Q: What do a feral boy raised by wolves, an up-and-coming photographer and a "really, really ridiculously good looking" male model have in common?
A: All three characters (Mowgli in The Jungle Book, Chris Washington in Get Out, and Derek Zoolander in Zoolander) fall prey to a sinister hypnotist.
Pop culture is rife with myths and misconceptions about hypnosis, and it's often portrayed as a mysterious and malevolent mode of mind control. Entertaining as such depictions may be, they are far removed from real-world hypnosis. Most importantly, you won't do anything under hypnosis that you wouldn't already do outside of hypnosis.
In a professional setting, a hypnotist will generally provide relatively benign suggestions, perhaps involving your arm being unable to bend or, at the most extreme, not recognizing yourself in a mirror. That's a far cry from Mugatu commanding Zoolander to assassinate the prime minister of Malaysia!
Myths: Mesmerising and magnetism
The origins of modern hypnosis and its mythology can be traced back to the 18th century, when German physician Franz Mesmer popularized his theory of 'animal magnetism'. According to Mesmer, illnesses were caused by disruptions to the flow of an invisible magnetic fluid present in all living things.
Mesmer would pass his hands over patients' bodies to manipulate their magnetic fluid, alleviating their symptoms in the process. The theatrics associated with these hand passes often produced trances (hence the term 'mesmerising' someone) and convulsions, with some women even reporting having experienced orgasms.
Although Mesmer's practice was regarded as in step with the leading scientific theories of the time, thankfully (or maybe not for those, uh, particularly responsive individuals) modern hypnosis theorists have distanced themselves from those ideas, instead emphasising the role of cognitive and psychological factors.
One recently-developed explanation of hypnotic phenomena relates to metacognition – 'thinking about thinking'. Let's say I ask you to imagine a cat. In your normal waking state, you can do this easily enough: you think of a cat and, snap, there it is in your mind. Critically, though, you retain an awareness that you generated the image of the cat yourself. This acknowledgment is described as a higher-order thought and represents your consciousness.
During hypnosis, higher-order thoughts might become disrupted in such a way that, while you still imagine the cat, you lose your awareness of having performed any mental activity behind the scenes. This, in turn, makes the 'imagined' cat feel like it's right there in front of you.
Generating calming imagery, like lakes or forests, can help patients relax before hypnotherapists provide targeted suggestions promoting clinically relevant benefits, such as stress reduction, mindfulness, and pain management skills. Others may find hypnosis helpful for weight loss or to quit smoking; some even use hypnosis in lieu of anaesthesia during childbirth or medical procedures.
Can anyone be hypnotised?
Maybe you've been reading along and thinking: "Guided imagery doesn't sound too challenging". So... can you be hypnotised? Chances are you can be, but maybe not to the extent you're considering.
Hypnotic responses, like many psychology measures, fall on a spectrum. Most individuals (about 90 percent) will observe their hand lowering following a suggestion for heaviness, but only about one person in ten will respond to more difficult suggestions, like being unable to say their name following a hypnotic suggestion for verbal inhibition. These individuals, described as 'highly hypnotisable', are of great interest to researchers.
Some characteristics might offer a clue as to whether you're in this particularly responsive minority. Do you have an active imagination that helps you creatively visualise and experience suggested scenarios? Do you have an ability to dissociate or mentally 'tune out' from your immediate surroundings or sensations? (In fact, a particular subset of individuals who've experienced early life trauma are found to be quite hypnotisable due to having developed this capacity for dissociation.)
Suggestibility over gullibility
Still, these factors have only limited correlation with one's level of hypnotisability. And common personality traits like intelligence, gullibility and agreeableness don't tend to predict whether someone is hypnotisable at all. This means the only way you can really find out if you're hypnotisable is to just sit down and give it a try.
In the end, by far the biggest predictor of hypnotisability is non-hypnotic suggestibility. If you can successfully visualise a colourful image in black and white, you should theoretically be able to generate a similar response during hypnosis.
But what about online? Hypnotherapists now offer services via digital platforms as an alternative to traditional face-to-face settings, with uptake accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Assuming you (a) can be hypnotised (aptitude) and (b) want to be hypnotised (attitude), current research indicates that yes, you can indeed be hypnotised online. Contrary to popular belief – and even some leading academic theories – the presence of a hypnotist doesn't seem necessary to produce hypnotic responses. My doctoral research found little performance difference between in-person interventions and online hypnosis sessions.
These findings supplement a growing body of work supporting the efficacy of online hypnosis. For instance, one research group in Ireland recently demonstrated that an online hypnosis intervention can help reduce migraine symptoms while several other labs have demonstrated that hypnosis recordings are effective in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome.
So, if the mention of hypnosis makes you picture a swinging pocket watch and a commanding presence, think again. Whether face to face or via a screen, hypnosis is much less about giving up control and more about your mind's capacity to respond to suggestion and imagination without over-thinking it.
