Have you ever been hypnotized? What about hypnotists? Are they real?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

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Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
We've all seen the videos of someone getting 'hypnotized' and then start walking around the stage clucking like a chicken. Is that for real? What do you think about the abilities of so called "hypnotists"? Have you ever been hypnotized, or seen it in real life?
Have you ever been hypnotized? What about hypnotists? Are they real?
 

I had a hypnosis session, once, to help with anxiety and fear prior to testifying in a criminal trial. I don't know if it worked or not. I remember every moment of it and it seemed at the time it was just a relaxation session. Maybe it didn't "take"? IDK.

I don't believe people would walk around clucking like a chicken or anything like that. Then again, some people are more easily manipulated? Perhaps I am more cynical and less susceptible to suggestion?
 
That's it. Some people can be hypnotized easily. Other people can not be hypnotized. I think we all are hypnotized by how we view the world. You can learn to hypnotize yourself, especially using helpful suggestions. :)
 

I tried it decades ago. We had a friend who was a dentist and used it in his practice. We thought it might help me quit smoking. Like @GoodEnuff I remember every minute of it and am not sure it had any affect on me. I have trust issues and don't think I could ever trust someone enough to be hypnotized.
 
A hypnotist entertainer came to my small town in Montana and put on a show. He could hypnotize a whole group of 20 people. He called for volunteers from the audience, and I I knew at least half of them, some respected members of the community. The hypnotist was very commanding. There was no soft spoken "Look into my eyes bla bla bla." He would shout at the group to sleep and some of my friends were actually falling off their chairs on the stage and hitting the floor with a thump. Then some of them did silly things when they were told. I remember one woman doing a thing that was sillier than chicken clucking, and very sexual.

I'm still skeptical, but how could people that I knew be part of such a scam? Well that was my question years ago. Today, I just recognize that even my friends can be deceitful. No harm done though. It was just a show, and I enjoyed it. But still...., my friends?
 
Those are not simple yes/no questions as the answers involve the general workings and the individual variances in human brains and the mind/body connection.

The American advertising industry has demonstrated repeatedly how suggestible (not to mention gullible) some people are. Some can actually be fairly quickly hypnotized, but most stage and therapeutic hypnotists agree that it is not likely they could MAKE a subject do something against their basic nature-- unless it is combined with full on brainwashing, radical behavior modification techniques. (Think Manchurian Candidate)

That said, meditation is a form of hypnosis, best case scenario a form of conscientious, well informed self-hypnosis. Worst case scenario the state is induced and guided by someone else, not always with the best interests of the subjects in mind.

When a meditator makes affirmations they are basically giving themselves post-hypnotic suggestions they expect/hope will help them in their daily lives. How effective those suggestions are depend on a variety of things including how carefully they selected the words used, the consistency with which they make the affirmations while their brain is at the level of producing alpha brainwaves.
 
I’ve wondered about it but have no practical experience with them.

Years ago they used to come through the area quite often, book a meeting room in a local hotel, and advertise for people interested in stopping smoking.
 
JustDave said:
A hypnotist entertainer came to my small town in Montana and put on a show. He could hypnotize a whole group of 20 people. He called for volunteers from the audience, and I I knew at least half of them, some respected members of the community. The hypnotist was very commanding. There was no soft spoken "Look into my eyes bla bla bla." He would shout at the group to sleep and some of my friends were actually falling off their chairs on the stage and hitting the floor with a thump. Then some of them did silly things when they were told. I remember one woman doing a thing that was sillier than chicken clucking, and very sexual.

I'm still skeptical, but how could people that I knew be part of such a scam? Well that was my question years ago. Today, I just recognize that even my friends can be deceitful. No harm done though. It was just a show, and I enjoyed it. But still...., my friends?
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May be 'scam" is not the word. People are way susceptible to how others feel about them. Put 20 people on a stage in front of an audience and then they are told to act "hypnotized"- well, they will. If a hypnotist says cluck like a chicken, that's telling participants what is expected. They go along with it. You're on stage, you're reluctantly part of the act, and in front of a lot of people - you cluck like a chicken? :unsure:
 
There are three kinds of hypnosis, clinical, brainwashing, and entertainment.

I have used hypnosis for years to reduce stress and deal with disability and disease. Yes, hypnosis for entertainment is real but serves no purpose other than making money. Advertisers have used hypnosis to sell products and religious leaders have used hypnosis to start cults.

Clinical hypnosis should never be judged by other uses of hypnosis. It is a great medicine, if used correctly.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
May be 'scam" is not the word. People are way susceptible to how others feel about them. Put 20 people on a stage in front of an audience and then they are told to act "hypnotized"- well, they will. If a hypnotist says cluck like a chicken, that's telling participants what is expected. They go along with it. You're on stage, you're reluctantly part of the act, and in front of a lot of people - you cluck like a chicken? :unsure:
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I couldn't do that. There may be limited cooperation on my part, but nothing that would be entertaining. The guy that came to town did reject some of the volunteers, after some questioning. Maybe he used questions that would measure cooperation levels that he required. He may have had that innate ability that some "readers" in the business of talking to dead relatives use to pick and choose the "willing," while the audience was thinking he was just testing for actual predisposition to hypnotism.
 
A mate of mine on Blackpool Promenade volunteered to help a hypnotist.
He was grinning and saying to the hypnotist, "What a load of codswallop, you are not serious are you?
The hypnotist sort of clicked his fingers.
It took Joe half an hour to swarm back down that flagpole. ;)😊
 
stretch5881 said:
I've seen it done to some high school kids. What he had them do, they would not have done without being hypnotized. I'm sure of that.
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Hypnosis can lower inhibitions, filters so that things the someone has thought about or even wanted to do but didn't because of possible legal or social consequences are easier for them to do. Also they have the perfect excuse of blaming it on the hypnotist. Which is not to say there aren't unscrupulous hypnotists out there, but in that case who put the kids into the hypnotist's hands? Parents? School authorities?
 
I went to a comedy hypnotist show in Vegas once and I'm still on the fence if it was legit or not.

They asked for 12 volunteers from the audience. I raised my hand but wasn't chosen. It was pretty impressive what he got these people to do. Whether they were "plants/ringers", I don't know.

I also went to one at a big fair and deliberately went again to the show later. It was a big tell that three of the volunteers (six in total on the stage) were the same people that were in the earlier show. Hmmmm.
 
Yes, many years ago. My doctor recommended this fellow who was coming to town. He’d used him himself. It was a two day course for self-hypnosis and it took me a while to relax. I used his method for years and then got out of the habit.

If you‘ve been hypnotized before it’s easier the next time.

Saw an entertainment hypnotist, Raveen. He asks the audience to clasp their hands and after talking he asks who can’t unclasp them. With a bit of effort, I could have stopped myself but wanted to test that feeling. He then went into the audience and then tapped clasped hands to ask you come on stage or to release your hands. I declined the offer.

It was a small town and I knew several who went on the stage. There was the clucking and silliness you’d expect. He didn’t make anyone do anything but funny, nothing tasteless. It was real and it was a hilarious evening. Well worth the money.

He made more by selling CDs for smoking, etc. He went across the country many times and always sold out locally.
 
I went to two different hypo-therapists, separated by decades and a continent. I always knew I would be easily hypnotized, since in general I'm very gullible. And I was. Also I have used self-hypnosis tapes to fall asleep.

Always helpful, not a whisper of scam about the experiences. I would do it again if I felt the need. I was hypnotized but not ever so deep that I didn't know where I was or what I was doing.
 
Years ago I tried it to quit smoking. I was even offered to go on a tv infomercial all expenses paid in NYC. It didn't work and I didn't go because I am honest and wouldn't lie just for a free trip and tv.
 
I heard one time one guy was so thrilled over his hypnosis beating an addiction, that he was put under hypnosis during surgery. I of course would not recommend such but he came through with no problems.

I have been kind of tempted to try hypnosis for various reasons to help me but since at my age right now it's like I might as well just limp along until I hit the grave.
 

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