What Are the Dangers of Hypnotism?

Therapists have used hypnotism, or hypnosis, since the middle of the 20th century to help people overcome their problems and feel better about themselves, while others have been using it even longer to entertain. In the Middle Ages, practitioners were burned for witchcraft. Public perception has come a long way, however, and like any conventional or alternative therapy, hypnotism has its dangers as well as its benefits.

Neglecting Medical Treatment

• As a form of therapy, hypnosis can help alleviate the pain and symptoms of medical conditions, but it cannot directly cure the body. If the symptoms no longer appear, patients may wrongly believe that they need no further treatment. A cancer sufferer may feel much better after hypnosis, for example, but the cancer remains. Clear, professional advice and reliance on more than one person's opinion can help avoid this danger.

Hidden Memories

• In the 1980s, hypnotherapy was misused to support claims of child abuse, including "satanic ritual abuse." The book, "The Courage to Heal," by Ellen Bass and Laura David, encouraged people to use self-hypnosis to uncover repressed memories of sexual molestation. Roberta Temes, who warns against the phenomenon, sums up the authors' message as "If you ... have a vague feeling something did occur, then it is probably true."

Lack of Training

• In "Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis," Dr. William S. Kroger says the training, judgment and experience of a therapist, along with the willingness of the patient, are the only things necessary for the safety of hypnosis. Conversely, a hypnotherapist without professional training can harm a patient, especially when sensitive psychological issues are in play.

  This danger especially applies to stage hypnotists, who do not always prepare the person for what is about to happen to them, and often neglect the aftercare practiced by professional hypnotherapists.

Fraud

• Ormond McGill, nicknamed the "Dean of American Hypnotists," says fraud is particularly widespread in stage hypnotism. Illusionists may encourage volunteers to pretend, or may use clever verbal deception and sleight-of-hand, to fool the audience into believing hypnosis has taken place.