tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/hypnosis-6843/articlesHypnosis – The Conversation2019-12-06T11:39:10Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1280242019-12-06T11:39:10Z2019-12-06T11:39:10ZHypnobirthing: scant evidence self-hypnosis reduces pain during childbirth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305609/original/file-20191206-90552-1qp11fp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C23%2C5242%2C3342&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Can learning self-hypnosis and meditation techniques help ease pain during labour?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-pregnant-woman-meditating-while-sitting-647310805?src=f22de9c8-911e-4cd1-aaed-2ede1df98102-2-79">Natalia Deriabina/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.hellomagazine.com/healthandbeauty/health-and-fitness/2016082533227/a-closer-look-at-hypnobirthing">latest celebrity-endorsed health trend</a> is the bizarre-sounding practice of “hypnobirthing”. Backed by the likes of Gisele Bundchen, Jessica Alba and, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/hypnobirthing-kate-middleton-royal-baby-what-is-it-techniques-classes-mindfulness-reviews-a8319331.html">reportedly, Kate Middleton</a>, women are using self-hypnosis to help them stay calm and ease pain during labour. Some even use it to replace epidurals and other traditional pain relief methods during childbirth.</p>
<p>With these celebrity endorsements, it’s no wonder hypnobirthing has become a global phenomenon. Official statistics on the number of women that use hypnobirthing don’t yet exist, but unofficial reports from the UK suggest <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/18/pregnant-women-on-self-hypnosis-births">the practice is on the rise</a>.</p>
<p>Hypnobirthing is defined as the act of using <a href="https://www.nct.org.uk/labour-birth/getting-ready-for-birth/hypnobirthing-where-start">self-hyponosis techniques</a> to manage labour pain and reduce anxiety and fear during labour. Women can <a href="https://www.hypnobirthing-uk.com/">attend programmes</a> during their pregnancy that teach breathing exercises and meditation techniques, as well as provide information about nutrition and body-toning exercises.</p>
<p>In other words, hypnobirthing isn’t just about hypnosis. It’s also about educating and training women to be able to give birth confidently and calmly in any environment. Although there’s <a href="https://www.hypnobirthing-uk.com/testimonials">plenty of support</a> for hypnobirthing, there is scant scientific evidence to reinforce the celebrity endorsements.</p>
<h2>Does it work?</h2>
<p>Many studies have investigated self-hypnosis techniques, including the <a href="https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1471-0528.13433">largest UK trial of self-hypnosis for intrapartum pain</a>. Most trials compared women who were given antenatal hypnosis training with those receiving <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/antenatal-classes-pregnant/">standard antenatal classes</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD009356.pub3/full">results showed no clear differences</a> in satisfaction with pain relief or women’s ability to manage labour contractions. It also showed no differences in the number of spontaneous vaginal births (birth without being induced, or having a cesarean section) between the two groups.</p>
<p>Although the use of pain medications was slightly lower in the hypnosis groups, use of the strongest painkiller (an epidural) was the same in both. Despite its popularity, hypnosis training appears to have little or no impact on these key childbirth outcomes.</p>
<p>However, one <a href="https://www.pinterandmartin.com/childbirth-without-fear.html">enduring theory</a> suggests that the more relaxed a woman feels during labour, the more likely she is to have a spontaneous (normal) vaginal birth. This is based on the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/fight-or-flight-response">fight-or-flight response</a>, where blood and oxygen are directed to the muscles needed to deal with a perceived threat.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305610/original/file-20191206-90609-1keuzkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305610/original/file-20191206-90609-1keuzkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305610/original/file-20191206-90609-1keuzkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305610/original/file-20191206-90609-1keuzkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305610/original/file-20191206-90609-1keuzkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305610/original/file-20191206-90609-1keuzkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305610/original/file-20191206-90609-1keuzkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Hypnobirthing may help women feel more relaxed during labour.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/closeup-man-holding-wife-hand-support-1537325582?src=5644f2e9-36df-4520-88e1-8c8a619c2878-1-18">Motortion Films/ Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The theory suggests that women who are more scared or anxious during labour are more likely to experience the fight-or-flight response. This can lead to <a href="https://www.aims.org.uk/journal/item/undisturbed-birth">disrupted uterine contractions</a>, more pain and, ultimately, the use of pain relief medications. Using a technique to feel more relaxed during labour (like hypnosis) may reduce this effect and enable “normal” contractions with less need for pain relief. The importance of being relaxed during labour is widely accepted and is <a href="https://extranet.who.int/rhl/topics/preconception-pregnancy-childbirth-and-postpartum-care/care-during-childbirth/care-during-labour-1st-stage/who-recommendation-relaxation-techniques-pain-management-during-labour">recommended by the World Health Organization</a>.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5903648/">review we conducted</a> also found that women wanted more information about what happens to their bodies during labour and birth. Knowing what to expect might help them have less fear and anxiety about giving birth. Women also wanted more information about how they could control their pain response without relying on drugs. This is exactly the kind of information and training hypnobirthing courses might provide. Unlike standard antenatal programmes, which are more likely to focus on pain relief options and post-natal practices, such as breastfeeding. </p>
<p>Despite this, evidence in favour of hypnobirthing still remains disappointing. This might be because in most studies, women are taught <a href="https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2393-6-5">how to use “self-hypnosis”</a> rather than hypnobirthing techniques. Most self-hypnosis courses teach little about physiology, pay little attention to the psychology of birthing, and <a href="https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1471-0528.12087">condense hypnosis practices</a> into the final few weeks of pregnancy. Hypnobirthing classes start when the woman is around five months pregnant, whereas most self-hypnosis courses start training two to three months later. </p>
<p>Also, the ability to be hypnotised may be easier for some women than others. Evidence suggests that people with certain personality traits – such as having a vivid imagination, being open-minded or empathetic – may be <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00029157.2014.906152">more susceptible to hypnosis</a>. These characteristics are rarely explored in clinical trials, but may be worthy of further investigation. The ability to enter into a state of hypnosis, otherwise known as “hypnotizability”, is more likely to achieve positive results when the technique is used by people who are <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11558482_The_Role_of_Hypnotizability_Assessment_in_Treatment">more easily hypnotised</a>. </p>
<p>Hypnobirthing courses advocated by celebrities offer pregnant women the tools they need to stay calm during labour, teach them about their’s body’s physiology, and help them manage their pain response without relying on painkillers. However, there are still no published trials on hypnobirthing assessing its effectiveness. So although celebrity opinion seems to be more in tune with what women want, expert opinion and scientific research have yet to catch up.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128024/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kenneth Finlayson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite celebrity endorsements and growing popularity of the practice, there’s still little scientific proof to support these claims.Kenneth Finlayson, Research Associate, Community Health and Midwifery, University of Central LancashireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/916992018-04-23T20:11:31Z2018-04-23T20:11:31ZWe can change our brain and its ability to cope with disease with simple lifestyle choices<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210810/original/file-20180316-104694-1lktldt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lifestyle factors such as meditation can change our brain for the better. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/ixFSJYwPWb8">gGuilherme Romano/Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is part of our series on Changing the Brain, about what’s happening in our brain in various mental states and how we can change it for the better and worse. You can read the other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/changing-the-brain-51119">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>Our life expectancy has increased dramatically over the past several decades, with advances in medical research, nutrition and health care seeing us live well into our 80s. But this longer life expectancy has also come at a cost, as the longer we live, the more likely we are to develop neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia. </p>
<p>Despite the lack of <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/it-has-been-a-brutal-year-in-the-search-for-a-treatment-for-alzheimer-s?perpetual=yes&limitstart=1">treatments for these diseases</a>, there’s now a growing body of research to suggest there are a range of lifestyle changes we can adopt to help enhance our brain function. And even prevent brain disease.</p>
<h2>Exercise</h2>
<p>The effects of physical activity, particularly aerobic exercise, on brain health have been well studied. There’s now evidence to suggest engaging in physical activity can improve brain health through a phenomenon called <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/can-you-grow-new-brain-cells">neuroplasticity</a>. This is where brain cells can more easily respond to disease or injury.</p>
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Read more:
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<p>Physical activity can induce a cascade of biological processes that improve function of brain regions responsible for memory, and things such as decision making.</p>
<p>In particular, going for a run or bike ride (as opposed to only strength exercises such as weight training) have been shown to increase levels of “<a href="https://www.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/jn.00152.2002">brain-derived neurotrophic factor</a>”, a protein central to the growth and survival of brain cells. <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/108/7/3017">Brain imaging studies</a> are also starting to confirm exercise training can result in a bigger hippocampus (the brain region responsible for memory) and improvements in memory.</p>
<p>Just as protein shakes may help muscles grow after exercise, the brain-derived neurotrophic factor may help to strengthen and generate brain cells. This in turn can increase the brain’s ability to cope with injury or disease.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210814/original/file-20180316-104635-19otjtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210814/original/file-20180316-104635-19otjtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210814/original/file-20180316-104635-19otjtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210814/original/file-20180316-104635-19otjtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210814/original/file-20180316-104635-19otjtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210814/original/file-20180316-104635-19otjtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210814/original/file-20180316-104635-19otjtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210814/original/file-20180316-104635-19otjtk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Exercise strengthens our brains as well as our muscles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/W2TqzejmjJw">Kyle Kranz/Unsplash</a></span>
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<h2>Meditation</h2>
<p>Over the past decade, there’s been an explosion of interest in meditation and mindfulness as a treatment of mental health disorders, particularly depression and anxiety. </p>
<p>Some studies have suggested long-term engagement in meditation is associated with physiological brain changes (such as <a href="https://academic.oup.com/scan/article/8/1/27/1695087">larger brain volumes</a> and <a href="https://journals.lww.com/psychosomaticmedicine/Abstract/2003/07000/AlterationinBrain%20andImmuneFunctionProduced.14.aspx">higher brain activity</a>). </p>
<p>But the extent to which meditation is associated with better memory, or with long-term protection against brain diseases, remains to be determined.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-that-cigarette-chocolate-bar-or-new-handbag-feels-so-good-how-pleasure-affects-our-brain-91773">Why that cigarette, chocolate bar, or new handbag feels so good: how pleasure affects our brain</a>
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<h2>Hypnosis</h2>
<p>Hypnosis is one of the oldest forms of psychotherapy. It is typically used as an adjunct treatment for pain, and a range of anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress. Recent studies show that during hypnosis, changes in brain activity are detected in brain regions that govern <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27469596">attention and emotional control</a>. </p>
<p>One small study (18 patients) suggested hypnosis substantially improved the quality of life of dementia patients after <a href="http://asociatiaromanadehipnoza.ro/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Long-term-outcomes-of-hypnosis-in-changing-the-quality-of-life-in-patients-with-dementia.pdf">12 months</a>, with patients experiencing higher levels of concentration and motivation. But this result is very preliminary, and requires independent replication with larger numbers of patients. </p>
<p>It’s likely hypnosis plays an important role in reducing stress and anxiety, which may in turn improve focus, attention and wellbeing in general. </p>
<h2>So what works?</h2>
<p>The challenge with studying the effects of lifestyle changes on brain health, particularly over a long period of time, is the large degree of overlap across all lifestyle factors. For example, engaging in physical activity will be related to better sleep and less stress – which also improve our memory and thinking function.</p>
<p>Similarly, better sleep is related to improved mood. It may make people feel more motivated to exercise, which may also lead to better memory and thinking function.</p>
<p>The extent to which we can truly determine the contribution of each lifestyle factor (sleep, physical activity, diet, social engagement) to our brain health remains limited. </p>
<p>But a wide range of lifestyle factors that are highly modifiable such as physical inactivity, obesity, chronic stress and high blood pressure can have far-reaching effects on our brain health. After all, it is mid-life high blood pressure, obesity and physical inactivity that can increase our risk of dementia in later life.</p>
<p>Recently, <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2587084">a large study of 21,000 American adults aged over 65</a> suggested the prevalence of dementia fell significantly from 11.6% to 8.8% (nearly a 25% reduction) over 12 years (from 2000 to 2012). The researchers suggested this decrease in prevalence may be due to increases in education and better control of risk factors for high cholesterol and high blood pressure. </p>
<p>This provides some hope that we can, to a certain extent, take charge of our brain health through engagement in a wide range of beneficial activities that seek to improve mental function, improve heart health, or reduce stress. </p>
<p>It’s never too early to start investing in the health of our brains, particularly when these lifestyle changes are easily implemented, and readily accessible to most of us.</p>
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<p><em>If you are interested in being a part of a study on brain health in middle-aged Australians, please join us at the <a href="https://www.healthybrainproject.org.au/">Healthy Brain Project</a></em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91699/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yen Ying Lim receives funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council, and the Alzheimer's Association (USA). She also serves as a scientific consultant to Cogstate Ltd., Biogen and Lundbeck.</span></em></p>How can exercise, meditation and hypnosis change our brains and potentially prevent disease?Yen Ying Lim, Research Fellow, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental HealthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/867852017-11-22T10:08:50Z2017-11-22T10:08:50ZWhat if consciousness is not what drives the human mind?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195515/original/file-20171120-18561-18u1oqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Everyone knows what it feels like to have consciousness: it’s that self-evident sense of personal awareness, which gives us a feeling of ownership and control over the thoughts, emotions and experiences that we have every day. </p>
<p>Most experts think that consciousness can be divided into two parts: the experience of consciousness (or personal awareness), and the contents of consciousness, which include things such as thoughts, beliefs, sensations, perceptions, intentions, memories and emotions. </p>
<p>It’s easy to assume that these contents of consciousness are somehow chosen, caused or controlled by our personal awareness – after all, thoughts don’t exist until until we think them. But in <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01924/full">a new research paper</a> in Frontiers of Psychology, we argue that this is a mistake. </p>
<p>We suggest that our personal awareness does not create, cause or choose our beliefs, feelings or perceptions. Instead, the contents of consciousness are generated “behind the scenes” by fast, efficient, non-conscious systems in our brains. All this happens without any interference from our personal awareness, which sits passively in the passenger seat while these processes occur. </p>
<p>Put simply, we don’t consciously choose our thoughts or our feelings – we become aware of them.</p>
<h2>Not just a suggestion</h2>
<p>If this sounds strange, consider how effortlessly we regain consciousness each morning after losing it the night before; how thoughts and emotions – welcome or otherwise – arrive already formed in our minds; how the colours and shapes we see are constructed into meaningful objects or memorable faces without any effort or input from our conscious mind. </p>
<p>Consider that all the neuropsychological processes responsible for moving your body or using words to form sentences take place without involving your personal awareness. We believe that the processes responsible for generating the contents of consciousness do the same. </p>
<p>Our thinking has been influenced by research into neuropsychological and neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as more recent <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010945214003037">cognitive neuroscience studies</a> using hypnosis. The studies using hypnosis show that a person’s mood, thoughts and perceptions can be profoundly altered by suggestion. </p>
<p>In such studies, participants go through a hypnosis induction procedure, to help them to enter a mentally focused and absorbed state. Then, suggestions are made to change their perceptions and experiences. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195516/original/file-20171120-18561-5tm2bt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195516/original/file-20171120-18561-5tm2bt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195516/original/file-20171120-18561-5tm2bt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195516/original/file-20171120-18561-5tm2bt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195516/original/file-20171120-18561-5tm2bt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195516/original/file-20171120-18561-5tm2bt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195516/original/file-20171120-18561-5tm2bt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=537&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Open to suggestion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>For example, in <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028393202003135">one study</a>, researchers recorded the brain activity of participants when they raised their arm intentionally, when it was lifted by a pulley, and when it moved in response to a hypnotic suggestion that it was being lifted by a pulley. </p>
<p>Similar areas of the brain were active during the involuntary and the suggested “alien” movement, while brain activity for the intentional action was different. So, hypnotic suggestion can be seen as a means of communicating an idea or belief that, when accepted, has the power to alter a person’s perceptions or behaviour. </p>
<h2>The personal narrative</h2>
<p>All this may leave one wondering where our thoughts, emotions and perceptions actually come from. We argue that the contents of consciousness are a subset of the experiences, emotions, thoughts and beliefs that are generated by non-conscious processes within our brains. </p>
<p>This subset takes the form of a personal narrative, which is constantly being updated. The personal narrative exists in parallel with our personal awareness, but the latter has no influence over the former. </p>
<p>The personal narrative is important because it provides information to be stored in your autobiographical memory (the story you tell yourself, about yourself), and gives human beings a way of communicating the things we have perceived and experienced to others.</p>
<p>This, in turn, allows us to generate survival strategies; for example, by learning to predict other people’s behaviour. Interpersonal skills like this underpin the development of social and cultural structures, which have promoted the survival of human kind for millennia. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195514/original/file-20171120-18525-54clen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195514/original/file-20171120-18525-54clen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195514/original/file-20171120-18525-54clen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195514/original/file-20171120-18525-54clen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195514/original/file-20171120-18525-54clen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195514/original/file-20171120-18525-54clen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/195514/original/file-20171120-18525-54clen.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Real talk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>So, we argue that it is the ability to communicate the contents of one’s personal narrative –– and not personal awareness – that gives humans their unique evolutionary advantage. </p>
<h2>What’s the point?</h2>
<p>If the experience of consciousness does not confer any particular advantage, it’s not clear what its purpose is. But as a passive accompaniment to non-conscious processes, we don’t think that the phenomenon of personal awareness has a purpose, in much the same way that rainbows do not. Rainbows simply result from the reflection, refraction and dispersion of sunlight through water droplets – none of which serves any particular purpose. </p>
<p>Our conclusions also raise questions about the notions of free will and personal responsibility. If our personal awareness does not control the contents of the personal narrative which reflects our thoughts, feelings, emotions, actions and decisions, then perhaps we should not be held responsible for them. </p>
<p>In response to this, we argue that free will and personal responsibility are notions that have been constructed by society. As such, they are built into the way we see and understand ourselves as individuals, and as a species. Because of this, they are represented within the non-conscious processes that create our personal narratives, and in the way we communicate those narratives to others. </p>
<p>Just because consciousness has been placed in the passenger seat, does not mean we need to dispense with important everyday notions such as free will and personal responsibility. In fact, they are embedded in the workings of our non-conscious brain systems. They have a powerful purpose in society and have a deep impact on the way we understand ourselves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86785/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>See if you can get your head around this.David A Oakley, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, UCLPeter W Halligan, Hon Professor of Neuropsychology, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/755592017-04-20T13:37:48Z2017-04-20T13:37:48ZHypnosis may still be veiled in mystery – but we are starting to uncover its scientific basis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165853/original/file-20170419-2414-aevd9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">On the count of three, you will forget this ever happened.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/under-hypnosis-314929433?src=F0gfF2DWLMl9s3hMweKvvw-1-7">Everett Collection/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some argue that hypnosis is just a trick. Others, however, see it as bordering on the paranormal – mysteriously transforming people into mindless robots. Now our recent <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763416306339">review of a number of research studies</a> on the topic reveals it is actually neither. Hypnosis may just be an aspect of normal human behaviour.</p>
<p>Hypnosis refers to a set of procedures involving an induction – which could be fixating on an object, relaxing or actively imagining something – followed by one or more suggestions, such as “You will be completely unable to feel your left arm”. The purpose of the induction is to induce a mental state in which participants are focused on instructions from the experimenter or therapist, and are not distracted by everyday concerns. One reason why hypnosis is of interest to scientists is that participants often report that their responses feel automatic or <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/journals/cns/1/1/3/">outside their control</a>. </p>
<p>Most inductions produce equivalent effects. But inductions <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/77/3/578/">aren’t actually that important</a>. Surprisingly, the success of hypnosis doesn’t rely on special abilities of the hypnotist either – although building rapport with them will certainly be valuable in a therapeutic context. </p>
<p>Rather, the main driver for successful hypnosis is one’s level of “hypnotic suggestibility”. This is a term which describes how responsive we are to suggestions. We know that hypnotic suggestibility <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2926631">doesn’t change over time</a> and is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4738327">heritable</a>. Scientists have even found that people with certain gene variants <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25084618">are more suggestible</a>.</p>
<p>Most people are moderately responsive to hypnosis. This means they can have vivid changes in behaviour and experience in response to hypnotic suggestions. By contrast, a small percentage (around 10-15%) of people are mostly non-responsive. But <a href="http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198570097.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780198570097">most research on hypnosis</a> is focused on another small group (10-15%) who are highly responsive.</p>
<p>In this group, suggestions can be used to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12848218">disrupt pain</a>, or to produce <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810011002753">hallucinations</a> and <a href="http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0896627307009828/1-s2.0-S0896627307009828-main.pdf?_tid=9da1ad5a-05ca-11e7-a34d-00000aab0f6b&acdnat=1489175524_6e1a45ab63c93735a51450db39d4762c">amnesia</a>. Considerable evidence from brain imaging reveals that these individuals <a href="https://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v14/n8/abs/nrn3538.html">are not just faking or imagining these responses</a>. Indeed, the brain acts differently when people respond to hypnotic suggestions than when they imagine or voluntarily produce the same responses. </p>
<p>Preliminary research has shown that highly suggestible individuals may have unusual <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810009001391">functioning</a> and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2011.01211.x/abstract;jsessionid=BC739BDC73B0524C7045187DDE67B25C.f03t02">connectivity</a> in the prefrontal cortex. This is a brain region that plays a critical role in a range of psychological functions including planning and the monitoring of one’s mental states. </p>
<p>There is also some evidence that highly suggestible individuals perform more poorly on cognitive tasks known to depend on the prefrontal cortex, such as working memory. However, these results are complicated by the possibility that there might be different <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13546805.2010.503048">subtypes of highly suggestible individuals</a>. These neurocognitive differences may lend insights into how highly suggestible individuals respond to suggestions: they may be more responsive because <a href="https://www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/home/Zoltan_Dienes/Dienes%202012%20Is%20hypnotic%20responding%20the%20strategic%20relinquishment%20of%20metacognition.pdf">they’re less aware of the intentions</a> underlying their responses. </p>
<p>For example, when given a suggestion to not experience pain, they may suppress the pain but not be aware of their <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797616687015">intention to do so</a>. This may also explain why they often report that their experience occurred outside their control. Neuroimaging studies have not as yet verified this hypothesis but hypnosis does seem to involve changes in brain regions involved in monitoring of mental states, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19782614">self-awareness</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19555654">related functions</a>.</p>
<p>Although the effects of hypnosis may seem unbelievable, it’s now well accepted that beliefs and expectations can dramatically impact human perception. It’s actually <a href="https://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v16/n7/full/nrn3976.html">quite similar to the placebo response</a>, in which an ineffective drug or therapeutic treatment is beneficial purely because we believe it will work. In this light, perhaps hypnosis isn’t so bizarre after all. Seemingly sensational responses to hypnosis may just be striking instances of the powers of suggestion and beliefs to shape our perception and behaviour. What we think will happen morphs seamlessly into what we ultimately experience. </p>
<p>Hypnosis requires the consent of the participant or patient. You cannot be hypnotised against your will and, despite <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trance_(2013_film)">popular misconceptions</a>, there is no evidence that hypnosis could be used to make you commit <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1520-6696(199104)27:2%3C186::AID-JHBS2300270212%3E3.0.CO;2-G/abstract">immoral acts against your will</a>.</p>
<h2>Hypnosis as medical treatment</h2>
<p>Meta-analyses, studies that integrate data from many studies on a specific topic, have shown that hypnosis works quite well when it comes to treating certain conditions. These include <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24901382">irritable bowel syndrome</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24256477">chronic pain</a>. But for other conditions, however, such as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10769984">smoking</a>, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222364293_Hypnotic_enhancement_of_a_cognitive_behavioral_treatment_for_public_speaking_anxiety">anxiety</a>, or <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51391384_Hypnosis_and_the_Treatment_of_Posttraumatic_Conditions_An_Evidence-Based_Approach">post-traumatic stress disorder</a>, the evidence is less clear cut – often because there is a lack of reliable research. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166095/original/file-20170420-20060-qrvt5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166095/original/file-20170420-20060-qrvt5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166095/original/file-20170420-20060-qrvt5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166095/original/file-20170420-20060-qrvt5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166095/original/file-20170420-20060-qrvt5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166095/original/file-20170420-20060-qrvt5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/166095/original/file-20170420-20060-qrvt5w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">You will no longer feel pain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hypnotherapist-holding-pendulum-before-her-patient-307284389">wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>But although hypnosis can be valuable for certain conditions and symptoms, it’s not a panacea. Anyone considering seeking hypnotherapy should do so only in consultation with a trained professional. Unfortunately, in some countries, including the UK, anyone can legally present themselves as a hypnotherapist and <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/hypnotherapy/Pages/Introduction.aspx">start treating clients</a>. However, anyone using hypnosis in a clinical or therapeutic context needs to have conventional training in a relevant discipline, such as clinical psychology, medicine, or dentistry to ensure that they are sufficiently expert in that specific area.</p>
<p>We believe that hypnosis probably arises through a complex interaction of neurophysiological and psychological factors – some described here and others unknown. It also seems that these <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25928681">vary across individuals</a>.</p>
<p>But as researchers gradually learn more, it has become clear that this captivating phenomenon has the potential to reveal unique insights into how the human mind works. This includes fundamental aspects of human nature, such as how our beliefs affect our perception of the world and how we come to experience control over our actions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75559/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Devin Terhune has received funding from the European Commission. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Jay Lynn has received government funding from the National Institute of Mental Health in the U.S. in the past.</span></em></p>A review of studies in psychology and neuroscience shows we are well on the way to understanding what goes on in our brains when we are hypnotised.Devin Terhune, Lecturer in Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of LondonSteven Jay Lynn, Distinguished Professor of Psychology & Director of The Psychological Clinic, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/677872016-11-06T20:26:40Z2016-11-06T20:26:40ZHow to find a good app for mental health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143614/original/image-20161028-15779-14km69r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some mental health apps claim to track your mood over time, while others claim to “cure” your mental ill health with hypnosis.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adobe</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Search for “stress”, “depression”, “anxiety”, or “mental health” in the app store on your mobile device and you are confronted with a bewildering array of options. Some apps claim to track your mood over time, while others claim to “cure” your mental ill health with hypnosis.</p>
<p>Apps hold amazing potential as mental health and wellbeing tools. You can carry them everywhere, engage with them in real time as you’re experiencing distress, and interact with them in a completely different way to other self-help tools. But it is important to know which apps you can rely on for good support, and which might even do you harm.</p>
<p>There is no current accreditation system for apps designed to improve or support mental health. And while some respectable organisations have lists of recommended apps, such as <a href="http://au.reachout.com/sites/thetoolbox">ReachOut.com</a> and <a href="http://www.emhprac.org.au/">eMHPrac</a>, very few of these apps are supported by experimental evidence. This means there is no way of knowing whether they actually help or not.</p>
<p>Many mental health apps are designed for very specific purposes. For example, ReachOut <a href="http://au.reachout.com/reachout-worrytime-app">WorryTime</a> is a fantastic app for practising the therapeutic technique of “allocated worry time”, where the user sets aside a designated time in their day for actively worrying, enabling them to reduce the amount of worrying they do throughout the rest of the day.</p>
<p>While this is a great technique for people who want to reduce the time they spend worrying, it is not well suited for users who have other mental health and wellbeing goals, such as reducing incidence of guilty low moods, or challenging unhelpful thoughts.</p>
<p>Mental health apps don’t promise to be a replacement for professional help, but can be useful tools in the treatment of subclinical problems (such as everyday anxious feelings and low moods) and the prevention of clinical problems (such as depression and anxiety disorders). Some psychologists or mental health clinicians use apps in addition to the work they do with clients and patients.</p>
<p>So before you set out to navigate the quagmire of available mental health apps, what should you keep in mind?</p>
<p><strong>1. Does it use evidence-based techniques?</strong></p>
<p>While there are many, many different types of psychological therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, has been shown through consistent <a href="http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/23459093">research results</a> to be an effective treatment for anxiety, depression, and a range of other psychological problems. </p>
<p>A growing body of <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10879-013-9243-y">evidence</a> also shows that internet-based CBT interventions are reliably effective. When choosing an app, look for mentions of CBT or psychologists endorsing the app as using evidence-based practices, as these have the greatest chance at being effective.</p>
<p><strong>2. Does it address more than one symptom or issue?</strong></p>
<p>There is a lot of research showing mental health issues often co-exist, and share many common factors that can be dealt with concurrently. For example, the rates of overlap between anxiety disorders and depression are extremely high, with some <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9166648?dopt=Abstract">statistics</a> showing that 90% of people diagnosed with anxiety disorders also experience significant depression, and 85% of people diagnosed with depression problems also experience significant anxiety.</p>
<p>Finding an app that addresses mental health and wellbeing broadly can be a way of making sure the app has use no matter what you’re going through.</p>
<p><strong>3. Do you tell the app how you’re feeling, what you’re thinking, or what you’re doing?</strong></p>
<p>Apps that ask you to record your thoughts, emotions, and/or behaviours allow you to track these factors over time. </p>
<p>Reflecting on these entries at a later date can enable insight into helpful or unhelpful patterns and empower you to make changes. </p>
<p>This concept is related to CBT.</p>
<p><strong>4. Does the app recommend activities that are non-technology-based and linked to the problems you’ve reported?</strong></p>
<p>Once you’ve told the app about your feelings, thoughts, and/or behaviours, the app should be able to recommend something in return. A recommendation of a helpful activity can help you cope, boost your resilience, and improve your mood. </p>
<p>If these activities are not based on technology it can encourage engagement with other people and with the outside world. Many apps or games can serve as distractions from psychological distress, which may be helpful temporarily, but learning coping behaviours that involve engagement outside of the digital world can have longer-term benefits.</p>
<p><strong>5. Can you use the app in real time, as you’re experiencing distress?</strong></p>
<p>One of the great advantages of smartphone apps is that you can use them in almost any setting, including when you are facing a particularly anxiety-provoking or distressing situation. </p>
<p>If an app can help you during these situations, there’s a higher likelihood you’ll learn effective coping strategies and you’ll be able to deal better with future situations. </p>
<p>Interventions that don’t offer this interactivity and require you to complete long lessons may be better suited to computer or internet-delivered programs rather than smartphone apps.</p>
<p><strong>6. Is there good experimental evidence to show the app’s effectiveness?</strong></p>
<p>This may be hard to assess when downloading an app, but apps that do have this experimental evidence often proudly advertise it. While some experiments have been done on several available apps, these are usually uncontrolled, meaning there is no condition to compare the app against.</p>
<p>This is a relatively low quality of evidence because the placebo effect of downloading a mental health app or being involved in research may be quite strong. </p>
<p>The high quality evidence for any health or mental health treatment comes from randomised controlled trials, where research participants are randomly allocated to different groups using different interventions. </p>
<p>While some <a href="https://www.jmir.org/2013/11/e247/">randomised controlled trials on mental health apps have been completed</a>, no currently available anxiety or depression apps have published randomised controlled trial studies backing them up. However, in the coming years this will hopefully be addressed by researchers and some apps will have randomised controlled trial evidence.</p>
<p><strong>7. Do you like it?</strong></p>
<p>This may sound like an odd recommendation, but it’s important to note an app will only be effective if you use it, and you are probably more likely to use something you enjoy using. </p>
<p>So if you don’t like the look of the app, don’t like the language it uses, or don’t like the things it asks you to do, it’s probably best finding another one.</p>
<p>Some of the best apps include <a href="http://moodmission.com/">MoodMission</a>, <a href="https://www.thinkpacifica.com/">Pacifica</a>, <a href="http://smilingmind.com.au/">Smiling Mind</a>, and <a href="http://www.thriveport.com/products/moodkit/">MoodKit</a>.</p>
<p>Apps to avoid include any that make bold claims (like “curing” depression), any that mention hypnosis (which has very limited evidence), and any purely testing apps that merely provide screening tools for clinical disorders.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Monash University is currently researching mental health and wellbeing apps and is looking for participants for a <a href="https://goo.gl/forms/uHkZzmdL3coVqXQB3">randomised controlled trial</a>. You don’t need to be experiencing a mental health issue to participate, but you will need to be over 13 years old and own an iPhone.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67787/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Bakker is a Doctor of Clinical Psychology candidate at Monash University and the Founding Director of MoodMission. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nikki Rickard receives funding from The Australian Research Council and beyond blue, and is the Program Director of Psychology at Swinburne Online.</span></em></p>While some respectable organisations have lists of recommended apps, very few of these apps are supported by experimental evidence.David Bakker, Doctor of Clinical Psychology Candidate, Monash UniversityNikki Rickard, Associate Professor of Psychology, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/572122016-04-05T20:11:23Z2016-04-05T20:11:23ZDon’t believe everything you see on TV: hypnosis is less far fetched and far more important<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117415/original/image-20160405-27115-wjgv2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A new TV show would have us believe a powerful hypnotist can make us do whatever he says while we are powerless to resist or even realise.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thevlue/4838444435/in/photolist-8nyhXM-bFpYo-8i4P9X-67gdLh-JsuDp-ENTLZw-awXJDY-8BVEpf-aq2sey-94kpP3-gMFBH-2GNi1P-5oHJgp-bkNBV2-i82vqh-6yVEtw-nB45bb-9R6G27-8SUpiM-9ZzbJK-jq1uQm-4sGtGj-cdUbtq-9FVzzo-FGJ6P-6HfKh-xrygT-4ZXAeJ-dbuSY7-6RgB9-3R2LXj-nDsp3w-bMyBmp-oDtq5U-5jkGJR-5H2y91-kb6AEe-4Nkvo-5yp55G-i6xuCC-5JS7EM-bAkJH4-dca53-ojJ2cq-5jkDH4-6KuFhS-axyq6r-e4U4Xd-9omE7m-6x2UZE">Evan/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Channel Nine’s new game show <a href="https://www.9now.com.au/youre-back-in-the-room/season-1/episode-1">You’re Back in the Room</a> debuted to <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/daryl-somers-new-show-youre-back-in-the-room-is-actually-a-huge-hit-20160404-gnxn7v.html">high ratings</a> on Sunday night. </p>
<p>Based on the British show, the contestants work together to complete challenges for cash. But to make it interesting, they are hypnotised and given increasingly outrageous suggestions to thwart their attempts to complete the challenges. </p>
<p>During a musical challenge, for instance, the hypnotist suggests one contestant is a pop star, another is Elvis, a third is an air guitar champion and the fourth loves the show’s host. Also, whenever music plays, all of them will dance like nobody’s watching.</p>
<p>The contestants’ flamboyant responses undermine their attempts to answer the questions. Meanwhile, the audience laughs at the supposedly hypnotic antics.</p>
<p>This program would have us believe a powerful hypnotist can make us do whatever he says and we are powerless to resist or even realise. This is inconsistent with over 200 years of evidence from the science and practice of hypnosis.</p>
<h2>Talented participants, not a powerful hypnotist</h2>
<p>The show’s hypnotist is presented as a powerful figure, introduced with flashy effects, zippy sounds and a futuristic animation of buzzing neurons. He tells us that hypnosis is “a form of mind control”. </p>
<p>This isn’t borne out by research evidence. The sometimes remarkable things that occur during hypnosis are almost entirely due to the abilities of the hypnotised person and not the hypnotist. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Australian version of ‘You’re Back in the Room’ is based on the British show.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We have known for more than 200 years that people differ in their ability to experience hypnosis. </p>
<p>Between 10% and 15% of people are <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=AZKNAgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA30&ots=1eZSyhRlf7&dq=highly%20hypnotizable%20person%20barnier&pg=PA30#v=onepage&q&f=false">highly hypnotisable</a> and respond to almost all hypnotic suggestions. Another 10% to 15% are low hypnotisable and rarely, if ever, respond to hypnotic suggestions. </p>
<p>The rest of us - 70% to 80% - are medium hypnotisable, responding to some but not other suggestions. </p>
<p>It’s this hypnotic talent that determines response to suggestions rather than any special powers of the hypnotist.</p>
<p>In the show, the host and hypnotist never mention hypnotisability and we don’t know how the contestants were chosen, what instructions they were given or what happened backstage. </p>
<p>We do know that only the most highly hypnotisable people experience <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/cns/1/2/168/">extreme cognitive alterations</a> during hypnosis, such as believing they are someone else or seeing something that isn’t there, as contestants appear to do on the program. </p>
<p>This pattern of extreme hypnotic responding is actually very rare.</p>
<p>Further, contestants are portrayed as mindless automatons, slumping almost to the floor when the hypnotist says “sleep”, forgetting prior suggestions and uncritically doing his bidding. This is inconsistent with what we know about people’s experiences of hypnosis. </p>
<p>While it’s true <a href="http://socrates.berkeley.edu/%7Ekihlstrm/hypnosis_memory.htm">hypnotised people sometimes experience amnesia</a> for all or parts of a hypnotic session, this seldom happens spontaneously and usually is the result of a specific suggestion by the hypnotist to forget.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether people later forget what happened during hypnosis, we know <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261793893_Measuring_Agency_Change_Across_the_Domain_of_Hypnosis">hypnotic participants are willing collaborators</a>, aware of what is going on around them and typically able to stop responding when they choose.</p>
<h2>Why else would they behave like this?</h2>
<p>The hypnotist in You’re Back in the Room replies to potential sceptics by saying: “Would these people be doing these crazy, foolish and outlandish things unless they were truly hypnotised?”</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117436/original/image-20160405-13549-1va83dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117436/original/image-20160405-13549-1va83dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117436/original/image-20160405-13549-1va83dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117436/original/image-20160405-13549-1va83dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117436/original/image-20160405-13549-1va83dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117436/original/image-20160405-13549-1va83dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117436/original/image-20160405-13549-1va83dz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Hypnosis isn’t a form of mind control.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>But there are many explanations for contestants’ behaviour that have nothing to do with hypnosis. These include them being encouraged by the cameras to be entertaining and increase their chances of winning; positive reinforcement from the audience in the form of applause and laughter; and strong stereotypes and expectations about how people should behave on these types of shows, as well as under hypnosis. </p>
<p>Researchers have highlighted the need for caution when attributing behaviours to hypnosis. In a <a href="https://www.sas.upenn.edu/psych/history/orne/orneetal1965jpsp189200.html">clever experiment</a> conducted at the University of Sydney in 1965, Martin Orne and Fred Evans gave genuinely hypnotised people, and people asked to fake hypnosis, extreme suggestions to pick up a dangerous red-bellied black snake, put their hand in a jar of acid and throw acid at an experimenter’s face. </p>
<p>People in both groups - hypnotised and faking - carried out all three actions. Later they said they did these things not because they were hypnotised but because they knew it was an experiment and they would be safe. </p>
<p>We don’t need to reach to hypnosis as an explanation for their behaviour. The social demands of the situation are explanation enough. </p>
<p>We aren’t implying all hypnotic behaviour is faked, but the above research shows it’s easy to attribute such behaviour to hypnosis when it may play little or no part at all.</p>
<h2>Hypnosis is important</h2>
<p>Unscientific and exaggerated representations do hypnosis a disservice.</p>
<p>In contrast to the showy artefact of stage and television hypnosis, researchers and clinicians have carefully revealed compelling ways in which <a href="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v14/n8/abs/nrn3538.html">hypnosis genuinely influences thoughts</a> and behaviours leading to a better understanding of the human mind.</p>
<p>In the clinic, hypnosis can provide effective relief for psychological and physical symptoms. Psychologists and medical practitioners have used hypnosis to help <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Oxford-Handbook-Hypnosis-Handbooks/dp/0199645809">treat conditions</a> including anxiety, depression, habit disorders, trauma, and acute and chronic pain. </p>
<p>Indeed, economic and <a href="http://hc.rediris.es/pub/bscw.cgi/d4527350/Kirsch-Hypnosis_adjunct_cognitive_behavioral_psychotherapy.pdf">meta-analyses</a> show that hypnotic treatments can have long-lasting effects and <a href="http://pubs.rsna.org/doi/full/10.1148/radiol.2222010528">cost half as much</a> as some traditional treatments. </p>
<p>For instance, pain researchers have argued hypnosis could be a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mark_Jensen8/publication/10673088_Hypnosis_and_Clinical_Pain/links/0046352fe95057f7fd000000.pdf">first-line treatment</a> for chronic and other pain because it is low cost and has virtually no side effects.</p>
<p>But based on misinformation about hypnosis in programs such as You’re Back in the Room people may be less likely to accept a clinical treatment involving hypnosis, even when it can help them. Given the demonstrated value of hypnosis in clinical and other settings, this would be a terrible shame.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57212/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vince Polito receives funding from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Barnier receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) via an ARC Future Fellowship, an ARC Discovery Project, and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rochelle Cox receives funding from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders</span></em></p>The new TV show You’re Back in the Room would have us believe a powerful hypnotist can make us do whatever he says. This is inconsistent with over 200 years of evidence from the science of hypnosis.Vince Polito, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Cognitive Science , Macquarie UniversityAmanda Barnier, Professor of Cognitive Science and Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Macquarie UniversityRochelle Cox, Postdoctoral Researcher in Cognitive Science, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/169732013-08-22T13:33:56Z2013-08-22T13:33:56ZHypnosis gives insight into psychiatric disorders<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/29672/original/8kq2m4f8-1377082862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not just a party trick.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">roderickrussell</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite long standing associations with mysticism and stage hypnotism, hypnosis has also been used for medical and scientific purposes. For well over a century, hypnosis has been used to treat a wide range of conditions. These have included pain, irritable bowel syndrome, post-traumatic stress, phobias and eating disorders. </p>
<p>More recently, hypnosis has began to attract <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/jul/22/hypnosis-revival-neuroscience-vaughan-bell">notice from cognitive neuroscientists</a>. They have <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/15193991/Hypnotic-suggestion-and-cognitive-neuroscience">become interested</a> in understanding hypnosis, and using it to simulate unusual states of consciousness in the lab.</p>
<p>Hypnotic suggestion allows one to harness the effect of attention in the brain. This allows the enhancement, and even production, of a wide range of experiences. In many people, <a href="http://mindhacks.com/2009/05/10/deeper-into-the-neuroscience-of-hypnosis">hypnotic suggestion can produce</a> compelling changes in perception and cognition, including temporary paralysis, anaesthesia and blindness. </p>
<p>Hypnosis produces a highly focused state which allows “suggestions” - simple statements communicating changes in a person’s experience or behaviour - to take place, such as “your leg is becoming so stiff that you cannot move it”. It has also been long recognised that suggestions can be effective without a hypnotic induction procedure, but this is rare, only occuring in highly suggestible individuals.</p>
<h2>In the lab</h2>
<p>The ability to experimentally manipulate subjective awareness in the laboratory could have major potential, as I describe in the <a href="http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1038/nrn3538?locale=en">latest issue of Nature Neuroscience Review</a>. </p>
<p>Current interest in the area can be divided into two types of research. Some are looking to acquire a better understanding of the nature of hypnosis. Others are interested in using hypnotic suggestion to <a href="http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/articles/hypnosis-study-unlocks-secrets-of-unexplained-paralysis-10363.html">investigate certain aspects</a> of normal and abnormal psychological functioning.</p>
<p>Employing a range of brain imaging technologies, both approaches are using hypnosis to explore the nature of consciousness. They are also gaining insight into the brain mechanisms underlying visual perception, pain, and the putative origins of some clinical symptoms. These include medically unexplained paralysis as seen in hysteria, hallucinations, delusions and alterations in control over thought and actions in schizophrenia.</p>
<p>Understandably, <a href="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v14/n8/box/nrn3538_BX1.html">scepticism</a> remains regarding the credibility of reports involving hypnotic suggestion. Participants, however, typically describe the perceptual and behavioural changes experienced as “real”, and beyond voluntary control. </p>
<p>Recent experimental studies support the case for hypnosis being a physiologically credible experience. This is particularly seen where suggestions <a href="http://razlab.mcgill.ca/docs/Using_suggestion_to_modulate_automatic_processes_Lifshitz_et_al.pdf">disrupt well-established automatic, unconscious processes</a>, such as reading. </p>
<h2>The findings</h2>
<p>There is a now <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19428287">a growing literature</a> which shows how hypnotic suggestion can be used to create temporary functional changes in a range of ways.</p>
<p>Hypnosis has also been used instrumentally to develop and test models for a number of specific psycho-pathologies including delusions, auditory hallucinations, functional paralysis and obsessive-compulsive disorder.</p>
<p>It can also be used to suggest subjective experiences that are similar to symptoms observed in neurological and psychiatric disturbances. These have included chronic pain conditions, and disorders of volition and motor control.</p>
<p>Hypnotic suggestions have been used to induce “synaesthetic” experiences – where one sense triggers the involuntary use of another. In <a href="http://phys.org/news143994178.html#jCp">colour-number synaesthesia</a>, people experience colours associated with specific numbers. The reliable effects reported in naturally occurring synaesthesia are commonly considered to be outside a subject’s control. However, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20621110">one study</a> showed that hypnotic suggestion could be effective in abolishing the apparently automatic experience of synaesthesia.</p>
<p>There is clearly great future potential in this growing field. In addition to scientific advances, the ability to produce neurological symptoms of “virtual patients” in normal volunteers also provides a potential training value. Practitioners could have the possibility of experiencing these symptoms for themselves: through hypnotic suggestion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/16973/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Over the past 25 years Peter Halligan has received funding from MRC and other UK research councils and charities, although none specifically for research on hypnosis.
</span></em></p>Despite long standing associations with mysticism and stage hypnotism, hypnosis has also been used for medical and scientific purposes. For well over a century, hypnosis has been used to treat a wide range…Peter W Halligan, Professor of Neuropsychology, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.