The power of self-hypnosis is used by people every day. Without noticing it themselves, they program themselves with words for victory or defeat, recovery or illness.
You may not believe in self-hypnosis, calling it optimism or pessimism, an invention of psychiatrists, obsessive mania. Nothing will change from this. This enormous power exists and continues to manifest itself in people's lives.
What it is
Self-hypnosis is the work of a person’s consciousness directed at himself, reinforced by visual images. Thanks to this work, a subconscious attitude towards a certain action is formed. 
In this state, one area of the cerebral cortex is dominant, while the action of the remaining areas is inhibited. For self-hypnosis it is not necessary to plunge into a trance state. A calm, secluded environment, complete concentration on the goal, along with relaxation or strong emotional shock is enough. Repeating a certain setting multiple times triggers the programming mechanism and brings your settings to life.
Self-hypnosis and willpower should not be confused. Willpower is a conscious effort aimed at performing an action. Like any effort, it encounters resistance from our inner nature. Self-hypnosis acts through feelings, emotions, imagination, penetrating deep into consciousness and manifesting itself on the physical level with certain abilities, sensations, and actions.
What can it be used for?
The possibilities of self-hypnosis are enormous and are similar to the powerful action of the wind, water element or fire. Channeled in the right direction, these opportunities can work wonders, improve a person’s character, heal, lift spirits and achieve goals. But applied unconsciously in Everyday life, verbal programming most often has a negative effect.
The words of other people can trigger self-hypnosis mechanisms in your mind, which they often use without asking consent. These mechanisms can be both constructive and destructive. You cannot blame other people for your failures, because without your inner consent, other people’s negative attitudes will not be realized in life. Run away from preachers who tell you that you are worthless, will not achieve anything, will not learn anything. They inspire you that your desires are impossible to fulfill, there are no conditions for forgiveness, that you yourself are to blame for all the problems, thereby starting the process of negative programming of your personality. By the way, you can get rid of negative attitudes using this system.
With the help of self-hypnosis you can protect yourself from aggressive external environment and control your life. Your life is precious, unique, unique. Instill this in yourself. You are worthy of love, forgiveness and mercy. You can inspire yourself with any emotional state, ability, goal. Your body will complete the task within the limits of its capabilities, but it will definitely complete it. Do not allow even a shadow of doubt to arise in your head during self-hypnosis. It is the truth of aspirations that plays decisive role. The formulations of work with consciousness do not reflect reality, but only the desired result, but always in the present tense. Because for consciousness there is no such thing as tomorrow or yesterday, only here and now.
Unconscious and conscious self-suggestion
Most people use negative self-hypnosis unconsciously. Having learned some unpleasant facts or read about terrible events, they involuntarily program themselves to repeat them in their lives. Having learned the symptoms of various diseases, they find them in themselves and, in fact, soon fall ill. A person can even convince himself that he is terminally ill and will soon die.
The harmless word pessimism is usually used to describe the conscious programming of failures and troubles in own life. When it’s really hard for you, try telling yourself: “The worst is behind us, only good things are ahead, I’m doing well.” Your subconscious will greedily grab onto a simple childhood hope and give you the strength to overcome stress and troubles. But if everything has gone too far and is hopeless, try this technique. It has a very beneficial effect on the psyche and life in general (which, in fact, is logical, because we build our reality with our thoughts - order inside = order outside).
In addition to unconscious negative programming, there is conscious self-hypnosis. It deserves attention and respect. Can be used for healing, personal growth, formation of the necessary result in achieving the goal, protection from the negative attitudes of others.
Various techniques
An effective method of self-hypnosis was proposed at the beginning of the last century by Emile Coue. He had his own clinic in Nantes. The examples of formulas for working with consciousness that he developed are of great interest. 
He began his research by noticing that many patients were getting better by taking medications that they believed were effective. But in fact, the composition of drugs that determines them medicinal properties, could not heal these sick people.
Coue's technique is not the only one. There are a number of others:
- meditation;
- auto-training;
- self-regulation;
- relaxation by Edmund Jacobson, etc.
For each person, according to his consciousness and individuality, his own method is suitable. It is worth noting that in a trance and meditative state, the power of suggestion increases.
Is self-hypnosis effective?
The effectiveness of self-hypnosis will depend on the overall consistency of all parts of your consciousness. For example, you want to convince yourself that you are a rich, confident and calm person. But it is logical to assume that you do not have these resources, which means that all your experience will rebel and speak about the opposite, i.e. sabotage all efforts. It's like coming to new team and say: “Okay, guys, now we’ll act as follows...” - You probably guessed the reaction of the team. It’s the same with our beliefs, which are ingrained and guide our actions. The psyche is formed and before you bring anything in, you need to make room for it. Isn't it logical?
Suggestion is the presentation of information, perceived without critical evaluation and influencing the course of neuropsychic processes. Self-hypnosis is a process of suggestion addressed to oneself. Through self-suggestion one can evoke sensations, ideas, emotional states and volitional impulses, as well as influence the vegetative functions of the body.
The essence of self-hypnosis methods is the formation of positive impulses through the constant repetition of specially selected phrases until they turn into a working tool of your subconscious and it begins to act according to this impulse of thought, transforming it into a physical equivalent. Repeating settings for the subconscious is the basis of self-hypnosis.
Words and phrases of self-hypnosis must be mentally pronounced in the first person in an imperative tone and always in an affirmative form. The negative particle “not” is excluded from verbal formulas. You cannot say “I don’t smoke.” You need to say “I quit smoking” or “I stopped smoking.” You should also not pronounce long monologues. Phrases should be short, they should be pronounced slowly with full concentration on the subject of suggestion. While pronouncing each self-hypnosis phrase, it is advisable to vividly imagine what is being suggested.
Self-hypnosis methods work most effectively when active thoughts in the form of target formulas (thoughts that carry a clear, meaningful message to the subconscious) occur against the background of a state of relaxation in the body. The more relaxed the body is, the more pliable the subconscious becomes for target settings. The power of self-hypnosis is directly dependent on the degree of desire to achieve a specific goal, on the degree of concentration of attention on the settings for the subconscious.
There is enough a large number of Self-hypnosis methods include affirmations, psychological attitudes, various meditative techniques, visualization, mantras, prayers and many other psychotechniques.
AFFIRMATIONS – THE SIMPLE METHOD OF SELF-HYPOPTIATION
Affirmations are a method of self-hypnosis where you repeat formulas out loud or silently. The point of this psychotechnic is that you construct a sentence in which you say that you have achieved a certain goal. For example, “I have good health”, “I am confident in myself”, “I have good job", "I'm married to the man I love." What exactly to repeat depends on your goal. Thanks to affirmations, positive thoughts will begin to replace the negative ones and will gradually completely supplant them. And then everything that you repeat will come true in your life.
Gratitude is a type of affirmation, but a much more powerful psychotechnic. Gratitude is the second most powerful emotion after love. Because when we give thanks, at the same time there arise powerful emotions, and this has a powerful effect on the psyche and consciousness. You need to be grateful for everything you have and say: “Thank you, Lord, for good health,” “Thank you for my new house”, even if you don't have one. Thank you sincerely, from the bottom of your heart, as if you already have this home. And over time, self-hypnosis will do its job and you will have something repeatable.
The most common state of a person, in which he usually lives every day, is suitable for this psychotechnics. The effectiveness of affirmations will depend on how much the practitioner can make the spoken words the essence, the content of his entire day. That is, you can do whatever you want: work, relax, play sports, sunbathe, as long as the necessary affirmation continues to live on the surface of your memory.
Affirmations are the simplest method of self-hypnosis and, accordingly, this is the easiest way to influence the subconscious; they are less powerful than visualization and need to be repeated more often. But they are also effective and easy to use.
VISUALIZATION
Visualization is the mental representation and experience of imaginary events. The essence of this psychotechnics is to simply imagine the desired situation and live in it. Visualization is so effective because our minds do not differentiate real events from imaginary ones. When you imagine something, the mind believes that it is actually happening. It is very important to perceive everything with your own eyes. Not from above, not from the side, but with your own eyes. If you imagine a car, you must imagine that you are driving that car and you are looking at the road. Your goal is to buy a house. Imagine how you insert your keys into the keyhole and open the door for the first time, how you enter the house, how you look around it. Your visualization should be only positive and carry an exclusively positive charge.
You need to visualize in a comfortable, calm environment, so choose a time and place when no one will distract you, and take a comfortable position. Relax. Imagine that your muscles, starting from your toes and ending with your head, alternately relax. The tension leaves you. The mental image that is embedded in the subconscious must be very clear and vivid - then the subconscious will be able to give commands to the corresponding organs and tissues.
The duration of this psychotechnic is not particularly important. The main criterion is your pleasure. Visualize it for as long as you like it. This can last as long as an hour or five minutes. The main thing is that the process should be enjoyable. The more often you imagine the desired image, the sooner the renewal process will begin. And the result may simply amaze you!
SELF-HYPOPYPICATION METHOD E. KUE
When performing this psychotechnics, a person takes a comfortable position, sitting or lying down, closes his eyes, relaxes and in a whisper, without any tension, monotonously pronounces the same self-hypnosis formula several times (at least 20). The formula should be simple, consisting of a few words, a maximum of 3-4 phrases and always have a positive content. For example, “I am healthy.” In no case should it contain the particle “not”, since the denial of any action or phenomenon is not recognized by the subconscious and can be mistaken for the opposite statement. A session of this self-hypnosis method lasts 3-4 minutes and is repeated 2-3 times a day for 6-8 weeks. E. Coue recommended using drowsy states for psychotechnical sessions in the morning when waking up or in the evening when falling asleep.
AUTOGENOUS TRAINING
Autogenic training is a method of self-hypnosis in a state of relaxation (lowest level) or hypnotic trance (highest level). The creator of the autogenic training method is Johannes Heinrich Schultz, and he also owns the term “autogenic training.” This psychotechnics is based on the findings of the ancient Indian system of yoga, the experience of studying the sensations of people immersed in hypnosis, the practice of using the method of self-hypnosis by E. Coue and others.
By practicing this method of self-hypnosis, it is necessary to achieve relaxation, which occurs on the verge of reality and sleep. It is recommended to lie or sit in the “coachman” position. Having achieved relaxation, you need to:
– activate memories associated with pleasant sensations experienced in the past,
– cause, if necessary, not only calm, but also an increase in psycho-emotional tone,
– accompany self-hypnosis formulas with figurative ideas.
The effectiveness of using this psychotechnics will depend on the degree of concentration, so other matters are excluded. The self-hypnosis method requires daily practice, at least twice a day. Skipping at least one has an extremely bad effect on achieving the effect.
A type of autogenic training is imago training. The author of this method of self-hypnosis is Valery Avdeev. He claims that with the help of imago training, every person without any training is able to step far (under the direct supervision of an imago training specialist) beyond the limits of his usual capabilities and reveal his creative abilities.
MEDITATION
Meditation is intense, penetrating contemplation, immersion of consciousness into the essence of an object, an idea, which is achieved by focusing on one thing and eliminating from consciousness all interfering factors, both external and internal.
A necessary condition for meditation is the cessation of internal dialogue, the conversation that we constantly have with ourselves. Stopping it is not difficult at all. To do this, it is usually enough to focus on something in yourself. For example, on both hands at once.
Meditation is a psychotechnics that allows you to repeatedly increase your physical, intellectual and mental capabilities, reaction speed and much, much more; in principle, it is very simple. It can be divided into four parts, four components:
– installation definition;
– entering a state of emptiness and a real feeling of a given attitude within oneself;
– exit from a state of emptiness to a normal state with an attitude already embedded in the subconscious;
– if it is necessary to carry out the installation, spontaneous entry into a state of thoughtlessness and its implementation.
Installations should be extremely concise, succinct and at the same time bright.
SELF-HYPNOSIS
Self-hypnosis is one of the most powerful psychotechniques. The first step is to relax. Then you need to calm down and enter a state of peace. Then say the phrase “I am deeply asleep...”. Next, you should mentally count from five to zero, imagining how you are breaking away further and further from the familiar world, plunging deeper into the darkness of hypnotic oblivion. After counting “zero” say again key phrase“I’m sleeping deeply...” and mentally look around. You are inside your subconscious. Now it’s time to pronounce a formula that will help you achieve this state faster in the future. It goes like this: “Every time I say the words “I am deeply asleep...”, I enter a state of self-programming faster and faster.”
This formula must be repeated several times at each of the first lessons and only after that the self-hypnosis formulas must be spoken.
RECAPING
Recapping is an effective psychotechnic that makes it possible to re-experience a past situation in a concentrated way, but in a new way, in a virtual space. Re-experiencing is the discovery of new possibilities in an old situation, not for then, but for new opportunities now. We are talking about situations that are still significant today. That’s the only reason it makes sense to experience them, that’s the only reason they can be experienced. To actually experience a situation again means to see new possibilities in it.
The main provisions of this psychotechnics are as follows:
1. The situation must be re-experienced (real experience), and not just restored in memory.
2. The situation must be experienced in its significant components, which alone make it a given existential situation. The reality of significant components of a situation is determined by the fact that they can be deployed, there is something in them that can be re-examined, rethought, etc.
3. You need to restore and reproduce in the situation what happened for you personally. The situation is always your personal, individual, existential situation. And what was around there was a gradually dissolving, disappearing background.
tinctures – an effective method of self-hypnosis
For this method of self-hypnosis, an active state is important, when a person’s consciousness reaches its maximum degree of concentration. Therefore, while performing the mood, it is necessary to behave as actively as possible: it is best to walk or move vigorously, but not lie down. However, it is not recommended to be distracted by any other activity.
Moods are words addressed by a person to himself, an attempt to awaken the forces dormant in the depths of each of us. The fact that the words are spoken by the person himself will not weaken their influence. On the contrary, a conscious and clearly expressed word that comes from within, in which the speaker himself believes, will have a much more pronounced effect than what was heard from another.
PSYCHOTECHNICS – BALLOON
Visualize above your head a deflated balloon. Take a deep breath and as you exhale, imagine how all your problems and anxieties, fears, worries and various troubles fill this ball. You are completely freed from these worries by filling the balloon with them. Then, taking another deep breath, as you exhale, visualize the balloon floating up and disappearing, taking with it all your worries and problems that you put into it. This is an excellent psychotechnique that is best done before bed, especially if problems are preventing you from sleeping.
SHICHKO'S METHOD OF SELF-HYPHOPTICATION
This psychotechnics was developed by Gennady Andreevich Shichko. He experimentally established that the word that a person writes with his hand before going to bed has a hundred times greater impact on the subconscious than the word seen, spoken or heard.
Psychotechnique is performed as follows. Before going to bed, write the suggestion formula on a piece of paper with a pen (you can write it several times). You read it several times. Then go to bed and, reciting the suggestion formula, fall asleep.
Aug 3, 2016 tigress...s
Self-hypnosis is the ability of a person to suggest to himself (usually in a trance state) using thoughts, images, ideas, imagination and visualization, some specific positive or negative character. Another name for this is the placebo effect.
Often there is unconscious self-hypnosis for diseases or, on the contrary, self-hypnosis for recovery, for increasing self-confidence, for realizing plans, and so on.
The power of self-hypnosis is very enormous, although many people underestimate it. Of course it's not Magic wand, instantly solving any problems, but it is very helpful in life to get rid of certain conditions.
It is important to approach conscious self-hypnosis very responsibly, performing it not for fun, but when there is a serious need for it.
Self-hypnosis can be of an irrational nature, unconscious, and can come from the attitudes, convictions and beliefs that were instilled in a person by his parents and society. In the case when they are negative, a person unconsciously instills in himself various pathologies, setting himself up for failure in his career or love.
If you learn to control your mental state, thanks to the technique of self-suggestion, you can significantly improve your life: you will gain health and longevity, improve the quality of your life, become successful, and attract love. Regular use of the method will make it automatic.
Self-hypnosis for recovery
If you suffer from any pathologies - physical or mental, then we recommend that you use controlled self-hypnosis for recovery.
But please note that the self-hypnosis technique can be used as an aid to recovery in conjunction with other methods of therapy (drug, physiotherapy, and so on). Although in some cases, self-hypnosis allows you to get rid of pathologies without additional intervention.
And if you apply the concept of “recovery” at the social, personal and emotional-psychological level, then self-hypnosis will improve your position in society, establish interpersonal relationships and will allow you to make your life successful and happy.
Watch the following video and you will learn how the placebo effect works
Basics of self-hypnosis
To use autosuggestion effectively, you first need to become familiar with its basics. Below we give you the rules, compliance with which in this matter is mandatory if you want to get the desired result:
- Be 100% confident in the final action. The presence of doubts calls into question the effectiveness of the technology. The presence of your fears and prejudices can prevent you from achieving your goal, which will ultimately result in complete failure.
- Positive thinking. If you use the particle “not” in your speech, your brain automatically begins to be programmed to defeat. Therefore, it is necessary to try to formulate your judgments in such a way that they do not contain negative formulations. For example, you decide to lose weight and if you have a desire to eat something harmful, you convince yourself that you don’t feel hungry. But soon you will feel a treacherous nausea. It would be more correct to convince yourself that you are in this moment full and feeling great.
- Don't force yourself. If you resort to coercion, you will face constant internal conflict. And fighting with yourself is the worst thing you can think of. Therefore, do not try to force yourself, but try to use persuasion to find a compromise.
- Focus on the present. You will never correct the mistakes of the past, and thinking about the distant future is also not very effective. Therefore, put the right emphasis on the present - concentrate on this moment.
- Give yourself the right attitudes. It is important that they are short and succinct, while being clearly and precisely formulated. If you think about the formulation of your desire for a long time, it will become blurred and stop working. Try to repeat your settings more often.
Self-hypnosis of diseases
There is such a thing as an iatrogenic disease, which is mental disorder, provoked by the doctor’s careless statement. Thus, for particularly impressionable patients, because of a careless word uttered by a doctor, a conviction appears in the presence of a serious pathology. Although it is possible for this condition to develop without the fault of the physician.
Suspicious people tend to make various diagnoses for themselves. The most dangerous thing in this case is that as a result of such self-hypnosis, a person actually faces a real pathology.
If you focus on yourself, various negative changes begin to occur in your body. Gastrointestinal pathologies develop most quickly. A person under negative self-hypnosis experiences a state of stress, and stress provokes many real diseases.
How to get rid of self-hypnosis of illness
In the case where the disease was provoked by self-hypnosis, it is necessary to make a change in your thoughts and thinking in general, tune in to recovery and be in a positive mood. The affirmation “I am becoming healthier and happier every minute” is very effective.
Self-hypnosis treatment
Our pathologies are our emotional experiences, all our worries and fears. To achieve health, you need to remain calm and confident in own strength, and also think less about negative images.
Self-hypnosis or the placebo effect is a huge power that will help you change your reality. Using the power of self-suggestion, you will get rid of various physical and mental pathologies, and you will also be able to achieve a inner harmony and happiness.
Tell your fortune for today using the “Card of the Day” Tarot layout!For correct fortune telling: Focus on the subconscious and don’t think about anything for at least 1-2 minutes.
When you are ready, draw a card:
Self-hypnosis is psychological method, which allows the individual to find stability and calm through targeted programming towards the desired attitude. Self-hypnosis is effectively used when it is necessary to set yourself up for a positive outcome of an event, when you need to get rid of an obsessive state of anxiety or fear. In the case of combating chronic diseases, self-hypnosis turns out to be very effective, since it helps to build confidence in oneself and one’s future. When a person has to worry less about the future and possible troubles, any process is more productive.
The power of self-hypnosis lies in the fact that a person independently collects positive energy from the depths of his subconscious and accumulates it through his own efforts. Sometimes, in order to solve something significant problem, you have to strain a lot. With the help of self-hypnosis, a person can achieve a state of balance with outside world, get rid of obsessive fears, anxieties and doubts.
Self-hypnosis methods
Speaking about self-hypnosis, one should take into account the fact that for each person a different method may be the most effective. Self-hypnosis methods allow you to concentrate on your own sense of self. As a result, a person acquires useful skills that allow him to understand own feelings and not be afraid of unexpected manifestations of trouble.
Meditation
A very effective method of self-hypnosis, which achieves a state of internal harmony and satisfaction. Meditation today is used spiritually developed people who want to achieve high results in life and at the same time maintain their peace of mind. This method good because it helps to free yourself from accumulated fears and doubts. The individual gradually begins to feel happier and more confident. There is a kind of “fencing off” of a person from bad thoughts and negative attitudes. To learn to be happy, sometimes it’s enough to start practicing meditation regularly. The method of self-hypnosis itself forces the personality to develop, and not stand still. Great power meditation how effective method self-hypnosis has been known for a long time.
Autotraining
Another excellent method of self-hypnosis can be considered auto-training. The strength of this direction lies in the opportunity to better know yourself and your inner world. Auto-training allows you to free yourself from oppressive fear and doubts caused by certain life circumstances. Subjectivity plays a big role here, so each of us has an individual acquisition. own experience. The power of auto-training as a method of self-hypnosis is actually great and significant. As a rule, people come to auto-training dissatisfied with their lives. They need to work through significant issues in a timely manner. psychological problems. If you want to change something in your way of thinking, then it is best to resort to this method of restoring mental balance.
Self-regulation
The essence this method self-hypnosis is the ability to work through negative attitudes independently. In the future, the person learns not to allow destructive thoughts in his head and to stop them in time. With the help of self-hypnosis this is not difficult to achieve. The development of negative impressions is stopped with the help of self-regulation. A person has the feeling that he can completely control his life. The power of self-regulation can hardly be overestimated: the quality of existence improves, self-confidence is formed. A powerful self-hypnosis occurs to achieve happiness, health and all kinds of well-being.
Relaxation
It is a method of self-hypnosis that helps to relax all the muscles of the body. In this case, breathing technique plays an important role - it should be deep and slow. Relaxation allows you to free yourself from disturbing thoughts and feelings through just well-organized breathing practice. All exercises are aimed at general relaxation of the body. If every person used this method of self-hypnosis in their life in time, then many stresses could be avoided. The power of relaxation is simply enormous.
Self-hypnosis treatment
The greatest power of self-hypnosis is that with its participation, associated physical ailments can be effectively treated. Anyone who uses self-hypnosis treatment in their life significantly improves the quality of their every single day. For such a person, joy and happiness become a natural state. If you suffer from any chronic illnesses, traditional treatment can be supplemented with self-hypnosis. Its goal is to create a new positive program in the human brain. It is she who will influence further events.
Placebo effect
It lies in the fact that by taking a certain remedy, a person believes in its high effectiveness and gradually recovers. In fact, during treatment, it is important for each of us to feel that we can entrust the outcome of the problem to professionals. Many people want to personally control the situation, so a placebo is ideal for them. Such a significant effect is achieved precisely through self-suggestion. Many people, without hesitation, take medications that were prescribed to them by doctors long ago, and they are highly effective even after many years.
Gratitude
Gratitude promotes speedy recovery like nothing else vitality body. When we are grateful to the Universe for something, it tries to give us much more to be grateful for. And if a person constantly complains and plunges into negative thoughts, many unpleasant surprises will happen in his life. The ability to experience true gratitude - greatest gift which needs to be learned. Treatment using this method will always, in all cases, have a positive result. Self-hypnosis at the level of reprogramming in positive side makes a person start looking for more bright moments in his life.
Programming for health
Self-hypnosis often allows an individual to avoid serious complications of physical illnesses. Health programming helps to cope with severe consequences, overcome feelings of anxiety, fear, and doubt. If you imagine yourself as a healthy person every day, then soon you will become just that. Self-hypnosis can actually work wonders.
Thus, self-hypnosis is great way keep your internal state under control. By resorting to self-hypnosis, a person takes responsibility for everything that happens to him, frees himself from panic and uncontrollable fear.
Often a person explains much that happens to him in life by the fact that he is extremely suggestible, and many around him take advantage of this. Indeed, this explanation is quite true. The impact of suggestion and self-hypnosis on the psyche is sometimes too strong, especially if such methods are practiced by a powerful, authoritarian inductor with increased persuasive abilities. Also, the strength of the effect of suggestion is determined by the weakness or stability of the nervous system of the one who is exposed to such influence.
What is suggestion from a psychological point of view? Suggestion is defined as the transmission and induction from one person to another of thoughts, moods, feelings, autonomic and motor reactions, and behavior. The less the person who is being suggested thinks about what is being suggested to him, the more successful the suggestion is.
Suggestion as a method of psychological influence involves the participation of two parties. The suggestor usually has mental and physical qualities with which he can influence the state of mind of another person. Suggestion occurs through words, as well as facial expressions and gestures. The setting is of particular importance. If we're talking about about therapeutic suggestion, then the fame of the psychotherapist plays an important role in this process. Knowing about him as a high-class specialist in a certain way prepares the patient for the session.
The power of a person’s suggestion is largely determined by the degree of suggestibility, that is, susceptibility to suggestion on the part of the one who will serve as its object. Typically, increased suggestibility is observed in people with a weak type of nervous system and increased impressionability. Alcoholics and drug addicts have a particularly weak nervous system. Accordingly, suggestion as a method of influencing such people is especially powerful.
Axel Munthe, a Scandinavian, worked in Paris as a doctor, assistant to the famous neurologist, psychiatrist and hypnotist Charcot. This is how he described an example of suggestion in psychology in his book “San Michele”. A very intrusive and arrogant patient came to see Munta. The doctor asked him to show his tongue, which was constantly coated as a result of alcohol and smoking abuse, and stated that the patient was seriously ill. The arrogant behavior immediately gave way to a state of depression and anxiety. Thus, both patients and doctors were spared from the unpleasant person.
It is known that symptoms such as headache, uncontrollable vomiting, lack of appetite, insomnia, neurotic paralysis, can be treated by a skilled psychotherapist using suggestion better than with drugs. The Bible describes a scene of the treatment of immobilized people by suggestion when they began to walk confidently after hearing the phrase “Rise and walk.” This phrase is a typical example of how suggestion works if people deeply believe in their healer.
Unfortunately, suggestion as a method of influence is often used for criminal purposes. Weak people and losers become slaves to dishonest or psychopathic leaders who turn them into criminals. We can give the following example from life when suggestion was used by criminals. Several years ago, the US media was literally inundated with reports of a mass tragedy. On the initiative of one psychopath, a sect was formed. This man led hundreds of adults and children into the jungle, where they created a colony. At some point, he began to instill in them the idea of mass suicide, and those who did not dare to do so were killed with poisoned injections by fanatical members of the sect.
Another example of suggestion as a way of influencing a person: a blindfolded criminal sentenced to death was told that his vein had been opened and he was bleeding. A few minutes later the man died, despite the fact that instead of blood, warm water was flowing through his body!
The power of self-hypnosis: facts and examples from life
Just as strong, and sometimes even more strong effect Self-hypnosis can have an effect on the body. Under its influence, you can both be cured and get sick. What is self-hypnosis and what is its mechanism?
The nervous, suspicious man felt slightly unwell. But he starts to think about serious illness. For example, he is hoarse from a cold, but it already seems to him that his voice will disappear completely. This thought haunts an impressionable person; he seems to convince himself that he will soon lose his voice. And he really loses his voice!
Here is a real life example of the power of self-hypnosis: famous actor I. N. Pevtsov stuttered, but on stage he overcame this speech impediment. How? The actor convinced himself that it was not he himself who acted and spoke on stage, but another person - a character in the play who did not stutter. And it always worked.
Often, when talking about the power of self-hypnosis, they cite a fact attested by the Parisian doctor Mathieu, who did the following interesting experience. He announced to his patients that he would soon receive from Germany a new drug that would quickly and reliably cure tuberculosis. At that time, there were no medications for this disease. These words had a strong effect on the sick. No one, of course, thought that this was just the doctor’s invention. The doctor’s suggestion turned out to be so effective that when he announced that he had received the medicine and began to treat with it, many began to feel much better, and some even recovered. How did he treat the sick? Plain water!
Suggestion and self-hypnosis can wean a person from bad habit, make you not be afraid of what scares you, and so on.
You can probably remember a time in your life when you convinced yourself of something and it helped. Here is another example of the power of self-hypnosis: a person is afraid of the dark and at the same time knows that it is stupid; he goes into a dark room and says to himself: “There is nothing to be afraid of! There is nobody there!" Such psychological treatment with the help of self-hypnosis works, and unaccountable fear disappears!
Under the influence of self-hypnosis, a person may lose their legs and arms, and may experience sudden deafness and blindness. In medicine, such diseases are called psychogenic. They occur easily in people prone to hysteria. And here’s what’s important: for example, in a person who has lost his sight, it is not the optic nerves that are damaged, but only the activity of the part of the brain that controls visual perception. In it, under the influence of self-hypnosis, a persistent focus of painful inhibition develops, that is, nerve cells stop working for a long time. They stop receiving incoming signals and responding to them.
Suggestion and self-hypnosis have a huge impact on such psychogenic diseases. With hysteria, seizures, convulsions, vomiting, muteness, deafness, and paralysis of the limbs may be observed. All these disorders are often associated with self-hypnosis.
How suggestion and self-hypnosis work: the mechanism of influence on humans
Despite all the seeming improbability of such phenomena as the treatment of diseases by self-hypnosis and suggestion, they have their own explanation.
There is a well-known case: a sister was present during the cruel punishment of her beloved brother with whips - and her back was covered with the same bleeding scars as his. We have the same result of self-hypnosis. Of course, it is only possible on streets with an exceptionally excitable, highly upset, painful psyche. How does self-hypnosis and suggestion work in this case? Not only real suffering, but also imaginary suffering affects suggested people so strongly that it affects the functioning of internal organs.
The mechanism of influence of suggestion and self-hypnosis on a person is so strong that in painfully suspicious people, thoughts about a disease cause a disease that looks very much like a particular disease. There are cases when bleeding from the throat began, as with tuberculosis, ulcers appeared on the body, reminiscent of various skin diseases, etc.
The same psychological mechanism of suggestion also operates when ulcers occur in stigmatics. All such patients are fanatically religious people. In the last week before Easter, when in churches they read about how Christ was crucified, this can have such an impact on a sick person. strong impact that his psyche cannot stand it: an obsessive thought appears about the torment that Christ experienced when he was nailed to the cross. Hallucinations begin. Before the eyes of this man, as if alive, there is a picture of the crucifixion. All nervous system shocked. And here is the result: in those places where, according to legend, Christ had wounds, the tormented mental illness a person develops open bleeding wounds.
Suggestion and self-hypnosis as an effective way to treat diseases
When treating patients, faith in the person who is treating and faith in what he will say can play a decisive role. V. M. Bekhterev wrote about this:
“The secret of healing suggestion was known to many people from the common people, among whom it was passed on from mouth to mouth for centuries under the guise of witchcraft, witchcraft, conspiracies, etc. Self-hypnosis explains, for example, the effect of many so-called sympathetic remedies, which often have one or another healing effect. Ferraus cured fever with a piece of paper on which were written two words: “Against fever.” The patient had to open one letter every day. There are known cases of the healing effect of “bread pills”, “Neva water”, “laying on of hands”, etc.”
Even today we often hear: the old woman “spoke” to the wart, and it disappeared. This happens, and there is nothing miraculous about it. The healer here is suggestion and self-hypnosis. Or more precisely, the belief that a healer can heal a person. When she comes to a sick person, he has already heard about her, knows that she has cured someone, and longs for a cure.
And it doesn’t matter at all whether the healer ties the wart with thread or hair and what she whispers over this wart. Everything is decided by the belief that the wart will disappear after such a “conspiracy.” In fact, this is a vivid example of self-hypnosis as effective way treatment - a person destroys his wart with the sole belief that it will disappear! The suggestion of the healer also works here, when she confidently says that the wart will come off.
Psychiatrists have repeatedly repeated this method of treatment. One doctor, for example, moistened a wart with plain water, and told the person that this was a new powerful medicine that should make the wart disappear. And it worked on many. People believed in the medicine, that it would help them, and the warts disappeared.
Human psychology: the power of suggestion with words and examples from life
People whose nervous system is weakened and more excitable are especially susceptible to suggestion by words. It is not difficult for such a person, for example, to instill a feeling of fear of something or, conversely, to lift his spirits and make him cheerful.
This is precisely what explains such well-known historical examples of word suggestion as “miraculous” healings at various “holy places.” This was the case, in particular, in France at the grave of the Catholic deacon François de Paris, who died in 1728. The first to come to the grave was the silk weaver Madeleine Begny, whose hand was paralyzed. She was brought here by the confidence that the body of a deacon who had lived a “righteous” life had acquired the ability to heal illnesses. After kissing the grave, she felt some relief, and when she returned home, she was already so fluent in her hand that she immediately began working with both hands. After this, those suffering from various ailments began to flock to the grave, and some of them were actually healed.
Also, as a psychological influence through suggestion, one can cite what is happening in Lourdes, a small town in the south of France, which has become famous among Catholics for years for its “miraculous” healings. A supposed water source here has miraculous powers. By bathing in it, you can be healed. In fact, a well-thought-out system of influencing the consciousness of pilgrims is the basis of the Lourdes “miracles”.
Who's going to Lourdes? As a rule, people who really hope for a miraculous healing. After all, the Lourdes “miracles” are spoken about from cathedral pulpits, written in newspapers, and eyewitnesses talk about them.
And now the patients are getting ready to travel. From now on, all the attention, all the talk is about miraculous healings. And here the “holy fathers” take on the pilgrim. Each carriage on trains going to Lourdes is accompanied by monks, special “sisters” and “brothers” of mercy. They get to know each patient and their relatives, tell them all sorts of stories about the miracles of Lourdes, hand out special books and photographs of those who recovered after the pilgrimage.
When pilgrims arrive in Lourdes, they are greeted by new clergy and taken to the “holy grotto.” They are silent, their every movement seems significant.
During prayer at the grotto, all the sick people repeat the same words in chorus: “Lord Jesus! Heal our sick! Almighty Virgin, save us! These words sound with increasing faith and hope, nervous excitement grows, and now loud sighs and hysterical cries are heard in the crowd of worshipers.
Promoting the Lourdes “miracles,” the clergy claimed that there were several miraculous healings there. Over the course of a hundred years, thousands of names of supposedly healed people were recorded in a special book. However, a check of this book (checked by a special commission consisting of doctors) showed that over a hundred years only 14 healings occurred in Lourdes. They are all explained by science.
Psychiatrists know how healing the effect of sudden emotional stimuli can sometimes be (the role of which in the first case was played by sudden fear, in the second by anger), and they successfully use them to treat various manifestations of hysteria and even to eliminate some paralysis, blindness, deafness and muteness . So, of course, there is nothing supernatural in these facts of healing the mute and paralyzed. And, of course, such healings are not at all frequent and do not always lead to a complete restoration of the patient’s health.
The scientist L.L. Vasiliev talked about an incident that happened before his eyes. A young man, coming out of a hot village bathhouse, noticed a disgusting insect he had never seen before - an earwig. With a feeling of disgust, he took the insect with his fingers right hand to take a closer look at it. The earwig bent and tried to pinch the finger holding it with its “pincers,” but it failed, since the man, screaming in surprise, shook the insect to the ground with a sharp movement. And after some time, clearly visible purple spots appeared on the skin of the fingers with which he touched the insect - one on the index finger and two on the thumb. There was no burning or pain in the discolored areas of the skin. It was not possible to remove the stains.
What happened?
Here, strong fear and self-hypnosis played a role that the earwig had bitten the finger, although in reality this did not happen. Fear and self-hypnosis caused local dilation of skin blood vessels.
How suggestion is carried out: psychological mechanism and features
Mental contagion, or, to put it more scientifically, induced psychoses, has been known since time immemorial. There are all sorts of them - from the ecstasy of St. Vitus’s dance to the vulgar hiccups, which suddenly “sick” the whole village. During the First World War, movements were observed among the troops - motor echoes, repetition of movements, grimaces - this is also a form of mental epidemic. Psychiatrists have described in detail how such suggestion is carried out: one person, excited by an idea, seems to infect those around him with it, inspires it - and they commit actions dictated by this idea.
Similar epidemics are spreading among mental health healthy people, but when isolated from the inducer, people quickly recover from this psychosis. They develop a critical perception of what happened. Happiness is when the consequences of this “zombification” are reversible.
An inductor - a person who spreads a mental epidemic around himself - usually enjoys authority in his environment, is overly active, and has the ability to persuade. But, as practice shows, psychological characteristics the suggestions are that such a person does not always have to have a particularly tall intellectual level. Old authors of monographs on psychiatry described many cases in which the most primitive, often mentally ill, person induced much more developed people. For example, maids in rich houses, often mentally ill, instilled in their mistresses an obviously delusional idea, and they were easily infected by it.
Research on suggestion as a method of psychological influence shows: the content of an “infectious” idea, its insignificance or, conversely, greatness, its falsity or justice are not of decisive importance. This could be the complex psychological motives of demonology and the Inquisition of the Middle Ages or the widespread infection of epilepsy. Today presents us with a variety of mental epidemics - the “White Brotherhood” and other totalitarian sects. Rocking in front of the TV, from which numerous “healers” and psychics broadcast, an explosive mixture of ideas of resurrection and transmigration of souls, existence otherworldly forces and so on.
And you shouldn’t think that you can avoid this mental contagion, because, as the classics of psychiatry argued, there is no hysteria as a disease, but only hysterical reactions, which in themselves are not painful - every person is more or less prone to these hysterical reactions.