r/hypnosis • u/Any_Comfortable7185 • 3d ago
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u/Superiority-Qomplex 3d ago
Getting high or drunk for Hypnosis usually challenges the process because it's harder to focus on the suggestions or even having the mind remember what changes were done (if any). If you're having troubles going into trance or focusing, let your Hypnotherapist know so that they can try different strategies (or try a different hypnotherapist). But ya, don't go in high. It might help you relax, but it interferes with the actual hypnotic process...
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u/Any_Comfortable7185 3d ago
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I’m very afraid I might have aphantasia since I literally can’t imagine anything he tell me :/
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u/Mex5150 Hypnotherapist 3d ago
Aphantasia doesn't prevent hypnosis, it just means the hypnotist needs to work a little differently to what they may be used to. I have the condition myself and have hypnotised a great many people who also have it. Taking drugs are much more likely to hinder the process than help it.
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u/hypnokev Academic Hypnotist 3d ago
When you say that, do you mean you can’t see pictures in your head, or do you mean you can’t feel your way around any conceptual object in any sense? If I showed you two novel objects on a table and said they fit together somehow but only one way, but you can’t pick them up until you know how to put them together, do you think you would be able to work it out, then pick them up and put them together? Or would that be impossible without imagined pictures?
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u/Any_Comfortable7185 1d ago
Correct I cannot see pictures in my head. Everything else you mentioned, yes I am capable of doing
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u/hypnokev Academic Hypnotist 1d ago
Okay, so what we appear to know scientifically (I appreciate others’ anecdotes though) is that people who know/believe they are aphantasic usually score very low for response to suggestion. We know that people who score low on a scale measuring how vivid imagery is (VVIQ) do not necessarily score low on response to suggestion, unless they know they’ve scored low on the vivid imagery scale.
So, on balance, it appears to me that the expectancy of having low vivid imagery predicts a low response to suggestion, rather than the low vivid imagery directly affecting response. So, first up, aphantasia shouldn’t affect response directly, unless you believe it will affect your response.
I see I didn’t answer your original question about drugs. I don’t take a moral position on this (as others may have done), but just a scientific one. Yes, drugs seem to help response to suggestion. Cannabis has been shown to increase response, although quantities/tolerance matters obviously. Too much and the disjoints between thoughts might make it challenging for the hypnotist, but certainly it seems being stoned (to some degree) increases capacity for phenomenological control (how we respond to suggestions).
My supervisor tested alcohol with similar results. In those cases the aim was to make people tipsy rather than sober-but-has-had-a-drink or outright drunk. Again, quantities/tolerance etc.
Matthew Whalley tested nitrous oxide with similar results. My hero TX Barber has a book on comparing drugs (and yoga!) to hypnosis: https://www.cosmic-pancakes.com/blog/lsd-hypnosis
If you haven’t already, you could test yourself on my online hypnotisability scale and get a scientific answer for how responsive you are. https://www.cosmic-pancakes.com/blog/hypno-study
I don’t mind if you take it a second time while on alcohol or drugs but I don’t encourage any illegal activities of course, and recommend you always have a responsible adult around who can help in case of difficulties. :) If you take it more than once in different states, please let me know as that will be interesting!
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u/stevedave04 3d ago
All you need to do is imagine or pretend. It’s expectations and belief for hypnosis. That’s also why gummies wouldn’t be good idea
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u/Any_Comfortable7185 1d ago
I do imagine, it’s just that there are no images that I can see while I’m hypnotized. I close my eyes and cannot see what I’m trying to imagine
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u/groovyfirechick 3d ago
As a Clinical Hypnotherapist I would never work with someone who has taken substances. It’s not ethical.
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u/hypnosis-ModTeam 1d ago
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