Sleep And Hypnotic Trance—Are They The Same?

Pavlov truly believed that sleep and hypnosis were one and the same. Despite of hundreds and thousands of researched papers and published studies and writings, this is still the most popular belief up to this day. In reality, the state of hypnotic trance is more related and associated to the waking state than to the normal sleep. Now let us compare sleep and hypnosis. 1. Reasoning—in a hypnotic trance, the person is perfectly capable of reasoning, though the reasoning itself can be directional due to the suggestion firmly set or instilled by the hypnotist. On the other hand, while sleeping, the typical normal reasoning function and capacity of the person is switched off in the meantime.

2. Induction—hypnosis could be attained even without the suggestion or mention of sleeping. Hypnotic trance is commonly induced by another individual (usually by the hypnotist), while normal sleep is not induced by another individual. 3. Brain Activity—the Electro Encephalogram (EEG), which records the activities in the brain and the electric impulses inside the brain, shows the similar waves during the waking and the hypnotic state. On the contrary, the waves during the normal and physiological sleep are quite dissimilar from the two states. 4. Somnambulism—where the person performs some activities or walks around when asleep is really the deepest form or type of subconscious activity related to a deep hypnotic trance and therefore must not be considered a sleep activity.

4. Tendon Reflexes—in knee jerk when the tendon below the knee cap is gently stroked or tapped with percussion hammer while the knee is flaccid and flexed, there is a jerky forward movement of the legs due to the contracting of the muscles in the thighs. These reflexes in the tendon are abolished or lessened in deep sleep, while these are present during hypnosis. The tendon reflexes are elicited or brought out by firmly but lightly tapping particular tendons to flex or bend the corresponding muscles. This can indicate a normal neuro-muscular and neuro-spinal communications. 5. Suggestibility—in a state of hypnosis, the individual is highly susceptible or easily influenced by suggestions.

On the other hand, the subject would not respond or be receptive to other light sensory stimulus or different suggestions. 6. Muscle Tone—muscles commonly and usually become flaccid from lessened or diminished muscular tone and action when the person is in a normal sleep. On the other hand, the muscles most especially those of the legs and the arms are maintained and retained in a state known as tone rigidity. However, these muscles could be achieved a near and almost flaccid state and be made to relax completely through the proper suggestions during the state of hypnotic trance. Hence, it is a well-known occurrence that individuals fall into a normal sleep after a lengthy and prolonged auto hypnotic therapy or a hypnotic session; this is actually a normal and natural phenomenon.

Although there are times that the hypnotic trance state may be referred to as a guided sleep it is not the same as the normal and physiological sleep at all.