Hypnosis

Hypnosis is a wakeful state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility, with diminished peripheral awareness. 

Hypnosis is a completely natural state and it is pleasant and relaxing. It is out of question for anybody to in any way be hurt by hypnosis.  The ancient method of hypnosis is more and more used as a complement in medicine where it has proved to be a valuable alternative to drugs. Hypnosis has been used for thousands of years to effectively speed up healing and relieve stress symptoms. 

Asklepios, Greek God of medicine, healing, and hypnosis, was said to oversee the treatment of sick people in "dream healing temples."

Hypnosis itself is not therapy. Instead, it is used to create a state of mind where the client and the therapist work together to bring forward inner processes (feelings, memories, images or wishes), it is these inner processes that can render the desired results.  When the client is in a hypnotic state of mind, the therapist can give suggestions meant to help the client.

Hypnosis has nothing to do with magic wands and occult abilities, even if some people consider it pure magic the truth is it their insights would’ve increased and thus symptoms would’ve vanished.  It is as scientific as any other procedure being conducted in modern laboratories.

According to the American Psychological Association's Division 30, hypnosis may bring about "changes in subjective experience, alterations in perception, sensation, emotion, thought or behavior.” The hypnotic state may also facilitate change in the body: it has been successfully used as a treatment for irritable bowel syndrome, as an alternative to chemical anaesthesia and it has been studied as a way to soothe skin ailments.  Skeptics point out the difficulty distinguishing between hypnosis and the placebo effect, proposing that the state called hypnosis is "so heavily reliant upon the effects of suggestion and belief that it would be hard to imagine how a credible placebo control could ever be devised for a hypnotism study.” Self-hypnosis is popularly used by people who want to quit smoking and reduce stress, while stage hypnosis can be used to persuade people to perform unusual public feats.

Hypnosis has been studied in many clinical situations with varying degrees of success. It has been used as a painkiller, an adjunct to weight loss, a treatment of skin disease, and a way to soothe anxious surgical patients. It has also been used as part of psychological therapy, a method of habit control, a way to relax, and a tool to enhance sports performance.

Hypnotherapy is the use of hypnosis in psychotherapy.  It is used by licensed physicians, psychologists, and in stand-alone environments. Physicians and psychiatrists may use hypnosis to help treat depression, anxiety, eating disorders, sleep disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Certified hypnotherapists who are not physicians or psychologists often do treatments for smoking cessation and weight loss. Success rates vary: a meta-study researching hypnosis as a quit-smoking tool found it had a 20 to 30 percent success rate, similar to many other quit-smoking methods, while a 2007 study of patients hospitalized for cardiac and pulmonary ailments found that smokers who used hypnosis to quit smoking doubled their chances of success.

Influencing crowds through common longings and yearnings by a demagogue is called "mass hypnosis." Many forms of music and dance can be used to create religious trance.

Due to stage hypnotists' showmanship, many people believe hypnosis is caused by the hypnotist's power. However, the real power of hypnosis comes from the trust the hypnotist can instill in his subjects. They have to willingly grant him the ability to take over their critical thinking.

The desire to be the center of attention, having an excuse to violate their own inner fear suppressors and the pressure to please are thought to convince subjects to 'play along.'

Hypnotism has also been used in forensics, sports, education, physical therapy and rehabilitation.

Excerpts taken from this article are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. They use material from Wikipedia topics "Lucid Dream" and/or "Sleep".