How do you know if hypnosis works?

[Like Ra]

This is a pretty much reliable method - brain scanner!

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140...-possessed

Although I didn’t feel like I was faking it, I ask Walsh whether he is ever concerned his subjects are pretending. He agrees the possibility casts an ever-present shadow over the research. “Anytime you submit a study to a journal, it’s one of the reviewers’ favourite questions,” he says. But advances in brain scanning have begun to lay those concerns to rest. While in the brain scanner, the hypnotiser might tell the subject to see a black and white photograph in colour, for instance – and you would see the areas for colour processing bursting into action as if they were actually looking at a real-life scene. Importantly, when the same subjects are simply asked to ‘pretend’ to experience, or imagine, those feelings, you don’t see the same activity. Such results have converted many sceptics.

[hypno.orgasmatronic]

I think you know hypnosis is working when your behavior starts to change and you knowingly or unknowingly start accepting and following the suggestions of your hypnotist in your behaviors.  Samantha Sez, in my case unlocks some sort of hidden pleasure/mind control switch in my brain allowing me to experience things that I would have otherwise resisted or not even considered.  One way I can tell is that With her style I get the sensation of my mind going completely blank as well as a ‘tingle’ during a successful session, and then I have the need to experience it repeatedly like an obsession.

[Like Ra]

I think you know hypnosis is working when your behavior starts to change and you knowingly or unknowingly start accepting and following the suggestions of your hypnotist in your behaviors. 

I agree, but this is the most difficult thing to prove, that it was caused by hypnosis and not by role playing using the "hypnosis" as an excuse.

[PurpleVibes]

Maybe trying measuring overall happiness?

I personally don't think there is a way to know for sure if hypnosis is working. It is supposed to act at a subconscious level, isn't it?

[Like Ra]

Maybe trying measuring overall happiness?

You do not need any hypnosis for that. A pretty girl on the street smiles back and you are happy 😉

I personally don't think there is a way to know for sure if hypnosis is working.

See above in the thread 😊

[PurpleVibes]

You do not need any hypnosis for that. A pretty girl on the street smiles back and you are happy

Touché! 😁

There's a world of things that can contribute to happiness.

[Zooy]

I think that the biggest difficulty here is how to distinguish any effect from a placebo effect.
The only double blind experiment I can think of at the moment would involve subliminals.

[Like Ra]

If the file is supposed to make changes without me knowing, how will I know I've been tricked!

"Well done propaganda is unnoticeable. If you notice propaganda, it's done wrong". Same for hidden suggestions, that can add a tendency in the decision process, slightly modify behaviour or do nothing. E.g. it can be a simple musical file with no suggestions at all, but the description would say, that the file contains black magic, that will make you STRAIGHT, even if you smoke. And you might begin to "notice" something, that you never "noticed" before.

As for behaviour, I see two options:

o- you must be VERY aware of your actions (think "mindfullness") to notice any non-standard inclinations
o- "unlikelinesses" might be noticed by others, who know you well

However:

Some changes can be explained by other factors, like our natural changes over the time, diet vs exercise, etc.

[Like Ra]

I think that the biggest difficulty here is how to distinguish any effect from a placebo effect.

In fact, ANY hypnosis is placebo, because it's immaterial, non-physical. It's even more placebo than a placebo pill, because placebo pills are made from something, e.g. chalk (what might directly affect the acidity of the stomach environment). The efficacy of placebo pills are based on a "suggestion", and suggestions is an essential part of any hypnosis 😊

[thominhose]

I think that the biggest difficulty here is how to distinguish any effect from a placebo effect.

In fact, ANY hypnosis is placebo, because it's immaterial, non-physical. It's even more placebo than a placebo pill, because placebo pills are made from something, e.g. chalk (what might directly affect the acidity of the stomach environment). The efficacy of placebo pills are based on a "suggestion", and suggestions is an essential part of any hypnosis 😊

I'd just like to throw in a bunch of thoughts about differentiating from a Placebo. From what I've read, hypnosis affects dopamine levels, i.e. tweaks your brain chemistry and in fact only does so by handing over mainly acoustic and perhaps also visual information. If you state that this is even less actual input than a placebo pill, I do not think that this is what should be a parameter in the comparison, because whatever you're ingesting instead of actual medicine is meant to be "neutral", else you would invalidate any study employing placebos. Also, think about daylight. You are not ingesting anything when exposing skin to the sun and yet it affects your essential vitamin D levels and hormones and its definitely not considered a placebo. Or sleep, highly necessary for the human organism, but is there anything coming from the outside that is not also received when in the wake state?
Another difference: placebos fail to work when you're aware of them being used, which is not the case for hypnosis, but then again, hypnosis might also fail if I'm convinced that it won't work??? Oh damnit... 😉