Can You Really Be Hypnotized, Or Is It All A Façade?
By Mahado Muhumed
From magic tricks to hypnosis, magic shows are entertaining to watch. But how does hypnosis in magic shows differ from that in the medical field? Can a trick that is all in good fun be a serious tool in aiding people with medical mental health issues? Or is this all just make-believe?
Many of us have seen at least one magic show. All ranging from cute little rabbits being drawn from a hat to a person being cut in half, there is always something for everyone. Usually, the part that leaves people in awe is hypnotism. How can a random audience member be hypnotized? Interestingly, an article written by an organization called Improve Magic stated that magicians specifically choose a member of the audience who they believe can be easily hypnotized. According to the same article, hypnotists have a technique to have a "volunteer" on stage to be hypnotized. One way is to have an extremely suggestible individual who can play along with the hypnotist. Another way is to follow a traditional selection style, which consists of hypnotizing a volunteer beforehand and having a trigger word that places them in a trance.
In a magic show, the “volunteer” is the one in control and has the decision whether they want to carry out a suggested task or not. According to the article, there are three fundamental methods when it comes to stage hypnotism. The first one is participant compliance. This refers to the volunteer being subjected to a huge amount of pressure, making them submit and go along with the hypnosis. The second method is participant selection. In this method, hypnotists look and test the audience to see if there is a suggestible member. Typically, extroverted people in the audience are chosen. The last method is audience deception. In this method, hypnotists use psychological techniques and, on occasion, low microphones to tell volunteers what to do.
Hypnosis in magic shows can best be described as an event-based prospective memory, a concept that was illustrated in our Memory textbook (Baddeley, 2020). Event-based prospective memory "involves remembering to perform a given action in the appropriate circumstance" (p. 432). This is a great demonstration of hypnosis in magic shows since the volunteers act a certain way when they are given a cue by the hypnotist to perform a task, which allows the audience to be manipulated into thinking that the hypnotist is controlling the volunteer and making them do abnormal behavior.
In the book Memory Illusion, Shaw mentioned research that reported “people who are hypnotizable are highly likely to follow suggestions made by another person regardless of whether or not they're actually hypnotized.” (Shaw, J. (2017). The question that lies now is how do they surely know the audiences are "playing along" with their act and there is not a change in their conscious experience? Memory is a complex structure that can easily be controlled. Using hypnosis in a magic show is just part of showmanship; a trick to entertain the audience. How can we truly know what hypnosis really entails? Although hypnosis is used in different fields. If there is one hypnosis style, how does it truly differentiate?
Sleep hypnosis is commonly used in the medical field with individuals who struggle to sleep. Hypnotherapy may work best for people who can be hypnotized when it comes to treating pain, anxiety, PTSD, and even phobias. According to Julia Quade, the process of clinical hypnotherapy consists of a professional using various techniques like breathing and relaxation to encourage clients to focus on specific memories and actions to promote hypnosis. In another article done by Eric Suni, he mentions hypnotherapy is a type of mind-body medicine that allows individuals during hypnosis to positively influence their thoughts and action.
In TheMemory Illusion, Shaw stated that “Hypnosis is not a thing” The author continued to explain that “the definition of hypnosis needs some clarification since it is an unconventional definition of hypnosis and hypnotizable it becomes logically inconsistent.” (Shaw, J. (2017). Many questions are yet to be answered about hypnosis and how effective it is. Using hypnosis in the medical field seems more reasonable. After all, hypnosis in magic shows are all just an act. There is no harm in playing along, is there?
References
Baddeley, A. D., Eysenck, M. W., & Anderson, M. (2020). Memory. Routledge Taylor et Francis Group.
Do Magicians Really Hypnotize People? | Improve Magic. (2020, November 3). Improve Magic; www.improvemagic.com. https://www.improvemagic.com/do-magicians-really-hypnotize-people/
Shaw, J. (2017). The Memory Illusion: Remembering, forgetting, and the science of false memory. Random House.
Suni, E. (2020, November 18). How Effective Is Hypnosis to Help You Fall Asleep? | Sleep Foundation. Sleep Foundation; www.sleepfoundation.org. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-hypnosis/
Quade, J. (2019, November 15). Hypnosis for Sleep: Does it Really Work? | SleepAuthorities. SleepAuthorities; sleepauthorities.com. https://sleepauthorities.com/hypnosis-for-sleep-does-it-work/