Life is brimming with vim and vigor, enough to cause stress and anxiety. This we all know. And because of life’s dynamism, we have been all witnesses of how some people easily become overwhelmed by circumstances. Low job performance, decreased interest in life, sleep issues, skin inflammations and addictions are some of the many undesirable symptoms of people’s difficulty to manage and cope with life’s events.
rnRecently, however, hypnosis has become a popular method to help anxiety-ridden individuals. These individuals are directed through a couple of effective exercises that will help them cope with demanding situations, alleviate persisting anxieties, and build new ways of perceiving the world. However, it still remains misunderstood. Debate continues. Questions and doubt still linger about its safety and effectiveness.
Here are some truths about hypnosis that you need to know.
1. Hypnosis is real!
Although there is still a need to burrow further into the art of hypnosis, one study showed that
children who underwent surgery benefited from hypnosis compared with those under routine care. Parents of the children in the hypnosis group reported that their children experienced lesser trauma and lower distress level. Furthermore, the medical staff reported that the procedure was less difficult to perform compared to the routine care group. The procedural time was also shorter.
2. You cannot be hypnotized without your consent.
Contrary to what many people may believe, hypnosis is not some mind control technique. You can never be hypnotized without your consent. Hypnosis cannot make you do things against your will. In some stage hypnosis shows, it may look like otherwise, but truthfully, participants in these kinds of shows are willing volunteers. They are not made to do what they do not want to do.
The same can be said for those who are hypnotized by a professionally trained hypnotist. They do not surrender to the whims of the hypnotist. The hypnotist's only function is to guide the patients towards an inner state of focused attention. They choose it for themselves in order to reach their goals, nothing more.
3. Genes partly predict who can be hypnotized.
To be easily hypnotized is partly the works of the genes. Though anyone can be hypnotized, others go into this trance state more easily than others because of their inherit traits.
Despite that fact that others are more gifted in this department, there are ways for the non-gifted ones to improve their hypnotic ability. Through the practice of mind and body techniques such as meditation, music therapy, and biofeedback, one can improve their ability to be hypnotized.
4. Hypnosis is related to IQ.
It is untrue to say that people who are unintelligent or weak-minded are the only ones who can be hypnotized. As a matter of fact, people with normal to higher IQ levels tend to have better hypnosis experience compared to below IQ levels. This greater capacity for higher IQ people to be hypnotized is due to their capability to concentrate better.
5. Hypnosis cannot be faked.
People, particularly those who do not believe in the power of hypnosis, fake being under it. However, hypnotists will always know if someone is faking. Physiological symptoms of hypnosis such as twitching of the fingertips, slow movements of the eyes, and change in the pigmentation in the face and neck cannot be faked.
6. Hypnosis can help stop addiction.
Hypnosis helps the mind to focus on a particular crisis and listen to hypnotic suggestions on how to deal with it. It helps addicts curb their addiction by reinforcing positive convictions to the subject in a trance-like state that it is possible for them to live in a world without their addictions. It instills a suggestion into their minds to lose the vices and face the problem in a different and more effective way.
7. Hypnosis can relieve inflammation.
With the body’s chemicals and hormones going haywire, allergies, rashes, and bowel inflammations can breakout. These inflammations clearly mark symptoms for anxiety and chronic stress. But with the use of hypnosis, these body responses can be controlled not to swell and inflame. This phenomenon has been clearly recorded by researchers from Barts and The London School for Medicine and Dentistry who conducted a “gut-focused” hypnotherapy on patients suffering from inflammation of the colon. Those subjects who participated in a 50-minute hypnotherapy session have a significant decrease in various markers of inflammation in their blood compared to the control group.
8. Hypnosis Can Improve Over-all Performance
The mind and the body are one, with the mind having complete control over the body. With this, the body can overcome whatever the mind believes it can overcome. If the mind sets itself to be free from anxious thoughts, the body will follow.
Symptoms of anxiety will not escalate and remain manageable.
A lot of people believe that hypnosis is just an act popularized and dramatized by stage performers and movie directors. But with the various studies and their compelling results, hypnosis’ name has been elevated into that of a real and credible method of managing anxiety-related health problems.