What happens to u when you are hypnotised?

Answer 1

It depends on many variables - eg who is hypnotizing you, and for what purpose? Also, what is your motivation in being hypnotized, and the exact context in which it occurs: is it for fun/ entertainment (just for the experience!), or for other, more serious, purposes? Is it public or private?

It's also important to remember that individual responses vary considerably - not just in absolute terms (some people are far more responsive than others), but also in individuals from time to time depending on their current mood/ state of mind etc.. What happens on one occasion may not necessarily be replicated the next time.

Finally, but not least, confidence in the hypnotist is paramount, and irrespective of context, if trust in him/ her has been in some way undermined, then nothing much will happen. To summarise, it is hard to generalise - individual responses and experiencies will vary considerably, and you can't really be hypnotized unless you want to be.

So, what happens when you're hypnotized depends very much on you, and the context you're in: it's a process of communication between you and the hypnotist, and everything is really determined by that relationship, and what you think you're trying to achieve.

Answer 2

When in hypnosis, generally, you are very relaxed, but hyperattentive - attention is focused on the hypnotist to the exclusion of all else. Most people remain aware; background noises and peripheral stimuli remain just that - in the background and peripheral, almost incidental. You are not unconscious, but in a "monoideistic state" (ie where one "focus" dominates conscious thought) of dissociation in which you only really care about the stimuli, words, and suggestions of the hypnotist.

Many people describe being in a hypnotic trance as similar to being drunk, but without the negatives! It's not uncommon to be very playful (because disinhibited), and generally people respond to suggestion in an uncritical, almost "automatic", manner. You can not, however, be made to do or say anything you don't want to - you're not "under control" - and if anything really objectionable or harmful to you was to be suggested, you would not respond, or - very likely - come out of hypnosis immediately.

A minority of people (under 10%) have the combination of personality traits, attributes, and motivation to enter very profound trance (a "somnambulistic" state) during which they can open their eyes, walk around, perform complex tasks etc whilst remaining deeply hypnotised. Such individuals may experience trance amnesia, remembering little or nothing of what happened whilst in hypnosis, but even such individuals can not generally be forced to do anything against their will. They simply have an unusually high capability to concentrate intensely on instructions, ideas, focal points etc, and to suspend critical judgement in order to enter an "alternate reality" in which their imaginative capabilities are given full reign.

In short, hypnosis is really nothing more than an intense form of interpersonal communication where one person guides another into a state of mind in which attention is completely absorbed in whatever is being suggested. Most "normal" people enter spontaneous trance states regularly (eg "daydreaming"; performing repetitive tasks on "autopilot" whilst thinking of other things; being "lost" in a book, movie, piece of music etc), and hypnotising someone is simply deliberately inducing such a state for some specific purpose - psychotherapy, entertainment, relaxation etc..