Hypnophobia: What is it?

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Hypnophobia is a fear of hypnosis, which can be mild discomfort or a full-blown irrational fear. It can affect a person’s ability to cope and may be treated with non-sedating anti-anxiety drugs or behavior therapy. People with other paranoid conditions may also suffer from hypnophobia.

Fear of being hypnotized, maliciously placed into a hypnotic state by others, or simply a general fear of mesmerism characterizes the fear of hypnosis. This can be mild discomfort or a full-blown irrational fear called hypnophobia. This term is also used to refer to a fear of sleep, but not all hypnophobics are afraid to sleep at night. In its mild state, people might be only mildly concerned about what might happen to them if they were hypnotized or rendered unconscious, but in its fullest expression, this fear becomes haunting and can greatly affect how people are able to cope. pursue your own life. There is a treatment for hypnophobia, but generally hypnosis, which is one of the treatments for many other phobias, is not an acceptable route.

While there are some people who suffer from this fear who are otherwise free from mental illness, hypnophobia sometimes expresses itself in people with other paranoid conditions. Some schizophrenics, for example, believe that anyone making eye contact is trying to induce hypnosis, and this could mean that people may have little contact with the outside world. With drugs like antipsychotics, this fear may recede.

Other hypnophobes, who don’t have schizophrenic conditions, can still be made miserable. They may fear being accidentally hypnotized. They will avoid any movies about it, may feel susceptible to being “put under” at any time, and often fear greatly for their safety if hypnosis occurs.

These are not rational fears; most people cannot be hypnotized against their will or forced to do something they don’t want to when under hypnosis. Phobias, however, are not rational, and therefore these fears accumulate. As the fear of hypnosis increases, a person may experience a variety of unpleasant reactions such as nausea, rapid heartbeat, sweating, rapid breathing, tremors, or full-blown panic attacks. Such answers make life very difficult.

Depending on the extent, the fear of hypnosis may not only apply to being hypnotized. People may fear being medically sedated. This could make some things, like surgeries, impossible to perform. A person may not be able to muster the courage to face a bout of unconsciousness, of which they have no memory. Ironically, in many forms of hypnosis, people have a complete memory of what happened, yet the idea of ​​not knowing what happens when something like anesthesia is used can be pervasive and frightening.

Fear of hypnosis means that hypnotic techniques are not appropriate for dealing with this condition, but there are still other successful techniques available. In the short term, some people may be treated with non-sedating anti-anxiety drugs that can help reduce symptoms. Also, different forms of behavior therapy can be tried; cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure therapy are two of the most common. Over time, these therapies can help reduce the fear of the hypnotic response, greatly normalizing a person’s life. Patients have to engage in hard work during therapy, but many successfully overcome this fear.




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