I'm sitting with my back straight, my eyes closed and my iPad resting on my lap. "Let one hand float up in the air as if it were a balloon," a soothing voice tells me from the speakers, and I do as it commands. Soon I feel as if my whole body is weightless.
Next, I have to visualise the goal that I want to achieve – I choose the writing of this article.
Over the next few minutes, I’m instructed to picture the elements of the creative challenge as if they’re puzzle pieces slotting together. “Think just about the problem and not its implications or consequences.”
A while later, the voice tells me to count from three to one, open my eyes and lower my arm. My hypnosis session is over.
I tried this exercise to silence the inner critic that typically plagues my mind as I work, creating anxiety and stress. It’s just one of many options offered by Reveri, an app designed by Dr David Spiegel, a psychiatrist and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Over the past two decades, increasing evidence has shown that hypnosis can ease pain, anxiety and insomnia with effects that are often comparable to standard medicinal treatments.
Contrary to its mystical image, scientists like Spiegel argue that hypnosis arises from well-accepted neurological and psychological mechanisms. It’s perhaps better seen as a mindset that can be learned.
“When I hypnotise someone, I’m just showing them how to use their own ability,” Spiegel says. And with a few simple instructions, you could begin to acquire those skills too.
The scandalous history of hypnosis
If the idea of hypnosis makes you feel uneasy, you’re not alone. The practice is surrounded by myth and mysticism, including the popular trope that a person can fall into a trance and relinquish their free will.
Such ideas can be traced to Dr Franz Mesmer, a German-born physician who worked in Vienna and Paris in the late 18th century.
He proposed that every living being contained a magnetic fluid, which sometimes got blocked in the body, causing illness. He claimed to be able to manipulate the flow of the fluid with his hands, leading people to enter an apparently 'unconscious' state as he treated them for pain, hysteria and delirium.
Mesmer’s treatment, which often resembled a theatrical performance, proved to be popular, yet controversial. So much so that France’s King Louis XIV established a royal commission to investigate.
Blind-folding patients, the commission noted that effects of the treatment, including the ‘trance’, could be produced through the mere suggestion that a mesmerist was present.
This strongly suggested that the phenomenon was purely psychological and Mesmer was presented as little more than a fraud.
The theory of animal magnetism may have been debunked, but the truth was that many people still reported some relief from their symptoms after the treatment – a fact that inspired the Scottish physician James Braid in the middle of the 19th century.
Through experimentation, he found that the necessary state could be induced through concentrating the subjects’ focus on a single idea or object and invented the term hypnosis – from the Greek word hypnos, meaning sleep – to describe the process.
Simply asking the participants to raise their gaze and focus intently on a spot in front of their eyes seemed to work, he found. (He sometimes hung corks from their foreheads to achieve this.)
Growing evidence that hypnosis has real benefits
Braid’s work inspired further scientific investigations into hypnosis, which have grown in both quantity and quality, especially over the past four decades.
Some of the best evidence can be seen in pain reduction.
In 2000, Spiegel and his colleagues recruited 241 patients undergoing keyhole surgery and divided them into three groups.
The first went through the hospital’s standard procedures. The second acted as a control group, receiving extra care from an additional member of staff. The final group received a guided hypnotic induction from the same staff member.
This involved an exercise in focused attention, before patients were asked to imagine themselves in a safe and pleasant space.
The hypnosis worked a treat, reducing both pain and anxiety levels when compared to the other two groups.
The power of hypnosis as a pain reliever, or ‘analgesic’, has now been replicated many times and the benefits seem to extend to long-term conditions such as chronic pain.
“There’s consistent, clear evidence that hypnosis is valuable for reducing pain,” says Dr Devin Terhune, a neuroscientist at King’s College London.
While the subjects in these trials take existing prescribed medications, hypnosis can significantly reduce their dosage, suggesting it could be a useful weapon in the battle against opioid addiction.
Multiple studies show that hypnosis can also relieve issues like anxiety and stress, with potential benefits for our cardiovascular health.
Some research suggests it can also reduce symptoms such as nausea and vomiting in patients undergoing certain cancer treatments.
There’s even hope that hypnosis can encourage difficult behavioural changes, like stopping smoking and encouraging weight loss – though there’s less evidence for these claims.
“It has a lot of potential,” says Dr Jenny Rosendahl at Jena University Hospital in Germany, who co-authored a recent review of the evidence.
It all depends on how suggestible you are
There’s just one hitch: many of these effects depend on the patient’s inherent hypnotisability. This can be measured during the hypnotic induction, by rating how strongly someone responds to the instruction that, for example, their arm is feeling heavy.
Some subjects instantly drop their hand, while others continue holding it in place. This allows researchers to rate how well someone responds to hypnotic suggestion, which can help to predict the size of the clinical benefits.
Consider hypnosis for pain relief. People who score high on the suggestibility scale can expect a 42-per-cent reduction in their discomfort, compared to 29 per cent for those who fall in the middle, and next to nothing for those who score low.
Low suggestibility is relatively rare, affecting around one in six people, but it may limit how widely hypnosis can be applied.
“It’s not a panacea [a remedy for everything],” Terhune says.
Spiegel is more optimistic. In an article for the American Journal of Medicine, Spiegel and his colleague, associate professor Jessie Kittle, went as far as to label hypnosis the “most effective treatment you’ve yet to prescribe”.
It’s fairly easy to screen people with low suggestibility, after all, and for those who do respond, the benefits are often comparable to existing medications, without the risk of side effects.
“If hypnosis were a drug, it would be standard of care,” they claim.
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How hypnosis affects your brain
Exactly how hypnosis achieves these effects is still a matter of debate, though recent brain scans of people under hypnosis suggest that three key elements may be at play.
The first is reduced activity in an area known as the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, which lies in the brain’s salience network.
“It’s our alarm system,” Spiegel says. “And in hypnosis, you turn down activity there, so you’re less likely to be sensitive to distraction.”
This is accompanied by increased communication between the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is involved in planning and decision-making, and the insula, which processes signals from the rest of the body.
The interaction between the two gives us more control over our body’s feelings, Spiegel says, consciously shifting our physical perceptions.
Thirdly, we have reduced activity in the posterior cingulate cortex, which is involved in self-evaluation.
“It allows you to suppress your usual assumptions about who you are and what you are, and that’s a tremendous therapeutic opportunity,” says Spiegel.
When combined, these three elements allow us to change the way we think, feel and behave. At no point do you lose conscious control, though – a misconception that persists to this day.
“Unfortunately, there’s been a proliferation of media representations of hypnosis as an altered state of consciousness in which you’re handing over executive functioning to the hypnotist," says Dr Adam Eason, a researcher at Bournemouth University.
While plays and movies present hypnotists as charismatic gurus, the skills of the practitioner appear to be less important than the willingness of the participant.
This is good news for its potential application in medicine, where expense is often a major barrier to the adoption of new treatments.
Even so, few health services currently provide hypnosis as a first line of treatment, which is why Spiegel developed his app, Reveri.
“I’ve been so frustrated that a simple, effective remedy like hypnosis still isn’t being used and that’s why we built Reveri – to get it direct to the consumer,” he says. So far, he tells me, they have had 850,000 downloads.
Trying hypnosis for myself
Could my smartphone really help me to harness the potential of hypnosis? After my conversation with Spiegel, I’m intrigued and decide to download the app for a free trial.
After answering various questions about my gender, age and overall goals, I’m ready to try my first session. There are various options, but I’ve been feeling stressed lately, so I decide to tackle my anxiety first.
Spiegel’s voice comes over the speakers and issues instructions that focus my attention, and then I’m asked to visualise myself in a relaxing environment, before hearing some suggestions of how to cope with the challenges I face.
It’s an odd sensation: a feeling of deep absorption and engagement. Somehow, the black behind my eyes feels even darker than usual. I follow the instructions willingly – even when I’m asked to raise my hand like a balloon – while still feeling completely conscious of what I’m doing.
When I’m encouraged to “recast my anxious rumination”, it feels easier to break out of those old patterns of thinking.
Spiegel’s description of hypnosis as “cognitive flexibility” makes a lot of sense. I’m ready to think, feel and behave in a new way. By the end of the session, I feel significantly calmer and I find that the feeling lingers over to the next day.
Given that some of my stress comes from self-sabotaging thoughts about work, I next try a session aimed at increasing my focus as I begin writing this piece.
The instructions help me to imagine a path towards my goal so that I can proceed without deviation, even when I feel uncertain or frustrated.
Afterwards, I find that I'm better at screening out the doubts and distractions that normally block my creativity.
You don't need an instructor to try hypnosis
My anecdotal experience should be taken with a pinch of salt, of course, but there’s good evidence that we can practise hypnosis by ourselves.
Many of the existing studies on hypnosis have been based on recordings and there’s even some evidence that suggests we can go without an audio guide.
“The science tends to support the fact that self-hypnosis and hetero-hypnosis (with an instructor) are equally efficacious,” says Eason. He points to trials where the subjects are taught to achieve the positive mindset as a “self-directed skill” – and it works remarkably well.
You’ll need some practice to get it right. According to Eason, people trying self-hypnosis for the first time begin to see larger benefits after about three attempts.
When preparing your self-suggestions, try to use words that resonate with you. When dealing with anxiety, for instance, some people might prefer to think about being calm, while others might associate relaxation with a feeling of warmth.
It can also help to encourage a sense of progression. If you’re aiming for relaxation, you might repeat, “I’m more and more calm, I’m increasingly calm” to yourself, for instance.
It might also be useful to draw from your memories, for example, remembering a specific time and place where you felt tranquil and untroubled.
Whatever your goal, Eason recommends starting with something basic. “Use really simple [suggestions] that can be delivered repeatedly, while you feel gently assured and engage the imagination,” he says.
Since speaking to Eason, I’ve attempted self-hypnosis at various points over the week. It becomes easier to move my focus inward with each induction and as I found with the Reveri app, my self-sabotaging thoughts seem to recede after each session.
I don’t imagine that self-hypnosis will be a solution to all my problems, but after my few personal experiments, I’m convinced that it can be a useful tool to gain greater control over my mind and my loud inner critic.
How to hypnotise yourself at home
The following six steps are a summary of the process Dr Adam Eason, a hypnotherapy researcher at the University of Bournemouth, uses in his studies:
1. Adopt the hypnotic mindset
Find a quiet place where you won't be disturbed. Sit with a straight back and the crown of your head pointing to the ceiling. Try to increase your optimism that the process will bring benefits. Prepare yourself to imagine the things that are being suggested to you.
2. Engage in the induction process
Without moving your head, lift your gaze and fix your eyes on a point on the ceiling. You should feel a slight strain on your eyes that quickly turns to fatigue.
As you feel your eyes tiring, imagine your lids becoming heavier and allow them to close slowly. Relax your breathing.
3. Deepen your experience
In your mind, count from five down to one and imagine that with each number you count, your body and mind are relaxing more deeply.
To enhance the experience, you can also imagine closing your 'mind's eye' to unwelcome thoughts.
4. Deliver your suggestions
Describe what you want to achieve and imagine yourself achieving it. Use your imagination to engage all your senses – focus on what you’ll be able to see, hear and touch.
5. Exit self-hypnosis
In your mind, count from one to five, repeating affirmations about your return to normal awareness.
For example: "When I count to one, I'll have full control, flexibility and coordination throughout my entire body. When I count to two, I'll position myself back in the place where I entered hypnosis, remembering what was to my left and right, and above and below me."
6. Ratify, reflect and feedback
Like any skill, hypnosis can grow with time. It helps to consider what went well and how you might improve the experience in the future.
About our experts
Dr David Spiegel is a psychiatrist and professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, in the US. He also designed the Reveri app. He is published in the likes of The British Journal of Psychiatry: The Journal of Mental Science, Chronobiology International and Cancer Medicine.
Dr Devin Terhune is a neuroscientist and associate professor of experimental psychology at King's College London, in the UK. He is published in Journal of Psychiatric Research, International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis and Psychological Science.
Dr Jenny Rosendahl is a psychologist and senior researcher at Jena University Hospital, in Germany. They have been published in scientific journals such as Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, Acta Oncologica and Psychotherapy Research.
Dr Adam Eason is a hypnotherapist and researcher and lecturer at Bournemouth University, in the UK. He has featured on TV, including on BBC's The Smokehouse. He is also published in Contemporary Therapies in Clinical Practice and Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice.
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