On Friday, January 25,  a hypnotist visited GNA to perform hypnosis during a psychology presentation. Some students even had the chance to participate and be hypnotized for themselves.

Hypnotists are people who carry out an intellect-based exercise in focus called hypnosis. According to verywellmind.com, hypnosis is the induction of a state of consciousness in which a person loses the power to control their actions and is more highly responsive to suggestion or directions given to them by someone else. It is mostly used in therapy to recover from suppressed memories, or from post-traumatic stress disorder.

By the reactions from the students and teachers, it seemed that everyone enjoyed the show. Students were amazed by what the hypnotist could do and that the process really worked.

Many of the students were able to go under the hypnosis process easily, but for others, it required more time and effort. Some of the side effects of hypnosis are headaches, drowsiness, dizziness, anxiety, distress, and false memories, as the hypnotist said. He also stated that if one has certain health issues or problems, they shouldn’t volunteer. The side effects were explained to students before undergoing the actual process. Students were again asked if they still wanted to proceed, and nobody decided not to. Many of the students showed visibly different effects from each other. Some students didn’t even remember anything that occurred!

Some of the highlights of this event include a hypnotized student who was instructed to take a bite out of an onion and did so without hesitation. When he was snapped out of the effects, he realized what he had done, and all he wanted was a drink to wash down the taste. He couldn’t believe he actually willingly took a bite out of an onion. The hypnotist also had a student perform a trust fall, but the student was put to sleep at the snap of the hypnotist’s fingers. When he woke up, he was shocked and looked confused at his predicament. The hypnotist also had all of the students that volunteered to sit in a set row in which he conducted an experiment which convinced students that their hands and arms were experiencing different sensations of temperature.

Having the hypnotist come to GNA was a great experience. Overall it was extremely informative, and it is highly recommended that other schools seek out more information about the program and host an assembly themselves.