In all likelihood hypnosis is baloney. In my opinion, people participating in a hypnosis show are trying to please and not embarrass the hypnotist (and themselves) so they play along.

There is truth to hypnotism but doesn't work exactly the way many people might think. It doesn't make you do anything. It just makes doing those things sound like a really good idea.

I've not had any experience with it. Went to a show once and saw some people act out of character but I suspect they were playing along. I don't know how believable or unbelievable it is, I would need more data.

It can work for you as long as you surrender to a relaxed state of mind.

Never worked on me. Even in my young impressionable years. I think one has to be gullible enough for it to work.

I have considered trying hypnosis, just time and money. There were/are times I seem to be my own worst enemy, it would be good to be able to avoid that. I'd be willing to give it a try.

Its definitely not hogwash. There are too many trustworthy people who have experienced it. I would say the first is probably the most likely. Which sort of ties it into the second tbh.

Growing up my family was heavy into woo and insisted that my cousin and I get hypnotized to learn of our past lives.....it didn't work...shocking I know. So of course it was put fault that it didn't work...something about not being open. So we had cassette tapes we had to listen to every night to "open our hearts and show us our past selves" it really just made me sleep deprived to the point I made up a story so I could sleep. Now it is possible to get really really relaxed and focused but I think the whole "you now think you're a chicken after I count to 3" is complete shit

I've seen the stage shows, and even participated in one. I tried to be hypnotized the time I was in one. I listened to the words, and tried to let myself fall into it. I wanted to see what it felt like. It absolutely did not work, and I was let off stage. Others seemed to be under hypnosis and stayed on stage and did tricks like a dog. I can't believe they weren't faking. I can't know if it actually worked on them, and they said it did.

I know a trained and credentialed hypnotherapist who has a successful practice helping people get over addictions, phobias, etc. It works. It's really just guided meditation, but with a goal. The person "hypnotized" is fully aware of what's going on in the room; they've let the therapist take them to an altered state where the subconscious is exposed, allowing suggestions to sink in.

She unfortunately can't help me too much because of the familiarity of her voice, and the fact that we're married.

You can only be if you are willing go I was told. The weak of mind are easily hypnotized. Brainwashing is different even in some cases intelligent people circum to that.

A group of us went to see a hypnotist's show and my bf went on stage. One suggestion was they were sitting next to their new spouse on the way to their honeymoon. The woman next to my bf kept putting her hand on his thigh and he kept removing it. That is something he would do because he didn't believe in PDA. It took a number of weeks, but he eventually got back his memory of that night. He said the memory was like a dream. They started about 5 days after that night. We who knew him well believed everything. Hypnosis is a state of mind. Like meditation.

hogwash

You have to be suseptable to such things it definitely works.

It's possible I've been under a trance my entire life

Mentalist Derren Brown agreed to an interview in his home, where the journalist could get a glimpse into the entertainer's daily life. The topic of hypnosis came up and the interviewer asked to be hypnotized, but DB refused because journalists are often difficult to hypnotize due to the nature of their work (skeptical, analytical). Eventually the interviewer convinced DB to try, but other than being out of it momentarily nothing happened — until after the interview when the journalist found something in his pocket he couldn't remember putting there (an empty juice box or something) and for a day or so he had unusually intense emotion surrounding the garbage item. I can't remember the details now, but it was interesting to read a first-hand account of how it felt. I've seen Derren Brown in his act hypnotize people, and I've seen him use it under controlled circumstances to condition people, both for benefit and harm. (I should qualify that last part, because it wasn't a case of malice. DB spent weeks with people to ostensibly increase their confidence, but what he was really doing was showing how someone under specific circumstances turn to crime (armed robbery). It wasn't traditional hypnosis, but rather weeks of conditioning and exploiting subconscious susceptibility, and the people involved we're given immediate treatment to deprogram them so there wouldn't be lasting effects.) The thing I like about DB is that, without entirely revealing his secrets, he pulls back the curtain on some things that seem spooky or mystical, like showing how faith healing works or setting up an atheist to experience religious fervor, illustrating that it's psychological rather than metaphysical, in the hopes that people watching will be less inclined to be taken advantage of by charlatans.

All I know of hypnosis is hollywood and fiction literature... not necessarily good sources.

My understanding is you have to believe that you can be hypnotized in order for hypnosis to work.

Its as much self induced as it is imposed. Practitioners of yoga and meditation are familiar with it.

I tried it once to quit smoking...no good. It took Xanax and a Nicotrol inhaler to quit. I think I may be too damn stubborn for hypnosis to work for me!

Tried it for stopping smoking it worked for a month or two I should have gone back for a booster session finally quit 3 yrs later on my own . I did stop with out withdrawal for at least a full month .

I was trained as a clinical hypnotist many years ago but have never practised. I was taught that the hypnotic state is experienced by everyone twice a day. It is the point between sleep and awake. It naturally lasts for about a tenth of a second. A hypnotist does not hypnotise another person but guides them in their journey into an hypnotic state. A hypnotized person will not do something that they do not wish to do so when you see people behaving in strange ways in stage hypnotist's shows you are watching someone who primarily wishes to be an exhibitionist or do something to gain kudos. One practical application of self hypnosis is to extend and control your dreams. For someone say wanting to perfect a golf swing, tennis or baseball stroke then by dreaming of practicing the perfect stroke will eventually result in the body undertaking what has been dreamed ... and far faster than occurs through physical repetitive practice.
The rumour that a hypnotic state can only be achieved when totally relaxed is not true. A person hypnotized because they are in pain with a complex arm fracture is unlikely to be reduced to a state of relaxation.

I rage against the dying of the light.

I went one time to see a "Hypnologist" (? I think that's how he referred to himself) when I was 27.
I wanted to quit smoking. I hated smoking.

One and done! I left there and NEVER had another cigarette or an urge for one..... Just an odd dream with me in it smoking that pops up every once in a while.

BEST Money I ever spent in my life

I actually took a course in hypnosis and helped several friends with anxiety and insomnia issues. I regularly use self hypnosis to relax. It basically is like meditation. There are lots of different 'systems' for breathing and mental exercises to focus. A good shiatsu massage or certain accupuncture techniques can produce similar results. Just my opinion and personal experience.