Hypnosis as we know it came out of psychotherapy, and was first used for medical purposes.

While Franz Mesmer also used hypnosis - or as he referred to it "magnetism - for "spectacular shows", it was still about therapeutic application.

But even from those early days on, there always have been two "schools" of hypnosis - one which focused on the spectacular show effects that you can create by hypnotizing people, and another one which focused on the spectacular, but nonetheless real therapeutic goals that a skilled hypnotist can help patients achieve.

In this article we are going to look at what science has to say about hypnosis.

Hypnotic Paralysis & Fakers

One of the most interesting scientific studies on hypnosis was one where temporarily (and reversible) paralysis was caused through hypnotic suggestions. The hypnotic subjects who participated in this experiment actually got paralyzed from hypnosis, unable to move. Brain scans showed that hypnotically induced paralysis is very similar to hysteric paralysis, which is also known as conversion disorder (where there is no physiological reason for paralysis, yet it persists).

This is however not faked, because if someone tries to fake paralysis, different regions of the brain get activated.

What Skeptics Think About Hypnosis

There have always been skeptics who didn't believe that hypnosis really is what it looks like. The medical results it got where attributed to the "placebo effect". And they often referred to it as a kind of "socially acceptable role-playing", as if people would allow themselves to act free of their usual restraints because they would later be able to blame it on hypnosis.

You Can't Fake Brain-Scans

But brain scans tell a different story. Stanford University psychiatrist David Spiegel conducted a study where the subjects got hypnotized into seeing grayscale only. Their brains were attached to a device that measured activity in their brain.

These subjects actually showed that the areas of the brain that decode color were substantially repressed and less active when people received these hypnotic suggestions, even when they really viewed colored pictures.

It also worked the other way. Given the hypnotic suggestion, that they would see color pictures, the "color areas" of their brain lightened up and showed increased activity even when shown greyscale pictures.

But you really don't need to be a psychiatrist or a doctor to learn how to hypnotize. There are lots of great courses and books available to the public that can get you started hypnotically.