Does Hypnosis Work? Here's What Science Says

There are a lot of myths, mysteries, and misunderstandings surrounding hypnosis. But does hypnosis work? Can it really help you feel better or change your habits? Let's take a look at the science behind it.

How pop culture views hypnosis

You may remember the scene from Jordan Peele’s 2017 movie Get Out where Chris, the main character, gets hypnotized by his girlfriend’s mom. All she does is swirl a spoon around her teacup and Chris falls into the Sunken Place, where his consciousness becomes a viewer of his own life but he has no control over his body. The hypnosis apparently cures him of smoking!

In case you haven't seen Get Out, I won’t spoil the movie by telling you the more sinister things that happen the next time Chris is hypnotized. Let's just to say that I became a little wary of spoons and teacups after seeing it.

In our popular imagination, hypnosis runs wild. In the 1800’s, Edgar Alan Poe wrote a story in which a mesmerist kept a dying person alive through hypnosis Many thought the fictional story was an actual medical case study. More recently, movies plots involving hypnosis have ranged from the horrific, like in The Exorcist, to the hilarious, like in Zoolander, where Derek Zoolander is programmed through hypnosis to assassinate a prime minister at a fashion show.

Hypnosis myths versus facts

Is hypnosis actually possible? Can you put someone into an altered state of consciousness and get them to do things they would otherwise not do?

Let's take a look at some questions about hypnosis. I'll share the science and psychology behind what hypnosis can and cannot do. We’ll see that:

• Hypnosis is a very real phenomenon in the brain
• Hypnosis could be a useful form of therapy for decreasing pain and stress, but you should be wary of hypnosis that aims to recover “repressed” memories
• Hypnosis is not “brainwashing,” and it can’t get you to do things that are completely against your will
• Some people are more hypnotizable than others, which may depend on our childhood experiences

Question # 1: Is hypnosis real?

First, let’s define what we mean by hypnosis. As we understand it, hypnosis is a state of mind where:

• your attention is hyper-focused
• your awareness is...

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