The Phenomenon of Hypnosis

It is the failure to recognize the tremendously effective force of the post-hypnotic suggestion-and a tendency to confuse self-hypnosis with autosuggestion -that make it difficult for some people to appreciate the powerful influence a person may have upon himself, to direct his own efforts, through self-hypnosis.

Just how powerful a force hypnotic suggestion can be was reported in the Journal of the British Society of Medical Hypnotists. During an experiment in London, a number of soldiers were given tests measuring the strength of their hand grips. A dynamometer was used to register the pressure they exerted.

The average grip in the normal awakened state was 101 pounds. The soldiers were then hypnotized and told that they were "very weak." Returned to the awakened state, but under the influence of the post-hypnotic suggestion, they averaged only 69 pounds. Re-hypnotized and told they were very strong, they averaged 140 pounds.

The belief that they were strong had raised their strength 40%above normal, while the belief that they were weak reduced it to 30% below normal.

Dr. Theodore Xenophon Barber, formerly with the psychology department of the American University in Washington and the laboratory of social relations at Harvard, commented on the suggestive force of hypnotism in the following words: "The phenomenon of hypnosis" has always seemed mysterious because it has always been difficult to understand how belief can bring about such unusual behavior. It seems as if there must be something more, some unfathomable force or power at work.

"However, the plain truth is that when a subject is convinced that he is deaf he behaves as if he is deaf, when convinced he is insensitive to pain, he can undergo surgery without anesthesia. The 'mysterious force or power' does not exist."