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Can Subliminal Hypnosis Really Help You Forget an Ex?

Can Subliminal Hypnosis Help Forget an Ex?

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Back in 2014, Katy Perry was rumored to have undergone subliminal hypnosis to help her forget about an ex. The “Firework” singer was just coming off of her a breakup from crooner John Mayer, and apparently, she couldn’t move on from the relationship without any professional help.

To be fair, it wasn’t the first time that she used hypnosis. In 2011, Katy Perry admitted to successfully quitting smoking after seeking help. This is Hollywood fodder for the tabloids, of course, and the pop star never confirmed it. Nevertheless, it does make for an interesting hypothesis: can sleep hypnosis help you mend a broken heart?

Hypnosis in History

In hypnosis, an individual is put into a trance-like state where he or she is susceptible to suggestion. While recent research has proven that it can be used to alleviate pain or debilitating conditions, the discipline has very dubious beginnings. Back in the 1400s, European doctors experimented with magnets in order to induce healing. It’s hard to ascertain their effectiveness, but patients gave positive testimonies about their experiences.

Franz Mesmer (from which the term mesmerism, meaning hypnotism, is derived) was perhaps the first to experiment with the concept of hypnosis as he believed that animal magnetism—which espouses that animal and human possess the inner force—was the key to make his patients better. By the 1800s, some doctors were already experimenting with subliminal hypnosis during surgery.

By the 1950s, hypnosis has become an accepted alternative to cure selected illnesses and conditions, particularly in the UK. Both the British Medical Association and even Pope Pius XII gave their stamps of approval to the practice. In 1958, the American Medical Association followed suit.

Myths about Hypnosis

Subliminal hypnosis has received a bad rap from pop culture, particular in movies. You might have seen various films wherein a hypnotist or magician hypnotizes a person then makes them bark like a dog or cluck like a chicken when prompted. This is a myth that hypnotists passionately disavow.

In fact, the person doesn’t lose his ability to function. He is not asleep or unconscious. In fact, he’s still awake but in a very relaxed state, which makes him more pliant to suggestions.

Unfortunately, stage hypnotists take advantage of this fact. People who go up on stage while somebody shows off his skills to hypnotize them are usually pre-screened not just for their suggestibility, but also their innate need to get some attention or affirmation. The session between the hypnotherapist and the patient, meanwhile, occurs in a controlled environment and the objective is clear from the start.

Can You Forget Your Ex With Hypnosis?

Millions have been spent on advertising companies that use subliminal messages to make people patronize a particular product, so it’s proven to work. For instance, do you know why McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, or Sonic all use the dominant red and yellow colors? That’s because research has proven that both colors are subliminally suggesting to people that they are hungry. It’s the same with subliminal hypnosis or sleep hypnosis.

Back to the main question, however. Can you follow what Katy Perry did and undergo sleep paralysis to forget a former significant other? The short answer is no.

Research papers have shown that hypnosis won’t help you erase your memories. That’s bad news, especially if you really want to forget an awful experience that you had with a former flame. However, auto-suggestion techniques will help you deal better with the breakup, and move on quicker from the loss by having a more positive outlook on life.

People always wonder why women can’t extricate themselves from a bad situation, even when their husbands and boyfriends are already turning violent. No matter what advice they get, they always come back over and over again even if there is a pending risk to their lives.

Insecurity could be a factor or a lack of self-worth. Most likely, however, they are stuck in a loop. They already associate their husband or boyfriend with the pleasure center in their brains, and it’s stuck in their subconscious. One of the more effective ways to break the cycle is through sleep hypnosis or subliminal hypnosis. They are not aware of their actions because it’s in their subconscious. Hypnotherapists can then tap into that subconscious and break the loop through a series of suggestions.

Sleep Hypnosis Myths

Sleep Hypnosis Myths Present in Pop Culture

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In the 2001 movie “K-Pax,” Kevin Spacey’s character “prot” claims that he comes from a faraway planet called K-Pax. He winds up in the mental hospital with Dr. Mark Powell (played by Jeff Bridges) as the man in charge of solving the mystery of prot’s condition and using subliminal sleep hypnosis as one of his procedures.

The end offers a lot of subjective interpretation about who prot is. One of the scenes in the movie is when the doctor tells prot to “remember” during the regression session. This word is not used by hypnotherapists because the goal is not to remember, but to re-experience.

Subliminal or sleep hypnosis is well-entrenched in Hollywood movie plots because of all the myths that surround it. Among the titles over the years include: “Trance (2013)”, “Good Will Hunting (1997)”, “Shallow Hal (2001)”,“The Manchurian Candidate (2004)”, and “Zoolander (2001),” among others. Ironically, by making a movie out of these myths, they help perpetuate the misconceptions about this discipline, which has helped thousands of people drop a bad habit. Sleep hypnosis has helped individuals focus or turn their lives around through positive reinforcement and cognitive behavior. Below are just some of the myths that continue to exist today:

Myth 1: Subliminal hypnosis Can Make You Do Bad Things

Stage hypnotists have made people do crazy things in front of an audience. Some people bark like a dog or quack like a duck. This makes people think that hypnotists are such powerful beings that they can make you steal or even kill somebody.

Truth: It’s easy to blame subliminal hypnosis for a crime or an embarrassing situation. But it’s easy to blame alcohol, too. Even under hypnosis, you remain in control of your actions so your subconscious will reject any suggestion that goes beyond your moral compass.

Myth 2: Hypnosis Is Dangerous

The common fear about sleep hypnosis is that people will always be under the spell of the doctor. Some people think that a few years down the line a doctor can just snap his fingers out of the blue and they can be made to do something they don’t want to.

Truth: You are always in a state of conscious awareness when under hypnosis. In fact, some patients have reported being hypersensitive to their environment. There is no way that a doctor can just snap his fingers at some point to put you under his spell like a magician in a cartoon.

Myth 3: Sleep Hypnosis Can Work Miracles

Remember the movie “Shallow Hal” where Jack Black was fooled into thinking that the overweight Gwyneth Paltrow was the sexiest woman in the world? Hypnosis is not that extreme.

Truth: Hypnosis puts you in a very relaxed state of mind, which makes you open to suggestion. In some cases, it’s used to treat some conditions (like irritable bowel syndrome for instance) or to drop a bad habit (drinking or smoking). Unfortunately, hypnotism can’t make you have super strength, or suddenly fall in love with someone that’s not your ideal man/woman.

Myth 4: Only the Weak Can Get Hypnotized

You often hear people scoff at subliminal hypnosis and how it won’t work on them. There was a time when researchers thought that one in two people are susceptible to sleep hypnosis but in recent years, this thinking has been upended.

Truth: It’s been proven time and again that even those who think they are too disciplined to be hypnotized end up eating their words. The fact that you went to the hypnotist already opens yourself up to suggestion at a subconscious level.

Myth 5: Hypnosis is The Work of the Devil

Devout Christians have dismissed trying subliminal or sleep hypnosis because they believe that it’s the work of the devil, or that the hypnotist engages in black magic.

Truth: The American Medical Association, British Medical Association, and American Psychological Association all recognize hypnosis as an effective tool to help patients deal with a condition or illness. In fact, even Pope Pius XII also recognized the merits of hypnosis back in 1956.

Myth 6: People Will Have Amnesia

Another myth that’s being perpetuated in pop culture is that people will forget being hypnotized. Back to “Shallow Hal” as an example where Jack Black did not remember being hypnotized into seeing beyond the physical attributes of a person.

Truth: Under subliminal hypnosis, you are going to remember the session down to the tiniest details. Remember that you are under a state of hyperawareness. Hypnotherapists don’t really put their patients into a very deep trance, which can induce temporary amnesia to some patients.

Conclusion

Now that we have debunked these myths about hypnotism, don’t be afraid to try it out for yourself. The procedure can help those who are struggling with addictions, or those who wish to deal with their anxiety and severe phobias.