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WHAT IS HYPNOSIS?

Have you ever been absorbed in a book and not heard someone call you? Have you ever found yourself daydreaming and lost all track of time? Believe it or not, that’s a form of hypnosis. A hypnotic state is just deep relaxation, with focused attention. Patients are not asleep, just completely relaxed. They are actually in a heightened state of awareness (for example, the senses of smell and hearing are enhanced).

Hypnosis is a natural, normal state of mind that can be used to instruct and direct your unconscious. In hypnosis, the conscious (thinking) part of your mind is completely relaxed. This allows your unconscious mind to become more active, which means you can address phobias, bad habits or other concerns at their root.

Hypnosis is a powerful tool for making positive changes in your life. There is nothing weird or magical about hypnosis. It is safe and natural, because all it does is relax you deeply into a state of mind in which you can deal with any problem.

There is no universal ‘hypnotised feeling’, because everyone’s experience of hypnosis is different. Most people find the experience very calming and relaxing, giving them a sense of peace, comfort and wellbeing.

A BRIEF HISTORY

The earliest references to hypnosis come from ancient Egypt and Greece, and references have been found in texts from ancient China and in the Hindu Vedas.

The father of modern Hypnosis may well have been Frans Anton Mesmer, who lent his name to the term “mesmerised”. Born in 1734, Mesmer graduated in medicine at Vienna.

James Braid, a doctor practising in Manchester, coined the term ‘hypnosis’ in the 1830s (from the Greek word ‘hypnos’ which means ‘sleep’). He later regretted his choice of word, because hypnosis does not involve sleep, but by then the term was in common usage.

A British surgeon, James Esdaile, used hypnosis as an anaesthetic and performed many well-documented operations using the technique. However, the discovery and use of medical ether in the 1840s effectively ended the use of hypnosis as an anaesthetic.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has only recently changed its attitude to complementary therapies, including hypnosis. Although the BMA formerly opposed non-medical treatment, they now accept the efficacy of some properly regulated complementary therapies, and have advised doctors to seek more information to help meet public demand for treatment. As a result, many GPs now refer patients directly to qualified hypnotherapists.