Hypnosis is a set of techniques surrounded by myths and unfounded mysteries. But in reality, its foundation is completely scientific and is based on the functioning of our brain.

Criticized by many, misunderstood by almost all, revered by some, and understood by a few, this is hypnosis. Myths amalgamate around her, giving her a very appropriate mystery pedigree for these dates. What is behind her? Wasn't that pseudoscience? If it works, can you do whatever you want with it? And if so, why isn't it used more often? Today we tell you what scientists know about it.

What actually is hypnosis?

Hypnosis is often confused with a state of unconsciousness, sleep, or even a coma. And anything farther from reality. Currently, there are dozens of myths associated with this psychological "phenomenon" that is also used for therapeutic purposes when possible. Hypertextual has spoken with Txema Campillo, a science communicator who has been fighting against pseudoscience for years. His deep fondness for hypnotism, together with his refined scientific vision, will help us better understand what is hidden behind hypnosis.

"There are a lot of definitions of hypnosis, but I prefer the definition used by Jeff Toussaint who says that hypnosis is an expanded state of communication," Txema tells us. Actually, hypnotized people are not unconscious, quite the opposite. If they were, they couldn't communicate. "A lot of times there are people that you hypnotize and they come out of the state because they're waiting to go unconscious, and they don't. You find out everything that's going on around you." On the other hand, Juan Dharma, a doctor of philosophy with and multidisciplinary master's degree in Psychology, as well as a researcher in therapeutic applications of hypnosis, gives us another point of view.

" Until recently, the vast majority of studies were based on an old paradigm in which hypnosis is defined as an altered state of consciousness," explains Juan. "In that state, the person is supposed to be more susceptible to what is known as the suggestions of the hypnotist." But today, this conceptualization, says the expert, is being displaced to better understand hypnosis through the evidence we have and after having overcome many prejudices about how the brain works.

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"Today it does not seem that the neurological tests verify the theory of the state. It does not seem, scientifically speaking, that it is very useful to divide the mind and reduce it to pure states. Without going to the most radical definitions, I like to define hypnosis as an experience. So we shift the emphasis from a state to a process ." This idea is more phenomenological, closer to our continuous reality than to the classical reductionist vision which, although it seems easier to understand, is less realistic.

It looks like a role play

Every day we play role-playing games where we put ourselves in a role. For example, we "play" to be workers, or bosses; Fathers and sons; citizens and police... this cultural imposition is a useful and necessary social construct to live the way we live. And it also affects hypnosis. " There are research groups that say that hypnosis is actually a role play where one person is instituted in the role of the hypnotist and another in that of the hypnotized". As we said, this does not mean that they are faking it, just as a worker and a police officer or a parent do not fake their role.

In this way, the hypnotized would be preconditioned by the experience. This is especially useful in hypnosis shows or therapeutic sessions, where the hypnotized acquires a position in which he trusts an authority: the therapist. Hypnosis would validate the expectations of the hypnotized role, which would explain the sensations that the body feels.

Hypnosis

But if it is a role play, why are such vivid sensations experienced? It's not such a strange thing. One only has to think about the massive suggestions or the shamanic experiences or the trances provoked in religious congregations. " A trance is that sensation of being with the attention completely concentrated on an idea, as it would happen with a runner who is reaching the finish line, for example. All this, in the end, can be explained by the ideomotor phenomena ", he affirms the hypnotist

This ideomotor section is one of the main components of the puzzle that makes up hypnosis. "Our brain is capable of representing certain things, and it's quite common." Moments before, Juan gave us a demonstration with the example of a lemon. By emphasizing the way of describing the experience, using certain words, and guiding our concentration towards said lemon, he has achieved an ideomotor manifestation: salivation. In fact, it is not difficult to observe the results, we only need to think of biting a lemon, its touch, and its color, to produce a physiological reaction.

The hypnotized do not lose their will

Hydrodynamic phenomena, as Juan commented, are the manifestation and also the driver of hypnotic phenomena. For example, if Juan tried to stop us from moving his arm, creating the idea that it is an iron beam, what would happen? The voice on the phone tries. "The person can come to feel, due to the ideomotor phenomenon, that they cannot move their arm, and it is like a circle in which they feed back by concentrating on that sensation, recycling it. This is how we get the person to experience not being able to move their arm".

But this does not mean that the hypnotists have control over the hypnotized. "If I then tried to stick a knife in this person's arm, the dissociation would immediately disappear, interrupting their attention from the process, from the experience, because at that moment it is more important to safeguard physical integrity." With this phrase, Juan explains to us that the hypnotized do not lose their will or their contact with reality at any time.

"A person in hypnosis does not lose his will", explains Txema Campillo, "he will never be able to do something he does not want to do". This is not to say that someone who consciously does not want to imitate an animal is going to get out of the hypnotic experience. Because at the end of the day it is something very similar to watching a horror movie: we enjoy being scared because we feel safe at all times. Making a "ridicule" in front of hundreds of spectators is something that does not put us in danger. "A very good example is doing the chicken or the dog. In their brain it's not a bad thing, so they do it even though they wouldn't do it normally," he continues.

"If you ask a person to undress, they will immediately wake up and you will probably get slapped," explains Txema. But of course, the limit varies from person to person. "To my knowledge, there are no known cases in which a hypnotist had to stop a person because she was undressing in public," Juan Dharma tells us. "The inhibition is so strong that we have it as a very accepted social construct. The ethical code also plays an important role."

"There is a known case of a person who came out in a hypnosis show and was asked to imagine a beach and start dancing, which is a warm-up exercise. This person, who was calmly participating, suddenly stopped and refused to continue. Asking later, it turned out that in their beliefs, or their religion, you can only dance at specific and sacred times, with a certain meaning, and dancing outside that context was an offense, "confirms the doctor of philosophy.

"Dissociation, seen from the outside, leads us to the misunderstandings of hypnosis. Can you force a person to do something against his will? No, because that person has lent himself to the contract or context of' hypnosis'. If there is a problem in which the person's physical or ethical integrity is compromised, the person would stop 'hallucinating' the hypnotic experience, which does not invalidate what they were experiencing".

You can't forget either

Another of the most widespread myths, apart from making a person act against their will, is to turn a human being into an automaton that does not remember what has happened. But you can't make memories forget. " It is not only not possible, but it is not desirable. The memory of traumatic experiences is useful because it makes us avoid danger." But, we insist, that hypnosis does not block memories or cause persistent amnesia.

The hypnotized remember perfectly everything that has happened

In fact, the hypnotized perfectly remember everything that has happened. "Most people usually remember everything that has happened during hypnosis," Txema tells us, speaking of his experiences as a hypnotist. "It has only happened to me with two people who did not remember anything when they came out of the 'trance'. They are what I like to call super subjects, who are very susceptible to hypnosis." But this is limited to the immediate hypnotic experience. And not in the long term.

"There are a few real cases of therapists using hypnosis to abuse their patients." This could happen within the context we described if the level of therapist-patient trust was very high, confirms Txema. "Of course, these patients remember everything and these therapists are in jail. If memories could be erased, these people would not have been arrested." Memory dissociation, like an ideomotor phenomenon, is a "hallucination" that occurs only for a short time.

Hypnosis can be used as therapy

This is not to say that hypnosis cannot be used therapeutically. "Provoking someone to suffer from a definitive permanent amnesia, of course, is impossible", confirms Juan Dharma, "It is true that there is a way to work the memory to break its strong emotional connection and, above all, so that this memory does not condition him. But this does not mean forgetting".

Hypnosis can also be used to treat pain, for example. "Hypnosis is fundamentally mindfulness, and it's been shown to help treat it because there's a big stress component to pain." Indeed, pain can be greatly mitigated with attention, distractions, and playful components, among other things. It is a fact contrasted on numerous occasions by science. "With hypnosis, through pain control therapies, we are not going to cure the injury. That has to be done by a doctor. What we do is divert attention away from the pain," explains Juan. "Attention is like a magnifying glass, it magnifies sensations, for example."

Of course, hypnosis is not some kind of cure-all therapy. It is not good for everything nor is it all-powerful. As we explained, it has a series of limitations associated with the mental characteristics of each person. However, with the proper technique and carried out by an expert, it can be very powerful when it comes to treating ailments, anxiety, and stress, among others.

Another of the great myths talks about the side effects of hypnosis but, to date, no side effect or any evil associated with hypnosis is known. It is impossible to get "stuck" in a hypnotic state or have a noteworthy mental problem occur. After all, the main crux of hypnosis is attention. And this can be redirected without any harm.

Not everyone is hypnotizable

Indeed, this is not a myth. We still don't really know why. There is probably a relationship with our connectome, that is, the neural connections in our brain and their makeup. But the truth is that we are still not clear why some people are hypnotizable and others are not. " It is assumed that there are 10% of people who are not hypnotizable at all, apart from people who, due to their physiology, cannot be hypnotized", explains Txema. "People with schizophrenia or neurological problems cannot be hypnotized normally."

Problems associated with mental or neurological illnesses are a barrier

Juan, in turn, explains that although there are theoretical differences in what happens when someone is hypnotized, practically everyone can experience hypnosis if they want. You cannot force or force someone to undergo hypnosis, as some show hypnotists try according to a classic scheme, which is where this idea that not everyone is hypnotizable comes from. "What we can say is that not everyone can be hypnotized at any time, by anyone, and with any technique," he says. "It is essential that the hypnotist makes the hypnotized want to experience it. We also know that some of the problems associated with mental or neurological illnesses are a barrier that prevents hypnosis. On the other hand, other people are easily suggestible. Especially when they have attended several hypnosis shows, for example.

"From my point of view, there is a public exposure effect of 'I'm different, I can be hypnotized and others can't.' you're validating the phenomenon." This process is what occurs in these people predisposed to be hypnotized. And how do you hypnotize a person?

The WTF moment

To hypnotize there is a series of techniques and an associated phenomenology that serve to guide the attention of the hypnotized. " We use a series of words, tones, we emphasize some parts of the communication ", explains Juan when asked about this topic. "There are several processes that can be used. Some people can only experience hypnosis with their imagination," Txema tells us. "The hypnotist does not have superpowers. Anyone can learn the techniques. Since he is better or worse it is up to each one."

Another method to generate the proper moment of hypnosis is what is known as a "pattern break" or, as Txema Campillo tells us, the "WTF moment". "One of the most typical gestures is that they are going to shake your hand and, suddenly they raise it, and you are left confused, thinking 'what is happening here. We unconsciously have very established routines, managed by the unconscious. When something goes out of that action, the brain interrupts the train of thought and goes to the first thing it can grab that makes sense. And that's what a hypnotist is used to saying 'stare at the palm of your hand and go to sleep".

Juan Dharma explains a little more about this mechanism. "At a cerebral level, surely what is happening is an activation of the amygdala [which is in charge of instinctive processes and emotions]. What happens is that it momentarily interrupts the activity of the prefrontal cortex, in charge of conscious decisions, activating a reaction to the surprise. In the words of the hypnotist, this puts our body on alert to get out of a social context by fighting or avoiding conflict.

In that moment of shock, he will most likely heed the hypnotist's command.

"The escape, socially speaking, is laughter. That's why jokes make us laugh. In the handshake, which is how it is known, you interrupt the person in the middle of a well-known process and they are completely disoriented. At that moment of shock will most likely heed the hypnotist's command. A known pattern. Now, you can also come across a person who has an attack response, and instead of being shocked, they actually unintentionally slap you.