Hypnosis: Is it Magic or Science?

Hypnosis is an ancient art of inducing a trance-like state where a subject becomes highly susceptible to suggestion. It is the only practice that circus magicians and reputable scientists share. You may have seen a mentalist hypnotize her subjects in an enthralling stage show or you may have heard of the therapeutic use of this fascinating practice. If hypnosis ever stimulated your curiosity, here is a brief overview of how it works.

Hypnosis is a practice that dates back to ancient times. The earliest record of hypnosis dates back to Ibn Sina, the pioneering polymath of the Islamic Golden Age, otherwise known as Avicenna. In his masterpiece, The Canon of Medicine, he explored how the induction of altered states of consciousness and the power of suggestion can be instrumental in a therapeutic context. Ibn Sina was among the first physicians who developed the notion that the mind can influence physical health.

Hypnosis was later reintroduced in the 18th century by German physician Franz Mesmer, but in a slightly different way. Mesmer propagated the idea the hypnotists channeled a mystical fluid force called ‘animal magnetism’ to their subjects and manipulated it to cure them. During that period, hypnosis was known as Mesmerism. Many scientists, including James Braid, critiqued Mesmer’s seemingly magical explanation. Braid attempted to understand hypnosis on the ground of common sense. He argued that hypnosis was a psychological state characterized by focused attention, decreased peripheral awareness, and heightened suggestibility. 

The Rise of Hypnotherapy

Braid’s work on hypnosis gained tremendous popularity and global recognition. After neurologist Étienne Eugène Azam translated Braid’s last manuscript, On Hypnotism, to French, France became the central hub for studies in hypnosis. Paris was divided into two schools led by two influential figures: Jean-Martin Charcot and Hippolyte Bernheim. Charcot believed that hypnosis was a special state that could only be induced in patients suffering from hysteria or other pathological illnesses. 

Nevertheless, Charcot’s work was significantly influential in establishing hypnosis as a legitimate subject of scientific inquiry. Bernheim, on the other hand, believed that hypnosis is a normal psychological state that anyone is prone to experience. Both Charcot and Breinheim used hypnosis in their practice to treat medical and psychological illnesses. Their competitive approaches to hypnotherapy came to be known as the ‘Sapêtrière School’ and the ‘Nancy School’, respectively. Eventually, the Nancy School prevailed as the dominant view of hypnotherapy.

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, is the most famous figure who used hypnotherapy in his practice. Before developing psychoanalysis, Freud found hypnosis an effective method to exhume repressed traumas in his clinical work. In 1885, he went on a 19-week trip to Paris to work with Charcot at the Sapêtrière Clinic on patients suffering from hysteria. Later, Freud visited the Nancy Clinic and familiarized himself with Bernheim’s approach. These visits tremendously influenced Freud as they demonstrated the power of the mind to inflict and heal mental ailments, which were generally considered to be the byproduct of neurological and physiological factors. The unconscious mind thus became central to his investigation.

After returning to Vienna, Freud opened a private clinic where he treated patients through hypnotherapy. However, after he developed his method of free association and interpretation, he grew less in favor of hypnosis. Initially, he attempted to synthesize the process of free association and hypnosis to speed up the treatment of his patients, only to later discover its shortcomings. In 1919, he argued that the use of hypnotherapy “will compel us to alloy the pure gold of analysis plentifully with the copper of direct suggestion”. Nevertheless, Freud’s earlier works on hypnotherapy significantly shaped modern theories and practices of hypnotherapy.  

The Hypnotized Brain

A study published in 2017 by Heidi Jiang et al. investigated the brain activity of 57 subjects under hypnosis using MRI scans. Researchers found three distinctive brain changes during hypnosis. Firstly, they reported lower activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate, which is the area of the brain responsible for decision-making, impulse-control, and other cognitive functions. Secondly, results showed an increase in the connection between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, responsible for executive function and memory, and the insula, responsible for sensorimotor processing, pain pathways, and risk-reward behavior.

Thirdly, researchers found a decreased connection between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the default mode of network, which is believed to explain why hypnotized subjects may engage in activities outside their habitual behavioral patterns.

Furthermore, research showed that different brain areas acted more autonomously under hypnosis, explaining the heightened susceptibility to suggestions and vivid imagery that characterizes the hypnotic state. As neurophysiologist Henry Railo explained, “In a normal waking state, different brain regions share information with each other, but during hypnosis this process is fractured and the various brain regions are no longer similarly synchronized”.  Effectively, a hypnotized brain processes information in an entirely different way. 

There are several techniques to induce a hypnotic state and different practitioners have developed various steps to that end. The most influential hypnotic induction method, known as ‘the eye-fixation’ technique or ‘Braidism’, was developed by Braid. In this technique, the hypnotist holds an object and positions it close to his or her subject in a way that produces maximum eye strain. The subject is asked to look at the object with utmost focus.

Braid argued that, at first, the subject’s eyelids would be contracted, but eventually will become increasingly dilated. At this point, the hypnotist must readjust his fingers in a way that points toward the subject’s eye, after which the latter’s eyelids will automatically close. The hypnotist may make suggestions that guide the subject to a more relaxed state during the process. While the eye-fixation technique remains influential, research later diminished its importance in hypnotic induction, purporting that the primary factor was the power of suggestion. 

The Role of Suggestions

In his later works, Braid attributed greater significance to the use of verbal and non-verbal forms of suggestions. Bernheim built on this later development and argued that “it is suggestion that rules over hypnosis”, marking him as the father of modern hypnosis (Bernheim, 1964). There are two types of suggestions that hypnotists may use depending on whether they are targeting the conscious or unconscious of their subjects. A hypnotist addressing the conscious mind of his subject will use more direct verbal suggestions such as requests and instructions.

On the other hand, a hypnotist addressing the unconscious mind of his subject will use subliminal or indirect suggestions in the form of stories, metaphors, or images. Whether direct or subliminal suggestions are more effective remains unsettled, but the choice depends on whether a practitioner believes that hypnosis operates on the conscious or unconscious aspect of her patient’s mind. 

Now that you have a sneak peek at how hypnosis works, would you be tempted to give it a try?