Hypnosis and the Trojan football team….

Today’s news from the Trojan football website gives me a great opportunity to combine two topics I really love–football and psychology. In a video posted on the site, USC football players are hypnotized by stage hypnotist Ricky Kalmon. With Kalmon’s suggestions, the players forget their names, introduce themselves as celebrities instead, forget how to speak English, treat paper napkins like $100 bills, and imagine the audience naked.

Okay, this is all in good fun, but does it really work this way? Can people really, to use Kalmon’s words from his website, ” harness the power of their subconscious mind through awareness and attention?” Sorry, but this line sounds eerily similar to a pitch for “stardust” by a con man played by Fred Willard in one of the funniest episodes of one of our family’s favorite shows, Stargate SG-1 season 10’s “Family Ties:” “It’s time to tap into the source by unlocking the power of stardust! The very same stardust celebrities and professional athletes use to tap into the power of the alpha force—the core energy of the universe. Tap into the source.”

What will people actually do under hypnosis? Psychologists are generally quite skeptical, and argue that Kalmon’s results have more to do with social compliance (acting out a role) than any lack of control. Early research suggested that hypnotized participants were more likely to pick up what they though was a poisonous snake or to throw a beaker of what they were told was acid into another person’s face [1]. However, subsequent research showed that non-hypnotized participants were just as likely to do these things out of a belief that no experimenter would actually hurt anybody [2]. In other words, it’s unlikely that hypnosis can be used to turn ordinary people into mutant ninja assassins.

On the other side, Kosslyn and his colleagues used brain imaging during hypnosis to support their belief that hypnosis represents a real altered state of consciousness. Although controversial, their data suggest that visual perception can by altered by hypnosis in highly suggestible participants [3].

According to the American Psychological Association (APA; 2005), hypnosis provides benefits in treating “pain; depression; anxiety and phobias; stress; habit disorders; gastro-intestinal disorders; skin conditions; post-surgical recovery; relief from nausea and vomiting; childbirth; treatment of hemophilia; and many other conditions” (¶ 4). However, the APA also sounds a cautionary note as follows: “Hypnosis is not a type of psychotherapy. It also is not a treatment in and of itself; rather, it is a procedure that can be used to facilitate other types of therapies and treatments. Clinical hypnosis should be conducted only by properly trained and credentialed health care professionals (e.g. psychologists) who also have been trained in the use of hypnosis and who are working within the limits of their professional expertise” (¶ 3) [4].

Personally, I tend to lean towards the skeptics’ side of this discussion, and my favorite hypnosis story is the marvelous journey of Zoe D. Katze, who has a remarkable array of diplomas, memberships, and certifications in hypnosis, in spite of the fact that Zoe is a cat (which you may have already guessed if you speak German.) Zoe’s owner, psychotherapist Steve Eichel, really does have some good advice for those seeking hypnotherapy. Enjoy the entertainers, but make sure you go to a legitimate therapist.

1. Rowland, L.W. (1939). Will hypnotized persons try to harm themselves or others?Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 34, 114-117. Young, P.C. (1952). Antisocial uses of hypnosis. In L.M. LeCron (Ed.), Experimental hypnosis (pp. 376-409). New York: Macmillan.

2. Orne, M. T., & Evans, F. J. (1965). Social control in the psychological experiment: Antisocial behavior and hypnosis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1, 189-200.

3. Kosslyn, S.M., Thompson, W.L., Costantini-Ferrando, M.F., Alpert, N.M., & Spiegel, D. (2000). Hypnotic visual illusion alters color processing in the brain. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 1279-1284.

4. American Psychological Association (APA) (2005). New definition: Hypnosis. Retrieved on August 5, 2006 from the APA Division 30 website: http://www.apa.org/divisions/div30/define_hypnosis.html