Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Hypnotic |
HypnoticAdjective1. Attracting and holding interest as if by a spell; "read the bedtime story in a hypnotic voice"; "she had a warm mesmeric charm"; "the sheer force of his presence was mesmerizing"; "a spellbinding description of life in ancient Rome". Noun1. A drug that induces sleep. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "hypnotic" was first used: 1625. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Health | A drug that acts to induce sleep. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Hypnosis, as defined by the American Psychological Association Division of Psychological Hypnosis, is "a procedure during which a health professional or researcher suggests that a client, patient, or subject experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behavior." Any definition is necessarily vague, as the underlying mechanism is little understood. Some theories view hypnosis as an altered state of consciousness, others as a type of focused attention. Psychologists have recently researched hypnosis and found a strong correlation between the ease of putting someone in a state of 'hypnosis' and their level of suggestibility.Hypnosis has been used with variable success for hundreds of applications, including entertainment, analgesia and psychoanalysis. Generally, people under hypnosis become more susceptible to suggestion, causing changes in the way they feel, think, and behave, although contrary to popular belief they do still remain in control of their actions. This suggestibility has led some psychologists to believe that a state of hypnosis doesn't actually exist, but strong social expectations are being played out by the person who believes that they are in a state of hypnosis.
Hypnosis also generally stimulates a feeling of relaxation, and this has helped its development into a therapy - hypnotherapy - although some of the treatments practiced, such as regression, are viewed by some with scepticism. When a subject is put through the process of regression it is claimed that they may invent false memories due to the social expectation placed on them. These memories cannot therefore be held to be reliable.
Hypnosis has further been described as "The suspension of the critical factor" which expands on the idea of "increased suggestibility". A person who claims to be hypnotized sometimes appears to accept as true statements that they would normally reject. For example, statments such as "you have forgotten your name" would not normally be accepted, but under hypnosis people do claim that they do not know their own name. It appears as if the hypnotized subject accepts the authority of the hypnotist over their own experience. When asked afterwards some subjects appear to be genuinely unable to recall the incident, while others would say that they had known the hypnotist was wrong but at the time it had seemed easier just to go along with his instructions. Some hypnotists would claim that this showed the difference between a deep and a shallow hypnotic trance while sceptics would question the validity of the demonstration.
Those who practice hypnosis claim the hypnotic state is fairly common and in some ways cannot be distinguished from intense concentration when awareness of one's surroundings is lost. They quote as an example the experience, when driving, of suddenly finding oneself much further down the road without any memory of driving the intervening distance. Similarly, when a person is watching television and focuses so intently on the prgramme that he/she ceases to be aware of the sides of the screen.
Both these descriptions suggest the nature of hypnosis although any definition offered is necessarily vague and unscientific in description.
Hypnosis is usually brought on by a hypnotist carrying out an induction procedure. Different people respond more or less successfully to suggestion. Some people do seem able to display 'enhanced functioning', such as the suppression of pain, under hypnosis. However, studies suggest that these qualities are not exclusive to hypnosis, and it is the drama and fantasizing that encourages the behavior.
Experienced hypnotists claim that they can hypnotize almost anyone with the exception of the very young, the very elderly and people with a very low IQ, particularly those with an inability to concentrate. Intoxicated people would also prove very difficult. They also claim it is a myth that people with strong will power cannot be hypnotized, as they claim these generally make the best subjects. Hypnotism depends upon the cooperation of the hypnotist and the subject; when a person with strong will power decides to cooperate with a hypnotist, hypnosis can occur. Alternatively, since hypnosis does depend on cooperation, no one can really be hypnotized against their will (Liébault). Being a hypnotist is not a source of power over other people.
Many religious and cultural rituals contain many similarities with techniques used for hypnotic induction and induce similar states in their participants.
History
Scientists first became involved in hypnosis around 1770, when Dr. Franz Mesmer started investigating an effect he called 'animal magnetism' or 'mesmerism' (the latter name still remaining popular today.) The evolution of Mesmer's ideas and practices led James Braid (1795-1860) to coin the term and develop the procedure known as hypnosis in 1842. He rejected Mesmer's misleading idea of magnetism inducing hypnosis, and ascribed the creation of the 'mesmeric trance' to a physiological process - the prolonged attention on a bright moving object or similar object of fixation. He postulated that "protracted ocular fixation" fatgued certain parts of the brain and caused the trance, "nervous sleep." At first he called the procedure neurhypnotism but the current word soon emerged. Braid developed his ideas over time, down-playing his early idea of nervous sleep and increasing the role of psychological factors rather than fatigue. He came to recognise the role of intense, focused concentration by the subject on the hypnotist, a condition he called monoideism.Braid attempted to use hypnotism to treat various psychological and physical conditions. He had little success, notably in his attempts to treat organic conditions. Other doctors had better results, especially in the use of hypnosis in pain control, a report in 1842 desribed an amputation performed on a hypnotised subject without pain. The report was widely dismissed na dthere was strong resistence in the medical profession to hypnotism, but other successful reports followed. Dr. James Esdaile (1805-1859) performed over 300 operations using hypnosis as pain control. The development of chemical anaesthetics soon relegated hypnotism in this role.
The deaths of Braid and Esdaile curbed the interest in hypnotism. Experimentation was revived into the 1880s, mainly in continental Europe where new translations of Braid's work were circulated. The neurologist Jean Martin Charcot (1825-1893) endorsed hypnotism for the treatment of hysteria. La méthode numérique, still more popular on the continent than in England, led to a number of systematic experimental examinations of hypnosis in France, Germany and Switzerland. The process of post-hypnotic suggestion was first described in this period. Exaggerated claims were still made, extraordinary improvements in sensory acuity and memory were reported under hypnosis.
From the 1880s the examination of hypnosis passed from medical doctors to psychologists. charnot had led the way and his study was continued by his pupil, Pierre Janet Janet described the theory of dissociation, the splitting of mental aspects under hypnosis (or hysteria) so skills and memory could be made inaccessible or recovered. Janet provoked interest in the subconscious and laid the framework for reintergration therapy for dissociated personalities.
Also in this period Ambroise-Auguste Liébault first wrote of the necessity for cooperation between the hypnotiser and the subject, for rapport. He also emphasised, with Bernheim, the importance of suggestibility. Sigmund Freud met with Charcot and also Bernheim. Back in Vienna he developed abreaction therapy using hypnosis with Josef Breuer. Freud ended up rejecting hypnosis as a useful tool.
After this spate of interest the study again fell into abeyance. The modern study of hypnotism is usually considered to have begun in the 1930s with Clark Leonard Hull at Yale. An experimental psychlogist his work Hypnosis and Suggestibility (1933) was a rigourous study of the phenomena, using statisical and experimental analysis. The main result of Hull's study was to rein in the extravagant claims of hypnotists, especially regarding extraordinary improvements in cognition or the senses under hypnosis. Hull's experiments did show the reality of some classical phenomena - hypnotic anaesthesia and post-hypnotic amnesia, hypnosis could also induce moderate increases in certain physical capacities and change the threshold of sensory stimulation, attenuation effects could be especially dramatic.
Studies continued after the war, Barber, Hilgard, Orne and Sarbin also produced substantial studies. Ernest Hilgard and André Weitzenhoffer created the Stanford scales in 1961, a standardised scale for susceptibility to hypnosis, and properly examined susceptibility across age-groups and sex. Hilgard when on to study sensory deception (1965) and induced anaesthesia and analgesia (1975).
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Related Material
- Milton Erickson
- Mind control
- Autosuggestion
References
- Better and Better Every Day, Emile Coue.
- Uncommon Therapy, Jay Haley (about the psychotherapeutic intervention techniques of Milton Erickson)
- Advanced Self Hypnosis, Melvin Powers, Thorsons Publishers, 1973, ISBN-0-7225-0058-0
External links
- Hypnosis, from the Skeptic's dictionary, skeptical review of the veracity of hypnosis.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Hypnosis."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Hypnotic is either the state of hypnosis or a drug that induces sleep, used in the treatment of severe insomnia.Drugs used include barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cyclopyrrolone, chloral hydrate, chlormethiazole or the antihistamines promethazine and diphenhydramine.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Hypnotic."
Synonyms: HypnoticSynonyms: mesmeric (adj), mesmerizing (adj), spellbinding (adj), soporific (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Inactivity | Sleepy, sleepful; dozy, drowsy, somnolent, torpescent, lethargic, lethargical; somnifacient; statuvolent, statuvolic; heavy, heavy with sleep; napping; somnific, somniferous; soporous, soporific, soporiferous; hypnotic; balmy, dreamy; unawakened, unawakened. |
Lullaby, sedative, tranquilizer, hypnotic, sleeping pill, relaxant, anaesthetic, general anaesthetic; torpedo. | |
Moderation | Unexciting, unirritating; soft, bland, oily, demulcent, lenitive, anodyne; hypnotic; sedative; antiorgastic, anaphrodisiac. |
Remedy | Adjective: remedial; restorative; corrective, palliative, healing; sanatory, sanative; prophylactic, preventative, immunizing; salutiferous; (salutary); medical, medicinal; therapeutic, chirurgical, epulotic, paregoric, tonic, corroborant, analeptic, balsamic, anodyne, hypnotic, neurotic, narcotic, sedative, lenitive, demulcent, emollient; depuratory; detersive, detergent; abstersive, disinfectant, febrifugal, alterative; traumatic, vulnerary. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Hypnotic |
| English words defined with "hypnotic": amobarbital, amobarbital sodium, Amytal ♦ barbital, barbitone, blue, blue angel ♦ diethylbarbituric acid, diethylmalonylurea ♦ Hypnogenic ♦ mesmeric, mesmerizing ♦ Nembutal, nitrazepam ♦ pentobarbital, pentobarbital sodium, posthypnotic amnesia ♦ spellbinding, Sulphonal ♦ thalidomide, truth drug, truth serum ♦ veronal ♦ yellow jacket. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "hypnotic": Anti-Anxiety Agents, Benzodiazepine ♦ Bromisovalum ♦ CASIMIROA EDULIS, Conjuring ♦ Doxylamine ♦ Etomidate ♦ Hexobarbital, HYPNOTHERAPIST ♦ Pregnanolone. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "hypnotic": somnolent. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Lyrics | Seducing with hypnotic powers (Prince Of Darkness; performing artist: The Nylons) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Hypnotic Eye (1960) Hypnotic Eyes (1933) The Hypnotic Portrait (1922) Hypnotic Nell (1912) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Mrs. Herbert L. Flint the little hypnotic sunbeam. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | MacKnight, hypnotic fun maker. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Lee in his wonderful hypnotic performances. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "_DOCKBAY:37" by Janus R. Sørensen Commentary: "The beauty of underground locations have always been a prime target of facination for me. I constantly find my self drawn to secluded and isolated urban areas. The stable and hypnotic pulse of electrical generators. The subtle and distant sounds of p" |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Hypnotic medications should not be the mainstay of treatment of insomnia, are overused and have habit forming potential. (references) | |
A large proportion of these drugs are sedatives and hypnotic agents, the safety and efficacy of which have not been established for older people. (references) | ||
However, among women and men who use either a sedative, anti-anxiety drug, or hypnotic, women are almost two times more likely to become addicted. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Hypnotic" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 98.73% of the time. "Hypnotic" is used about 157 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 98.73% | 155 | 25,240 |
| Noun (singular) | 1.27% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 157 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "hypnotic": hypnotic condition ♦ hypnotic trance. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "hypnotic": hypnotic-type. | |
Ending with "hypnotic": half-hypnotic, non-hypnotic, post-hypnotic, sedative-hypnotic. | |
Containing "hypnotic": sedative-hypnotic drug. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "hypnotic"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | hipnotik (mesmeric), njeri i hipnotizueshëm lehtë, njeri i hipnotizuar, mjet gjumësjellës, i hipnozës, i hipnotizueshëm lehtë, gjumësjellës, gjumëndjellës (sleeping draught, slumberous, somniferous). (various references) | |
Arabic | منوم (sleepy, somnifacient, somniferous, soporific), ذو علاقة بالنوم, المنوم المادة المنومة. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | хипнотичен (mesmeric), хипнотик, приспивателно средство (bromide, opiate). (various references) | |
Chinese | 催眠. (various references) | |
Czech | hypnotický. (various references) | |
Danish | hypnotikum, hypnotika, sovemiddel (soporific). (various references) | |
Dutch | hypnotisch, hypnoticum, hypnagogum, slaapmiddel (soporific). (various references) | |
Esperanto | hipnoto (hypnosis, hypnotic trance). (various references) | |
Faeroese | hypnosa (hypnosis, hypnotic trance). (various references) | |
Farsi | منوم , مولدخواب مصنوعی , هیپنوتیزم , تولیدکننده خواب , خواب اور (Opiate). (various references) | |
Finnish | hypnoottinen, unilääke (sleeping pill), somniferum (soporific). (various references) | |
French | hypnotique (a et sm), hypnotique, somnifère. (various references) | |
German | hypnotisch (mesmeric). (various references) | |
Greek | υπνωτικόσ (soporific), υπνωτικός (hypnagogic, sleep-inducing, soporific), υπναγωγός, υπνοφόρος (hypnagogic). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מהופנט, היפנוטי. (various references) | |
Hungarian | hipnotikus (mesmeric). (various references) | |
Indonesian | hipnotis. (various references) | |
Italian | ipnotico. (various references) | |
Manx | hippnoishagh. (various references) | |
Norwegian | søvndyssende middel. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ypnotichay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | hipntico (hypnosis), hipnótico, soporfero, narctico. (various references) | |
Romanian | hipnotic (magnetic, mesmeric), soporific (drowsy, narcotic, sleep-inducing, soporiferous, soporific), somnifer (opiate, sleeping-drag, somniferous, somnific, soporific), persoanã care poate fi hipnotizatã, persoanã în stare de hipnozã. (various references) | |
Russian | снотворный (hypnosis, opiate, poppied, sleepy, somnifacient, somniferous, somnolent, soporific), снотворное (sleeping draught, sleeping pill, soporific, soporifics). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | hipnotičan, uspavljujuće sredstvo (narcotic, soporific), uspavljivač. (various references) | |
Spanish | hipnótico (hypnosis, hypnotism). (various references) | |
Swedish | hypnotisk. (various references) | |
Turkish | hipnotize ile ilgili, hipnotize edici, ipnotik. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | снотворний засіб (sleepingdraught), снотворний (drowsy, narcotic, opiate, sleepy, somnifacient, somniferous, soporific, stupefacient), гіпнотичний (mesmeric, mesmerical), наркотичний (narcotic, opiate, soporific), загіпнотизована людина. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | thuốc ngủ người bị thôi miên. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | hypnotikos. (various references) |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | hypnoticum, somniferum. (various references) |
| French | 1500-Modern | hypnotique. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "hypnotic": hypnotically, hypnotics. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "hypnotic": autohypnotic, posthypnotic. (additional references) | |
| |
"Hypnotic" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: hipnotic, hypnodance, hypnoid, pyknotic. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "hypnotic" (pronounced hi'pnÄ"tik) |
| 5 | -n Ä" t i k | astronautic. |
| 4 | -Ä" t i k | antibiotic, aquatic, chaotic, despotic, erotic, exotic, idiotic, narcotic, neurotic, patriotic, psychotic, quixotic, robotic, semiotic, symbiotic, unpatriotic. |
| 3 | -t i k | acetic, acoustic, acrobatic, aerobatic, aesthetic, agnostic, alphabetic, altruistic, amniotic, anachronistic, analytic, anesthetic, antagonistic, Antarctic, antic, anticlimactic, antiseptic, aortic, apathetic, apocalyptic, apologetic, apoplectic, arctic, aristocratic, arithmetic, aromatic, arthritic, artistic, ascetic, asthmatic, asymptomatic, atavistic, atheistic, athletic, attic, authentic, autistic, autocratic, automatic, axiomatic, ballistic, bombastic, bureaucratic, capitalistic, catalytic, cathartic, caustic, characteristic, charismatic, chauvinistic, chiropractic, cinematic, climactic, climatic, coloristic, cosmetic, critic, cryptic, cultic, cystic, democratic, dendritic, deterministic, diabetic, diagnostic, diagrammatic, dialectic, diamagnetic, didactic, dietetic, diplomatic, diuretic, dogmatic, domestic, dramatic, drastic, drumstick, dualistic, dynastic, ecclesiastic, eclectic, ecliptic, ecstatic, elastic, electrolytic, electromagnetic, electrostatic, emblematic, emetic, empathetic, emphatic, energetic, enigmatic, enthusiastic, enzymatic, epigenetic, epileptic, erratic, euphemistic, evangelistic, expressionistic, extragalactic, fanatic, fantastic, fatalistic, ferromagnetic, feudalistic, fiberoptic, frantic, frenetic, futuristic, galactic, genetic, geomagnetic, gigantic, granitic, gymnastic, halophytic, hectic, hedonistic, hemolytic, hepatic, heretic, hermaphroditic, holistic, homeostatic, homiletic, humanistic, hyperkinetic, iconoclastic, idealistic, idiomatic, idiosyncratic, imperialistic, impressionistic, individualistic, inelastic, interscholastic, jingoistic, journalistic, kinesthetic, kinetic, lactic, legalistic, linguistic, logistic, lymphatic, magnetic, majestic, masochistic, materialistic, mathematic, mechanistic, melodramatic, militaristic, monastic, monochromatic, monopolistic, moralistic, mystic, narcissistic, nationalistic, naturalistic, neritic, novelistic, numismatic, oligopolistic, onomastic, operatic, opportunistic, optic, optimistic, orthodontic, pancreatic, pantheistic, paralytic, paramagnetic, parasitic, parasympathetic, parthenogenetic, paternalistic, pathetic, patristic, pectic, pedantic, peptic, peripatetic, pessimistic, phonetic, phosphatic, plastic, pluralistic, pneumatic, poetic, polytheistic, porphyritic, posttraumatic, pragmatic, primitivistic, prismatic, problematic, programmatic, propagandistic, prophetic, prophylactic, prostatic, prosthetic, psychoanalytic, psychosomatic, psychotherapeutic, puristic, realistic, relativistic, rheumatic, ritualistic, romantic, rustic, sadistic, sarcastic, schematic, scholastic, semantic, semiautomatic, sensationalistic, septic, simplistic, skeptic, socialistic, static, statistic, stylistic, surrealistic, sycophantic, sympathetic, symptomatic, synergistic, synthetic, systematic, tactic, technocratic, terroristic, thematic, theocratic, therapeutic, thermoplastic, thrombolytic, transatlantic, traumatic, triptych, unapologetic, unauthentic, uncharacteristic, undemocratic, undiplomatic, unenthusiastic, unrealistic, unsympathetic, voyeuristic. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: phytonic, pythonic, typhonic. | |
| Words within the letters "c-h-i-n-o-p-t-y" | |
-1 letter: ciphony. | |
-2 letters: chiton, chopin, hypnic, phonic, photic, phyton, pitchy, pointy, python, typhon. | |
-3 letters: chino, cyton, itchy, notch, ontic, optic, phony, picot, pinch, pinot, pinto, pitch, pithy, piton, point, tonic, tophi, topic, typic, yonic. | |
-4 letters: chin, chip, chit, chon, chop, cion, city, coin, coni, cony, copy, hint, hypo, icon, inch, into, itch, otic, phon, phot. | |
| Words containing the letters "c-h-i-n-o-p-t-y" | |
+1 letter: hypnotics, hypotonic. | |
+2 letters: endophytic, hypertonic, phenotypic. | |
+3 letters: amphictyony, polytechnic, pyrotechnic, sycophantic. | |
+4 letters: actinomorphy, amphictyonic, autohypnotic, chymotrypsin, copyrighting, hypnotically, hypotonicity, lycanthropic, monophyletic, nonpsychotic, nympholeptic, phenocrystic, phenotypical, phonetically, photocopying, photodynamic, phylogenetic, polytechnics, posthypnotic, pyrotechnics, pyrotechnist, sycophantish, sycophantism. | |
+5 letters: amphictyonies, anaphylactoid, antipsychotic, chymotrypsins, dryopithecine, endolymphatic, hyperfunction, hyperromantic, hypertonicity, hypothecating, hypothecation, lycanthropies, pathogenicity, phagocytizing, phagocytosing, phycoerythrin, psychogenetic, psychokinetic, pyrotechnical, pyrotechnists, sycophantisms. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
