Written by: snowflake_77
In the journal article entitled, “The Use of Hypnosis to Help an Anxious Student with a Social Communication Disorder to Attend School” I will elucidate how a student with a social communication disorder was treated by use of hypnosis. I will first explain what hypnosis is and two common types of hypnosis. “Hypnosis is a procedure done by the therapist that suggests to the subject that he or she experiences changes in perception, thoughts, behaviors and feelings” (Bryon 126). Hypnosis is not a new topic to the general population, but is well acknowledged. Hypnosis is not for everyone, because some people can overcome their problems and do not need to use hypnosis. One way someone can identify their problem is to monitor their physical symptoms, like increasing blood pressure, sweating, unable to stand up or speak, and unable to remain attentive. Stress and phobias also contribute to having disorders (Byron 125). Many researchers have come to the conclusion that they can use hypnosis as an apparatus for a wide list of problems. One way is suggesting how the subject should behave or react. There are two ways hypnosis can be induced. In one way hypnosis is induced by oneself, and the other is done by someone else, usually a professional therapist. In order for hypnosis to work one must be in a relaxed state, and must desire to be hypnotized. The client, named J, is a student whose age is 15 (Byron 126) J is able to think academically, but unable to deal with social communication, either in entering a classroom or participating in the classroom discussions. J has had a history of anxiety problems from little on. From age 7 up to 12 J’s focus was not strong, and his rude behavior was apparent in his classes. As the years proceed on, situation only becomes worse because stress and tension are higher. This can create serious barriers that some people can not handle, because of all the challenging activities that need to be done. This is apparent in J since he will not attend classes anymore, because he is too frightened of what people might think of him though his actions. When J reached the stage of being so afraid of even being out in the community, his counselor at his school helped him get in to a Special Educational School (Byron 126). J most certainly had social, and communication fears, which were prerequisites upon entering this school. This special school still did not help J, because he would still hide or become so nervous and jumpy, whenever someone walked by. J needed serious help, because his existence would be meaningless if he could not overcome his dread social communication. Since nothing worked so far to help J control his fear and anxiety, this dilemma seemed very challenging to many researchers. The apparent plan needed J to be calmer and more relaxed, so he could overpower his fears. Hypnosis seemed to fit the scenario the best, since it would not completely overtake his feelings as many medicines have done. I think for J’s situation the medicine might have been a possibility, but would have had a negative side effect on J. J might become addicted to the drug, and his feelings of anxiety would be completely eliminated. So the researchers tried hypnosis, since it was well documented in mind manipulation, and had no life threatening side effects. J would have all the sessions of hypnosis at home. I think being at home made J feel peaceful and tranquil, because he is surrounded by the people who love and support him. J chose the garden, because this might have been the place he spent most of his time. The first session was the most important and most difficult. This session would outline the goals and outcomes that J needed to reach. After each session was complete, J would fill out a self evaluation sheet. The first session was recorded so that J could play this session over on a daily basis. Two more hypnosis sessions were given at home. The second session was recorded also for J’s benefit. The third session introduced J to self hypnosis. After J had completed these first three sessions, another session just like the first session was given to repeat the baselines and monitor the self-hypnosis (Byron 127). Three more sessions were in intervals of one, three, and six months (Byron 127). The results following the hypnosis showed a major decrease in anxiety. J’s social communication drastically increased (at most 50%), and thus his self-esteem also increased. J was finally able to reach his individual goals. These goals would make J feel confident, being able to control his anxiety, and overpowering his fear. J would not be insulted from what other people might think or say about him. J’s mother could tell from comparing before and after qualities of J that radical improvements were occurring in his performance. The maximum level indicated that he improved at most 50% on the degree of anxiety. J can feel superior about himself because he knows that he can do whatever other kids are able to achieve, whether it is to attend classes or extracurricular activities, and not let fear or anxiety prevaricate him from participating. Since hypnosis was the only variable used throughout this procedure, it seems logical to only connect hypnosis to this improvement. One has to be careful when examining this experiment. Hypnosis might have been a large factor, but other small unrealized factors could have contributed to this drastic improvement of J’s anxiety. One small factor could have been a change of his routine lifestyle, maybe he received the right amount of encouragement from the professional therapists, or maybe his family recognized that J really needed support and that J’s behavior was just not a distraction for getting out of school. J went from being severely unable to control his anxiety and fears, to having a more secure control. Since J acquired self hypnosis, he is able to learn to have more control over his emotions than most people might ever achieve. Through hypnosis J could attend school, participate in extracurricular activities, and develop different relationships with peers. J was feeling more confident and was in control of his feelings. Hypnosis was a large factor in J’s case, but might not have been the only factor. Hypnosis also is not a drug, so it does not have a harmful or drowsy side effect. Over time as in J’s case, hypnosis can become stronger, and can have more dramatic effects on a subject as a result from learning on past sessions. J felt more confident and had stronger control of his emotions after each session of hypnosis. Hypnosis is important to the field of psychology and to people in general because of the way it manipulates the mind. Hypnosis can be used as a pain relief, a memory enhancement, posthypnotic suggestion, and a way of breaking old habits. Hypnosis is not a material drug, so it does not completely eliminate emotions and feelings. Hypnosis offers a natural solution to a disorder instead of giving special medicine, which tends to be expensive and has to be regulated by a physician on a routine basis. This would help eliminate animal testing, since the medicine is not needed. J’s case largely supports hypnosis as an alternative method for medical disorders. Hypnosis may one day, through research, be able to help strengthen the immune system in the fight against diseases, by training the mind to respond to certain stimuli, whereas the person might naturally be afraid. I think the major reason hypnosis is so popular and attractive is because, it entertaining, and is still a heated debate, to many scientists, on its functionality. It is sometimes used as an enhancement at a party because, it lets people’s imagination go beyond what they are limited to do in the real world, while not being conscious about what they are doing. Studying hypnosis means studying the mind and its functions, in a way that might formulate new and unknown theories that might have never been realized.