Hypnosis is the art of putting thoughts into other minds. Hypnotists are also known for their work as mesmerists.
Hypnosis can be classified into a variety of categories, based on the type of inductions the mesmerist uses to do their job.
One contemporary mesmerist in our day is Jon Finch.
His skills include psychic suggestion, ideomotor responses, catalepsy, and visualization.
Hypnosis refers to a state of human consciousness that involves focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness and an enhanced ability to react to suggestions. It could be used to describe an art, skill or the act of provoking the state of hypnosis.
Theories of what happens during hypnosis fall into two groups. The theories of altered state view the hypnosis process as an altered state of mind, also known as Trance, characterized by an awareness level that is different from the normal conscious state. Contrary to this, nonstate theories see hypnosis as an act of imagination or performance.
The most well known
mesmerism
involves obtaining dreams using suggestion, but different forms of hypnosis are sometimes included.
When hypnotized, a person is said to have heightened concentration and focus. The focus is narrowed to the topic that is in front of them and the person who is hypnotized is believed to be in state of trance or sleep, with an increased capacity to respond to suggestion. A person might suffer from partial amnesia that allows them to forget certain things, or to disconnect with past or present memories. It is also believed that they exhibit an increased response to suggestions. This could explain why the person might engage in activities that are not the normal behavior patterns.
Certain experts believe that the susceptibility to hypnotics is related to personality characteristics. People who are highly hypnotized by psychopathic, narcissistic, or Machiavellian personality characteristics may feel that hypnotic experiences are more like controlling someone else rather than being managed. However, people with an altruistic personality type will likely remember and take in ideas more easily and respond to their suggestions with confidence, without fearing for their safety.
Theories describing the hypnotized state define it as a state of high intensity and attentional focus as well as changes in brain activity or levels of awareness, or dissociation.
In popular culture the word "hypnosis" often brings to the mind stereotypes of stage hypnosis involving spectacle-like transformations from an awake state into a trance state, usually depicted by the subject's arms dropping hypnotically towards their side, the suggestion that they're drunk or asleep, and a subsequent demand that they perform some action. Stage hypnosis is typically done by an entertainer taking the role of the professional hypnotist. The subject's compliance is enacted by putting them in a trance state where they will accept and follow suggestions given to them.
"Hypnosis" is a term that refers to "hypnosis" can be used to describe non-state phenomenon. There has been some argument that the effects that are observed in hypnotic inductions are simply instances of classical conditioning and the responses that have been learned from prior experience with the state of hypnosis. However, it is generally agreed upon in the field that even in artificially-induced states that are highly suggestible (known as trance logic) it is possible to experience an elevated level of logical, linguistic and cognitive functioning that behaves normally even when it appears to be highly focused. This strange phenomenon has been suggested to be the result of two cooperating processes working against each other: one becomes more focused, while the other becoming less focused. The hypnotized subject has a diminished focus, but simultaneously it is able to concentrate on matters that relate to the suggestion made by the hypnotist.
There are a variety of theories regarding the actual process that takes place inside the brain when someone is hypnotized. However, there does seem to be an agreement on the fact that it's a combination of a focused concentration and an altered state.
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People under hypnosis generally are more likely to experience their focus focused on the brain region in which the voice of the hypnotist coming from. This results in a greater stimulation of processing of attention that shuts out other sensory information. Hypnotized people are able to concentrate intensely on the suggested behaviour, but they are capable of performing activities outside of their normal behavior patterns. The intense focus causes an altered state of mind in the brain.