Marriage and the Power of Divorce

What is it you claim hypnosis can do? Why is it preferable to cognitive therapy or medicine?

Hypnosis is real in that it can induce an altered state in people, some more easily than others. Then again meditation induces an altered state as well. As an aside, it turns out hypnosis is also really good for implanting false memories through leading questioning, which led to hundreds if not thousands of false accusations of child molestation in the 90s during the "repressed memories" disaster of a movement.

Whether hypnosis has empirical support as a treatment for smoking or weight loss is another story. I'm pretty sure that story is "no, the end," but I'm not well read on the subject.

Izo_sl said:

What is it you claim hypnosis can do? Why is it preferable to cognitive therapy or medicine?

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You can't lift X-Wings out of a swamp with cognitive therapy or medicine. One does need the proper level of Midichlorians to practice hypnotism, though.

He's referring to the fact that there was a movement to obtain repressed memories through hypnosis that resulted in a lot of false "repressed" memories being discovered.

Dabamf_sl said:

Hypnosis is real in that it can induce an altered state in people, some more easily than others. Then again meditation induces an altered state as well. As an aside, it turns out hypnosis is also really good for implanting false memories through leading questioning, which led to hundreds if not thousands of false accusations of child molestation in the 90s during the "repressed memories" disaster of a movement.

Whether hypnosis has empirical support as a treatment for smoking or weight loss is another story. I'm pretty sure that story is "no, the end," but I'm not well read on the subject.

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There are several studies specifically on weight loss and stopping smoking. Like I said, if you do it full time it is the majority of the business so it is the most studied. For smoking, there was a meta-analysis done by the University of Iowa in 1992. It combined ~600 studies with a total of over 72,00 subjects. Hypnosis was 3x better than Nicotine replacement therapies and 15x more effect than willpower. You'll find similar things for weight loss. It is worth noting, since you're in the field, many of these studies were two groups, both of which received behavioral-cognitive therapy and one of which also get hypnosis as an additional aid. The group that also received hypnosis always did significantly better. Keeping weight off longer, losing more weight over time, etc. It isn't at all hard to find studies on this and they go back decades, with consistent results.

Hypnosis is just a tool. I doubt there is anything you can do with hypnosis that could not be achieved by other means. But it can achieve those things better, more easily, faster, etc. Why would you not use the superior tool if you had the option?

The Master_sl said:

Hypnosis is just a tool. I doubt there is anything you can do with hypnosis that could not be achieved by other means. But it can achieve those things better, more easily, faster, etc. Why would you not use the superior tool if you had the option?

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I'm curious what your impression is of your success rate for fat loss? There was an interesting post on reddit from an ex-personal trainer who said, essentially, that he became a PT to help people but the huge majority of people fail at losing weight. I know a couple of fat people and I occasionally wonder how they'd react if I asked them if they needed a gym buddy or some such, but addressing someone's weight or health is such a stigma that I never work up the nerve.

It took me until the age of 29 to start working out regularly and eating well and I wish someone had "mentored" me when I was younger... that's why I debate asking others, haha.

A big strength of hypnosis is that it can strengthen one side of ambivelance over the other. So someone wants to wit smoking because reasons. But they keep smoking anyways because reasons. So that her hypnotised and the hypnotists says, you are feeling like you should quit smoking because reasons, but doesn't talk about the other side. So in essence, your psyche now feels like quitting is the right choice and that it has gained the confidence to do so. You feel like you are being backed up and supported so it's easier to follow through.

The Master_sl said:

There are several studies specifically on weight loss and stopping smoking. Like I said, if you do it full time it is the majority of the business so it is the most studied. For smoking, there was a meta-analysis done by the University of Iowa in 1992. It combined ~600 studies with a total of over 72,00 subjects. Hypnosis was 3x better than Nicotine replacement therapies and 15x more effect than willpower. You'll find similar things for weight loss. It is worth noting, since you're in the field, many of these studies were two groups, both of which received behavioral-cognitive therapy and one of which also get hypnosis as an additional aid. The group that also received hypnosis always did significantly better. Keeping weight off longer, losing more weight over time, etc. It isn't at all hard to find studies on this and they go back decades, with consistent results.

Hypnosis is just a tool. I doubt there is anything you can do with hypnosis that could not be achieved by other means. But it can achieve those things better, more easily, faster, etc. Why would you not use the superior tool if you had the option?

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Wow, you are utterly full of shit. And the fact that you charge actual money for hypnosis just reinforces what a douche bag you are. The only thing that hypnosis does is relieve ignorant people out of money they cannot afford to lose. Instead of being ashamed of yourself for being a talentless huckster, you continue to ladle on the bullshit in the hope you will find just one more clueless asshole whose tit you can suck dry.

You are an utter twat. Pointless twat.

That's not entirely true. There are some credible uses for hypnotism.

I can't think of many besides "quit smoking" where it should be the ONLY tool. But if there is a local non-quack psy*trist that dabbles as a hypnotist and he wants to work it into a regimen for pain therapy then why the fuck not. It's like yoga for people that don't wanna do yoga, or for whatever reason can't. I'm only passingly familiar with either but it does seem like the main thing with both disciplines is focusing on a sort of body conciousness and awareness. They approach that in different ways.

Worst case you can't stop clucking like a chicken.

Its really not the parlor tricks of pop culture. Well.. I mean the parlor tricks ARE... but that's not all it has to be.

Edit: I mean there's obviously non credible uses too. Childhood memory regression and whatever bullshit... but case by case. I recently read that there has been some success in treatment of PTSD through hypnosis. And they're thinking that it works because of the way that the brain incorporates memory. Traumatic memories resist incorporation, but with controlled hypnotism because magic or something that process becomes more malleable. I'm sure it's just because it forces the subject to confront repulsive memories and deal with the forcibly, and you could probably do it if you yelled at them loud enough -- but that is something that we do not have a pill for.

Iannis_sl said:

That's not entirely true. There are some credible uses for hypnotism

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Nope. Not a single one. Learning to relax and clear your mind is not hypnotism. You know what learning to relax and clear your mind is called? It's called relaxing.

If any of you soft-minded fuckers want to be proven 100% wrong about hypnotism and all its daffy fucking claims, then meet me near a cliff. I'll bring machetes shotguns. You bring a bus full of pre-schoolers.

Confirmed fatty.

Could you link said metaanalyses? - cochrane reviews?
Here is a snippet that sums up my opinion on hypnosis

http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD001008/TOBACCO_does-hypnotherapy-help-people-who-are-trying-to-stop-smoking_sl said:

Authors' conclusions:
We have not shown that hypnotherapy has a greater effect on six-month quit rates than other interventions or no treatment. There is not enough evidence to show whether hypnotherapy could be as effective as counselling treatment. The effects of hypnotherapy on smoking cessation claimed by uncontrolled studies were not confirmed by analysis of randomized controlled trials.

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In case you couldn't tell: hypnosis is bs according to evidence based medicine.

BrutulTM_sl said:

I don't think anything actually works for weight loss with the possible exception of surgery. I know tons of people who have lost weight but they always gain it back within 2-5 years. I also don't think that thin people have much to be sanctimonious about. It seems to me that people who don't gain weight do eat less but it's not because they have super awesome will power, they just have a smaller appetite or don't like eating as much as fatter people or they have a better metabolism. People pretty much eat what they want to and I don't really see many thin people that are constantly depriving themselves to stay that way.

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What?

How did the weight loss thread make its way into the Marriage/Divorce thread anyway? Were we all hypnotized?

Izo_sl said:

In case you couldn't tell: hypnosis is bs according to evidence based medicine.

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Well duh.

It's a branch of psychology. And that's mostly bullshit to begin with.

There is some sort of mechanism though. Something is going on for some people. In a few more generations someone might figure out what hypnosis is brushing past and accidentally tapping every one in a while for every one in so many people.

But it's not a science. I don't think anybody should claim that it is. I don't know that anybody here actually has.

I think that has a -lot- do with with how you're raised.

True story... it wasn't until I was 20 years old that I understood what a portion even was. My girlfriend at the time clued me in after dinner one night. She said, "I've been watching you eat for a year and I don't think you realize it. I really don't think you do. You don't HAVE to keep eating until you are absolutely STUFFED." And I wasn't fat, and it wasn't a mean thing to say. It was just a girlfriend thing to say.

She was absolutely right. I did not fucking realize it. It's so dumb, it's not something that you should ever have to actually say to another person, and it's hard to convey what a weird moment that was. It was kinda like, "Well... if you put it THAT way..."

That girl was good for a couple of things.