Dangers and Precautions of Hypnosis Most professional men agree that hypnotism can be dangerous. But rarely if ever are the dangers specified. What are they then? First lf al, as far as it is known today, hypnosis per se is no more dangerous than natural sleep. There is no evidence that hypnosis in itself weakens the will, damages the nervous system, or in any other way adversely affects the mental and physical well being of the individuals. The danger lies in is misuse; especially in the mismanagement of subjects or patients before they are hypnotized, during the induction of a trance, in the hypnotic state, and following hypnosis. Managing hypnotic subjects would be relatively simple problem if individual behavior were highly predictable. The hypnotist rarely, if ever, knows an individual well enough to predict with certainty his every reaction to suggestions or to hypnosis. The psychotherapist is probably in the best position to predict reactions, the non-professional is in the worst. In most circumstances the majority of individuals submitting to hypnosis present no major problems. Unfortunately, there is an appreciable percentage who will react in such as way so as to cause all sorts of difficulties; furthermore, the best-behaved subject will occasionally become unexpectedly difficult to handle during hypnosis. These difficulties may range from minor emotional outbursts to full fledged convulsive seizures. Post hypnotic difficulties may include mild to severe headaches, with vertigo and nausea; various degrees of depression, persistent drowsiness and perseveration of other suggested effects; and neurotic and psychotic episodes; arising immediately or only much later. These incidences sometimes occur in spite of every precaution taken, but in the majority of cases they can be ascribed to flagrantly improper management of the subject. The increase in the subject's responsiveness to the hypnotist as a result of having been hypnotized, or even having been given many waking suggestions, poses another serious problem. To what extent, as a consequence, is the subject likely to be too influenced by the hypnotist in interactions by whatever the hypnotist says or does, even  though this may not be intended? On occasions, subject have spontaneously voiced uncertainty about whether or not they were free of influence when interacting with me in what was intended to be a non-suggestive situation. These were, by the way, individuals capable of developing very deep trance states. A hypnotist must keep careful track of all suggestions given to the subject and make certain that their influence is completely removed before subject leaves, unless there is a specific reason for retaining their influence A particular delicate situation frequently arises when a patient or experimental subject is to attend more than one hypnotic session and certain instructions are to be given in this regard. The ideal way of making sure that the instructions will be carried out and that the subject will keep his future appointments would be to give the instructions to him while he is hypnotized. However, even if they are given as instructions, and are not intended to be suggestions, they may become associated with a posthypnotic effect, and the hypnotist is faced with the question of to what extent he has the right to influence a person's behavior outside the hypnotic situation. This is a matter what each hypnotist must decide for himself. There are situations, which warrant enforcing the instructions in the above manner, but where there are no good reasons for doing so, instructions should be given with considerable circumspection to avoid undue posthypnotic effects. For instance, if a hypnotized subject is told "when you come back next Thursday you will have no difficulty in visualizing a black circle on the wall as soon as I clap my hands twice," the intention being merely to prepare the subject for this particular effect, inadvertently he was also given a suggestion to "come back next Thursday". This sort of indirect suggestion may not be effective in all cases, but it can be expected to have an influence on some instances. Since the reaction cannot be predicted it is necessary to guard against it all the times. It is best to give the hypnotized subject only necessary instructions in hypnosis, all others should be given in the waking state, at a time when his suggestibility is as normal as possible. Other Dangers and how to avoid them Before you attempt to actually hypnotize anybody, you must know what precautions to observe and exactly what to do should an emergency arise. The actual dangers of hypnosis can be minimized provided the hypnotist is thoroughly familiar with hypnotism. We might say that this is true in the sense that driving an automobile is harmless if the driver knows how to drive, or conversely that eating my be dangerous because a person might choke on the food he eats. You will agree that outlawing eating, driving because of these dangers would be ridiculous. On the other hand, practicing hypnosis without the hazards and being in familiar with the methods of meeting possible emergencies would certainly be unwise. The first and the most important danger to consider is the danger to the hypnotist. Hypnosis is an interpersonal relationship of great delicacy and like other relationships can develop disturbances and trouble. Because of the stigma attached to hypnosis, there is always a risk that a female subject may accuse a male hypnotist of improper conduct if, in doing so, she might be able to get some money out of the hypnotist. Such willful charges are comparatively rare, however, another possibility is that a certain type of subject, usually a female, may develop an undue attachment to the hypnotist. This attachment, when occurring between a doctor and a patient, is often referred to as the "transference" and is a familiar phenomenon among, physicians, dentists, and psychologists. With a certain type of female subject, generally the "frustrated old maid", there is a chance that the hypnotic relationship might cause what is known in the psychological circles as "rape fantasy". This is a feeling of conviction on the part of the subject that she was actually raped by the hypnotist. It has happened to professional people in various specialties, particularly when a general anesthetic was involved, that such disturbed patients brought charges of improper conduct against them, to the extent that there is actually have been court trials. With hypnotists the same thing may occur with the same type of subject. The best precaution against this possibility is to have a third person present while hypnotizing females who appear disturbed. Of course, once you learn that the subject may be trusted, the precaution is no longer necessary. Ordinarily the presence of a third party will discourage unscrupulous people from attempting to take advantage of situations of this kind. The above precaution is particularly important for a lay hypnotist. While the physician and dentist are covered by malpractice insurance policies, the layman is not. Therefore, should charges be brought against him, the liability is entirely his own. Occasionally the question arises: what would happen to a subject should the hypnotist fall sick or for some reason is forced to leave a subject without awakening him. This is no danger at all. The simplest thing to do is to place the hypnotized person on a bed or couch ad let him "sleep it off". He will awaken of his own accord in a few minutes - never will a subject sleep without specific command for more than a half an hour or so. A hypnotist who expects to be called away for any reason can, as a precaution, instruct his subject to obey his commands of an assistant he names, who will then proceed to do the awakening. You should avoid subjecting person to sudden shocks. The sudden announcement of the death of a loved one, for example, or the declaration that the building is on fire, would shock him exactly the same way as it would if he were in waking state. Should the person be prone to heart attacks, such a shock might cause a heart attack. The fact that he is hypnotized would not obviate the possibility. Avoid changing the subject's emotions from one extreme to another. There is a favorite hypnotic stunt in which the subject is made to see a comedy on television, causing him to laugh. Then he is told to see a tragedy and to cry. Changing emotions too quickly, from laughing to crying, may be upsetting to a delicate nervous system. Commonsense will tell you to avoid such antics. Catalepsy should be induced gradually. For example, if catalepsy of the arm is induced suddenly, at the snap of the fingers, the sudden movement, the sudden stiffening of the arm, can conceivably strain a muscle or crack or tear something. The thing to remember is that a source of danger at any time can be similar source of danger under hypnosis. Some people are still laboring under the fallacious belief that hypnotic subjects can withstand the destructive influence of heat, cold, injuries, and so on. This is not true. A subject might be anesthetized and told to hold his fingers in a flame without feeling the pain, but his flesh would be seared nevertheless. With his arm anesthetized he would not feel the pain of a needle under his skin, but if the needle is not sterile, infection may result. The old catalepsy test, where the body is made rigid and supported between two chairs with weights being placed on the subject middle is also dangerous. While a hypnotized person can support such weights, should he have an inner weakness, such as hernia, this stunt might easily do real damage. Common sense will tell you that if you make a subject stare wide-eyed at the sun, hypnotized or not, this could cause blindness. The person under hypnosis might be able to lift weights, which he could not lift in a waking state, but unless he knows how-to-lift, such exercise may cause a strain. A subject might be tricked into eating ground glass and other harmful substances. It must not be forgotten that a person, though hypnotized, is still human, and cannot do anything harmful without suffering the consequences attendant upon such actions. Pradeep Aggarwal is a world renowned hypnosis guru. He offer free 15 part free ecourse on How to Become a Master Hypnotist. Go and register here now at www.hypnosisglobal.com/ecourse He also offers articles, books, audio tapes at www.pradeepaggarwal.com And register also for a free ecourse on self improvement at www.mindinsports.com   Email Support Confidential: You may write to us about any of your emotional, interpersonal and health related problems. The experienced counsellors of Mind Power Lab would respond to your queries Click Here ...