, says a UK researcher.

Hypnosis significantly affects the activity in a part of the brain responsible for detecting and responding to errors, says John Gruzelier, a psychologist at Imperial College in London. Using functional brain imaging, he also found that hypnosis affects an area that controls higher level executive functions.

“This explains why, under hypnosis, people can do outrageous things that ordinarily they wouldn’t dream of doing,” says Gruzelier, who presented his study at the British Association for the Advancement of Science Festival in Exeter, UK.

The finding is one of the first to indicate a biological mechanism underpinning the experience of hypnosis. Gruzelier hopes it will also benefit emerging research showing, for example, that hypnosis can help cancer patients deal with painful treatments.


Highly susceptible


Gruzelier and his colleagues studied brain activity using an fMRI while subjects completed a standard cognitive exercise, called the Stroop task.

The team screened subjects before the study and chose 12 that were highly susceptible to hypnosis and 12 with low susceptibility. They all completed the task in the fMRI under normal conditions and then again under hypnosis.

Throughout the study, both groups were consistent in their task results, achieving similar scores regardless of their mental state. During their first task session, before hypnosis, there were no significant differences in brain activity between the groups.

But under hypnosis, Gruzelier found that the highly susceptible subjects showed significantly more brain activity in the anterior cingulate gyrus than the weakly susceptible subjects. This area of the brain has been shown to respond to errors and evaluate emotional outcomes.

The highly susceptible group also showed much greater brain activity on the left side of the prefrontal cortex than the weakly susceptible group. This is an area involved with higher level cognitive processing and behaviour.


Stage hypnotists


Gruzelier concludes that, under hypnosis, these brain areas are having to work much harder to achieve the same cognitive task results. “This is confirming our model of hypnosis with very direct evidence of brain function,” he says.

Peter Naish, at the UK's Open University, says this moves the understanding of hypnosis away from the popular misconceptions created by showy stage hypnotists.

“We have a technique that has now moved towards evidence-based treatments,” he says. “Gruzelier’s work is showing for sure that the brain is doing quite different things under hypnosis than in normal everyday existence.”

Clinical trials of therapeutic hypnosis are starting to confirm its potential benefits. Christina Liossi, a psychologist at the University of Wales in Swansea, recently conducted a study of 80 cancer patients aged 6 to 16.

She found that those under hypnosis experienced far less pain during treatments than control children, who simply talked to the researchers normally.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996385

 

[HowardMarks]

Ive always been a bit of a hypnosis sceptic, so I jumped at the chance to go up on stage when a hypnotist came to my college a few years back.

He got us all to close our eyes and imagine we were somewhere nice and hot. I guess it helped because the heat and the light of the stage spotlights made you feel like you were. He talked for about five minutes going through his usual patter, and i began to feel slightly drowsy and 'out of it', although I was still quite aware where I was.
He would go to each person in turn and tell them to imagine something and how they would feel. He eliminated people off the stage depending on whether they were producing 'good' results. Some people just refused to be hypnotised and were got rid of straight away.
I played along for a while trying to go with the flow to see if I would become more hypnotised the longer it went on. Although I could feel that I was 'acting' I felt strangely detached from the reality and not embarrased at all in front of the crowd, even though I am normally quite a shy person.
At one point he told me that if he shook my hand in special way I would collapse. When he did shake my hand he also kind of pushed down on my with his other hand and I did immmediately collapse onto the floor. Lying on the floor i had the strange sensation of dreaming and detachment from reality again as I could hear the crowd laughing.
Eventually he thanked the remaining volunteers and told us that we would 'not remember a thing' until we next visited the lavatory, and then we would instantly recall the nights events.
Needless to say this didn't work as I still had full recollection of the events as I sat back in my seat.

To surmise, I think that hypnosis does work in a kind of a subconscious, relaxing way, but that the full participation of the hypnotee is definitely required to produce crowd pleasing results. I gave it my best shot at being hypnotised and to some extent it did work but I still have trouble believing that the people doing those crazy things on Paul Mckenna really don't know what they're up to.

 

[MrSnowman]

Has anyone here ever been hypnotised on stage, and did you -really- believe that you were a chicken/invisible/et al? I'm curious because I'm sure that if hypnosis really could work in such a way, then it could become a fantastic tool for treating anorexics or any type of people with body dysfunction disorders. Is it used as such, or is the lack thereof due to the medical profession not regarding it in such high esteem?

Your mesmerically,

Lord Snowman of Colwyn.

 

[Thirtysixth_Bee]

Maybe not quite what you're looking for; but I have a friend who about five years ago was really, really depressed over the end of a relationship. He just couldn't get over this woman who'd left him for someone else. He went to a (psychiatrist?) who hypnotized him to believe that he was over his ex and moving on with his life. It seems to have worked perfectly, as from that day forward he appears not to love her at all. When they're together socially, you wouldn't guess that they lived with each other for something like four years. On the other hand, my friend's personality hasn't changed a bit. He is still brooding and self destructive, and he is still exclusively attracted to sexy, mean women . . . . just not that one particular sexy, mean woman he had himself (reprogrammed?) to not care about anymore.

 

[Anome]

Richard Feynman discusses his experience with stage hypnosis in (I think) Surely You're Joking Mr Feynman. He basically says that he didn't think he ever lost control, but went along with it rather than make a scene.

Arguably, this means he did lose control of himself, but that's another long argument.

I have heard people at work discussing their experiences, and I am somewhat shocked at how little they actually remember. I have no idea what their mental state was at the time as a result. It could be that, like Feynman, they thought they were just playing along (and are now perpetuating the "fraud" by denying their responsibility for their actions, or not wanting to make the performer look bad) or that they found themselves able to deny their self-control and release pent up tension, or that they really were bent to the will of the hypnotist.

I personally would never agree to participate in such an "entertainment". One because I don't think that kind of thing is particularly entertaining, and two because I would be kind of afraid of actually losing control to another person. (I have issues about this, I know.)

 

[CuriousIdent]

Maybe not quite what you're looking for; but I have a friend who about five years ago was really, really depressed over the end of a relationship. He just couldn't get over this woman who'd left him for someone else. He went to a (psychiatrist?) who hypnotized him to believe that he was over his ex and moving on with his life. It seems to have worked perfectly, as from that day forward he appears not to love her at all. When they're together socially, you wouldn't guess that they lived with each other for something like four years. On the other hand, my friend's personality hasn't changed a bit. He is still brooding and self destructive, and he is still exclusively attracted to sexy, mean women . . . . just not that one particular sexy, mean woman he had himself (reprogrammed?) to not care about anymore.

Ruddy Hell! That's all a little bit 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'...

Even though I have been left a gibbering wreck by at least two noteable women formerly in my life I couldn't - no, wouldn't - go that far...

It can't be healthy.

 

[AsamiYamazaki]

My friend's dad got hypnotised by a stage hypnotist at a club up north - he was a good solid working man, so nothing fancy about him - and got put through all the motions. After the show, when he went back to join his wife and my friend, he was totally vague and disoriented. They got so worried they had to take him back to the hypnotist to be re-snapped out of it.

After hearing that, there was no way I'd ever do that.

Mind you, that said I went to see a hypnotherapist to make me stop smoking and it did bugger all except leave me with twice the urge to smoke and a brand new craving for icecream (had to stop twice on the walk home to indulge which was rather bizarre), so I had to go back to be deprogrammed too (maybe it was just a subconcious thing after hearing my friend's tale), but the hypnotherapist only undid the previous session and refused to try to tackle the smoking thing again.

 

[fluffle9]

i was hypnotised to try to treat anorexia and it didn't work, albeit largely because i didn't really want to be treated and was scared off when the therapist asked me to gain 2lb. i believe that he hypnotised me successfully, just failed to treat me successfully.

i also knew someone who was stage-hypnotised. he claimed that he was fully aware the whole time and only went along with it for a laugh etc etc, but to me it's worth noting that the alleged hypnotist did get him to do the stuff, whatever he says his reasons for compliance were.

 

[Anonymous]

My father was a licensed hypnotherapist, and held stage hypnotists, generally, in disdain. Most of the hypnosis we engaged in was pretty mundane.... roughly equivalent to daydreaming in class.

I have watched videos of Milton Erickson doing some impressive stuff... the 'hypnotist' that was hired to perform at my HS graduation party would have wet his pants in green envy. Unfortunately, Dad was pretty quiet about his profession in general and now he's dead. I inherited the specialist's books... but not his mind! :?

 

[elffriend]

Okay just found this thread.

I was hypnotised by Paul Mckenna in one of his live stage shows!!!!

Loads of volunteers raced up on stage and started the process and I was in the final 10.

I was convinced that I was not hypnotised as I appeared to be fully aware of what I was doing BUT I cannot account for the strange things I did and said on stage that night in front of 2500 people!!!!

I still recall the night in VIVID detail and that was 11 years ago :shock:

 

[brianellwood]

I just cannot believe that this discussion on the validity of hypnosis as a clinical effect is still going on! It's 50 years since I personally witnessed surgery under hypnosis and learned to use the technique myself, and yet people are continueing to argue about it. Part of the trouble seems to be the ridiculous mythology placed on hypnosis by films, fiction and the tabloid press. There is no 'power' vested in the hypnotist, no magnetic radiation from the fingers as Mesmer seemed to suggest. It's a simple routine which any-one can learn and which is effective on a large number of people to varying degrees, but not on every-one. I think Forte would be surprised to hear that there is still an issue with the subject.

 

[carole]

I am at present having hypnotherapy, which is unearthing some interesting things about the workings of my mind. On my first visit the hypnotherapist explained that I would not be unconscious, but in a deeply relaxed state, 'shutting out' certain things while I concentrated on others.

I found this is what happened, I can remember what I said and what was said to me.

I'm finding it quite helpful, but am of the opinion that the stage hypnotism routines are a load of hooey. You don't become completely unconscious and you would never do things that are alien to your character.

Carole

 

[elffriend]

I agree that you would not do anything alien to your character. When Mckenna asked me to look through special glasses that would reveal all the men in the audience unclothed I didn't 'see' what he wanted me to. But actually seeing a room full of naked men would have been embarrassing for me so I suppose my subconscious stopped me 'seeing' something I did not want to look at.

 

[BaronVonHoopla]

What DID you see? Just regular men?

-Fitz

 

[Mal_Adjusted]

Greets

Tuesday, February 01, 2005 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.

Hypnotism in Russia a street-crime weapon?

By Kim Murphy

Los Angeles Times

MOSCOW — He was striking, with dark eyes, a long black ponytail and a stylish suit. He had a large, cheap ring that Olga couldn't stop looking at as he waved his hand repeatedly in front of her face.

"He was talking gibberish," she recalled. That he had left his wallet in a taxi. That he was supposed to meet someone at Sheremetyevo Airport. That he couldn't remember where he lived.

Olga offered him the $250 in her purse for a taxi, but he said it wouldn't be enough. She found herself leading the man to her apartment. There, she opened her safe and counted out $500. "Can I have more?" he asked. "Can I have the 7,000 rubles in your purse?" Without replying, Olga emptied her wallet into his hands.

As they rode back down the elevator, Olga knew the man was a thief. She knew she should demand her money back before it was too late. But she couldn't open her mouth. "I was in a trance," she said later.

Almost immediately after he left, Olga broke into hysterical sobs and phoned a friend, who persuaded her to go to the police. There, detectives nodded knowingly. "Gypsy hypnosis," they said.

Across Moscow, a chestnut as old as crystal balls and gypsy curses makes regular appearances on the crime logs — hundreds of victims a year who say they were seduced out of their money in seemingly chance encounters with strangers. Many claim they were hypnotized by intense stares, mesmerizing babble and warnings of curses on their loved ones.

A tradition of concern

To some of Moscow's cynical detectives, their desks heaped with Mafia assassinations and billion-dollar business-fraud cases, the idea of street hypnosis has the whiff of mumbo-jumbo. Not so to many Russians reared on folk tales of vampires, witches — and, in the modern era, the hidden powers of the mind.

Czarina Alexandra fell famously under the influence of the allegedly hypnotic powers of the "mad monk," Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin, in the early 20th century.
The late Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev had a personal psychic healer.

Former President Boris Yeltsin's staff included a security consultant hired to protect the former chief executive from "external psychophysical influence" after a mysterious antenna was found in his private office.

In 2001, President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill making it illegal to employ "electromagnetic, infrasound ... radiators" and other weapons of "psychotronic influence" with intent to cause harm.

For years, famous Russian chess masters have suggested that their games were impaired by hypnotists planted in the audience. Garry Kasparov has long credited Azerbaijani psychic Tofik Dadashev with helping him win the world chess championship in 1985 against fellow Russian Anatoly Karpov (who had his own psychologist trained in hypnotic techniques on hand).

A climate for mysticism

The attraction to mysticism has intensified in recent years, Russian sociologists say, because of the tough economic climate and pent-up interest released with the collapse of the Soviet Union and its long-standing prohibitions on dabbling in the occult practices.

"Many people now live on the verge of despair, given their economic situation, which humiliates them and destroys their families," said Yelena Bashkirova, head of the Bashkirova and Partners Independent Sociology Center in Moscow. "They are attracted to psychics, to magicians and witches ... out of fragility and desperation."

Police say the main perpetrators of such street fraud are Gypsies, long the victims of police profiling and widespread public discrimination.

"These are people who have honed their skills to perfection — they have been pulling these kinds of confidence tricks on people for centuries, for generations," Dadashev said.

Many Gypsies scoff at the notion of street hypnosis and accuse the police of unfairly maligning the entire community. "Gypsies have their own unique culture and traditions which, like the ones in all other nations, are based on good, not evil," said Nadezhda Demetr, a Gypsy who has a doctorate in gypsy studies. "Gypsy culture has nothing to do with cheating, thievery and confidence tricks."

But many investigators say they are certain that some suspension of logical thought is involved.

"Could a person operating with all of his faculties agree with a plan under which all of the money he saved during his entire life should be given to these people in the street?" said detective Valery Shkarupa, who has handled hundreds of "gypsy hypnosis" cases.

In Moscow, detectives process an estimated 300 to 400 reports a year of what they call gypsy hypnosis.

Some fraud experts refer to neuro-linguistic programming, a concept that holds that language patterns can put people into semihypnotic states, even in everyday situations. Victims occasionally come to their senses with no recollection of how they lost their money.

"In these cases, the victim would not be able to remember anything at all — a totally blank mind," said Alexei Skrypnikov, a retired police colonel and former psychology researcher at the Scientific Research Institute of the federal police.

"A certain person approached them, said, 'Do this, do that,' " Skrypnikov said. "I can absolutely say that people who are of totally sound mind, and not doped up, are being manipulated into handing over their money and valuables to people who vanish into thin air."

Skrypnikov said the techniques were simple, yet effective.

"The essence of the technique is, form replaces content. Our brain is built so it can process only so much information over a certain period of time. ... In cases where the flow of information is either too powerful and fast, or on the other hand, too slow ... the brain slows down, and the person's level of vigilance drops," he said.

Police have made scattered arrests among Russia's close-knit, secretive Gypsy community. Ethnic Russians are occasionally arrested as well.

But even when a perpetrator is clearly identified, it can be difficult to make a case, said Moscow Detective Andrei Kuznetsov.

"Even if we have a case where someone actually leaves something like a passport at the scene of a crime, we'll go back to their neighborhood, say, a gypsy village in the Vladimir region, and we will end up with a scene where the entire village, 300 people, men, women and children, will come to the town square and swear that, no, [the suspect] was home when the crime occurred, she was sick in bed, they all saw her there."

Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002166501_hypnotic01.html

(any similarity to this and an urban legend are purely co-incidental?)

mal

 

[elffriend]

What DID you see? Just regular men?

-Fitz

Yup, just the audience all dressed, no nakedness at all. But I did and said alot of weird stuff that night that I cannot account for :shock:

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

BRITISH HYPNOTIST JAILED OVER CLIENT SEX

A British hypnotist accused of having sex with several patients and secretly video-taping them has been jailed in the United States.

Michael Johnstone, 64, entered a plea deal, admitting reckless endangerment and breach of peace charges.

The London-born immigrant was jailed for 90 days by the Milford Superior Court in Connecticut.

Johnstone, who has lived in the US for more than 20 years, confessed to having sex with female patients and secretly taping trysts in his offices.

The victims, in their 40s and 50s, claimed they were put under a trance before being sexually assaulted.

Johnstone could still face deportation back to Britain if immigration authorities decide to take action.

Under the plea deal he is banned from working as a hypnotist but does not have to register as a sex offender.

On release he will serve three year's probation.

His lawyer, Hugh Keefe, said six women had claimed they were put under a hypnotic trance by Johnstone before he had sex with them.

"But he only admitted having sexual relations to the extent that they were consensual," he added.

Johnstone, who used to operate Positive Changes Hypnosis in Milford, had originally faced charges of first-degree sexual assault.

He was arrested in May 2003 after several women lodged complaints. The incidents occurred between 2000 and 2003.

Source

 

[Anonymous]

Well, my dad was a licensed hypnotherapist and an Eriksonian psychologist. He had some mild contempt (he was a mild-mannered guy) for stage hypnotists, but didn't doubt that some of them could actually put people into hypnotic states.

He hypnotized me on several occasions to help me overcome my stage fright (back when I wanted to be a stage actor) and they worked, to my surprise, when the curtains finally raised. In rehearsals I would be a mess up until the final dress then I would more or less function on autopilot until the end of the show. It was like being 'in the pocket' as I've heard sportsmen and musicians say. I was a very 'mechanical' actor too. I had to have everything absolutely memorized and improvisation was a nightmare.

Anyway, yeah it's real IMO.

 

[Anonymous]

Hypnosis is about acessing the unconcious mind which is basically the same thing as the right hand side of the brain.

Sorry, got to get a bit off-topic on your asses here. Arn't we on semantically/ morally/ medically/ metaphysically shakey ground to state so catagorically that any part of the brain is "the same thing" as any 'part' of the mind?

The Mind is an abstract concept, the brain a physical organ. If one says that "brain" and "mind" are synonymous, then one is beginning to sound like an eliminativist, who would state that all brain functions are chamical/electrical, as there is no abstract "mind" or "emotion", and that one can only ever use terms like "I feel happy" or "I don't like milky tea" as colloquial shorthand for more precise terms like "A certain part of my brain is functioning in a certain way this morning" or "When neurons send my brain information suggesting I can see milky tea, neurons in another part of my brain do something else."

Oh, and don't get me started on the moral implications of thinking like this...


Sorry. Way off topic, and certainly not intended as a dig. Just gets me thinking...

 

[tamyu]

Hypnosis is about acessing the unconcious mind which is basically the same thing as the right hand side of the brain.

Sorry, got to get a bit off-topic on your asses here. Arn't we on semantically/ morally/ medically/ metaphysically shakey ground to state so catagorically that any part of the brain is "the same thing" as any 'part' of the mind?

I just wanted to say that I agree with you.
Although doctors have a vague idea of what parts of the brain USUALLY show activity when certain things are happening, there is no real "map" of the brain. I happen to feel very strongly about this, as my son only has 70% of a brain - and is showing no delays at this point. His father is also missing a big chunk of supposedly "vital" brain tissue, with no ill effects whatsoever (we didn`t even know it was gone until he had a routine check for a concussion after a small car accident - we were told it happened when he was still a baby.)
The brain is capable of moving most, if not all, of it`s functions around.

And now on topic - I go into a panic state if anyone tries to put me under. I don`t know why, but the second I start to feel any sort of driftiness, I feel absolute horror and have to literally get away before I start REALLY panicking.
My husband on the other hand, is very easily put under.

I can`t fall asleep anywhere but in a bed/futon with a heavy blanket (and it takes forever if it`s not MY futon), but he can fall asleep ANYWHERE.

I wonder if there is some sort of connection?

 

[Mal_Adjusted]

Brain Imaging Studies Investigate Pain Reduction By Hypnosis

Greets

more info..

University of Iowa News Release

March 14, 2005

Brain Imaging Studies Investigate Pain Reduction By Hypnosis

Although hypnosis has been shown to reduce pain perception, it is not clear how the technique works. Identifying a sound, scientific explanation for hypnosis' effect might increase acceptance and use of this safe pain-reduction option in clinical settings.

Researchers at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and the Technical University of Aachen, Germany, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to find out if hypnosis alters brain activity in a way that might explain pain reduction. The results are reported in the November-December 2004 issue of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.

The researchers found that volunteers under hypnosis experienced significant pain reduction in response to painful heat. They also had a distinctly different pattern of brain activity compared to when they were not hypnotized and experienced the painful heat. The changes in brain activity suggest that hypnosis somehow blocks the pain signal from getting to the parts of the brain that perceive pain.

"The major finding from our study, which used fMRI for the first time to investigate brain activity under hypnosis for pain suppression, is that we see reduced activity in areas of the pain network and increased activity in other areas of the brain under hypnosis," said Sebastian Schulz-Stubner, M.D., Ph.D., UI assistant professor (clinical) of anesthesia and first author of the study. "The increased activity might be specific for hypnosis or might be non-specific, but it definitely does something to reduce the pain signal input into the cortical structure."

The pain network functions like a relay system with an input pain signal from a peripheral nerve going to the spinal cord where the information is processed and passed on to the brain stem. From there the signal goes to the mid-brain region and finally into the cortical brain region that deals with conscious perception of external stimuli like pain.

Processing of the pain signal through the lower parts of the pain network looked the same in the brain images for both hypnotized and non-hypnotized trials, but activity in the top level of the network, which would be responsible for "feeling" the pain, was reduced under hypnosis.

Initially, 12 volunteers at the Technical University of Aachen had a heating device placed on their skin to determine the temperature that each volunteer considered painful (8 out of 10 on a 0 to 10 pain scale). The volunteers were then split into two groups. One group was hypnotized, placed in the fMRI machine and their brain activity scanned while the painful thermal stimuli was applied. Then the hypnotic state was broken and a second fMRI scan was performed without hypnosis while the same painful heat was again applied to the volunteer's skin. The second group underwent their first fMRI scan without hypnosis followed by a second scan under hypnosis.

Hypnosis was successful in reducing pain perception for all 12 participants. Hypnotized volunteers reported either no pain or significantly reduced pain (less than 3 on the 0-10 pain scale) in response to the painful heat.

Under hypnosis, fMRI showed that brain activity was reduced in areas of the pain network, including the primary sensory cortex, which is responsible for pain perception.

The imaging studies also showed increased activation in two other brain structures -- the left anterior cingulate cortex and the basal ganglia. The researchers speculate that increased activity in these two regions may be part of an inhibition pathway that blocks the pain signal from reaching the higher cortical structures responsible for pain perception. However, Schulz-Stubner noted that more detailed fMRI images are needed to definitively identify the exact areas involved in hypnosis-induced pain reduction, and he hoped that the newer generation of fMRI machines would be capable of providing more answers.

"Imaging studies like this one improve our understanding of what might be going on and help researchers ask even more specific questions aimed at identifying the underlying mechanism," Schulz-Stubner said. "It is one piece of the puzzle that moves us a little closer to a final answer for how hypnosis really works.

"More practically, for clinical use, it helps to dispel prejudice about hypnosis as a technique to manage pain because we can show an objective, measurable change in brain activity linked to a reduced perception of pain," he added.

In addition to Schulz-Stubner, the research team included Timo Krings, M.D., Ingo Meister, M.D., Stefen Rex, M.D., Armin Thron, M.D., Ph.D. and Rolf Rossaint, M.D., Ph.D., from the Technical University of Aachen, Germany.

University of Iowa Health Care describes the partnership between the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and UI Hospitals and Clinics and the patient care, medical education and research programs and services they provide. Visit UI Health Care online at www.uihealthcare.com.

STORY SOURCE: University of Iowa Health Science Relations, 5135 Westlawn, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1178

http://www.uiowa.edu/~ournews/2005/march/031405hypnosis.html

mal