Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI),[2] reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.[3]
There are competing theories explaining hypnosis and related phenomena. Altered state theories see hypnosis as an altered state of mind or trance, marked by a level of awareness different from the ordinary state of consciousness.[4][5] In contrast, non-state theories see hypnosis as, variously, a type of placebo effect,[6][7] a redefinition of an interaction with a therapist[8] or a form of imaginative role enactment.[9][10][11]
During hypnosis, a person is said to have heightened focus and concentration[12][13] and an increased response to suggestions.[14]
Hypnosis usually begins with a hypnotic induction involving a series of preliminary instructions and suggestions. The use of hypnosis for therapeutic purposes is referred to as "hypnotherapy",[15] while its use as a form of entertainment for an audience is known as "stage hypnosis", a form of mentalism.
Hypnosis-based therapies for the management of irritable bowel syndrome and menopause are supported by evidence.[16][17] The use of hypnosis as a form of therapy to retrieve and integrate early trauma is controversial within the scientific mainstream. Research indicates that hypnotising an individual may aid the formation of false memories,[18][19] and that hypnosis "does not help people recall events more accurately".[20] Medical hypnosis is often considered pseudoscience or quackery.[21]
^In 2015, the American Psychological Association Division 30 defined hypnosis as a "state of consciousness involving focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness characterized by an enhanced capacity for response to suggestion". For critical commentary on this definition, see: Lynn SJ, Green JP, Kirsch I, Capafons A, Lilienfeld SO, Laurence JR, Montgomery GH (April 2015). "Grounding Hypnosis in Science: The "New" APA Division 30 Definition of Hypnosis as a Step Backward". The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. 57 (4): 390–401. doi:10.1080/00029157.2015.1011472. PMID25928778. S2CID10797114.
^Encyclopædia Britannica, 2004: "a special psychological state with certain physiological attributes, resembling sleep only superficially and marked by a functioning of the individual at a level of awareness other than the ordinary conscious state".
^Kirsch I (October 1994). "Clinical hypnosis as a nondeceptive placebo: empirically derived techniques". The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. 37 (2): 95–106. doi:10.1080/00029157.1994.10403122. PMID7992808.
^Kirsch, I., "Clinical Hypnosis as a Nondeceptive Placebo", pp. 211–25 in Kirsch, I., Capafons, A., Cardeña-Buelna, E., Amigó, S. (eds.), Clinical Hypnosis and Self-Regulation: Cognitive-Behavioral Perspectives, American Psychological Association, (Washington), 1999 ISBN1-55798-535-9
^Lynn S, Fassler O, Knox J (2005). "Hypnosis and the altered state debate: something more or nothing more?". Contemporary Hypnosis. 22: 39–45. doi:10.1002/ch.21.
^Coe WC, Buckner LG, Howard ML, Kobayashi K (July 1972). "Hypnosis as role enactment: focus on a role specific skill". The American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis. 15 (1): 41–45. doi:10.1080/00029157.1972.10402209. PMID4679790.
^Orne, M. T. (1962). On the social psychology of the psychological experiment: With particular reference to demand characteristics and their implications. American
Psychologist, 17, 776-783
^Segi, Sherril (2012). "Hypnosis for pain management, anxiety and behavioral disorders". The Clinical Advisor: For Nurse Practitioners. 15 (3): 80. ISSN1524-7317.
^Spanos, N. P., Spillane, J., & McPeake, J. D. (1976). Cognitive strategies and response to suggestion in hypnotic
and task-motivated subjects. American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis, 18, 252-262.
^Lynn, Steven Jay; Krackow, Elisa; Loftus, Elizabeth F.; Locke, Timothy G.; Lilienfeld, Scott O. (2014). "Constructing the past: problematic memory recovery techniques in psychotherapy". In Lilienfeld, Scott O.; Lynn, Steven Jay; Lohr, Jeffrey M. (eds.). Science and pseudoscience in clinical psychology (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press. pp. 245–275. ISBN9781462517510. OCLC890851087.