Hypnosis is Used in Study of Emotions

(NaturalNews) There is a lot still to be learned about emotions.
Approximately 20 years ago, researchers were under the impression that
emotions and feelings originated with the heart, not the brain. They
also believed that emotions could not be measured with scientific
research. In more recent years, researchers have found that emotions
can play a major role in a person's overall health. A non-invasive way
to study feelings and emotions is through the use of hypnotherapy and
brain images (Brain & Emotions Research).

Feelings and emotions are created from one's own perception. When a
person feels a specific emotion, it is usually triggered by a thought
and this thought is triggered by a past experience. This process can
occur consciously or unconsciously without a person realizing it.
Examples of emotions include happiness, joy, and contentment which are
all positive emotions. Negative emotions include fear, anger, and
pain.

Basically, there are good emotions and bad emotions. Emotions reside
in the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind tells the conscious
mind how to feel. Of course, people would rather feel good emotions
instead of bad emotions. The subconscious mind can be accessed using
hypnosis to change negative emotions into positive emotions (Oso).

One study looked at hypnotic suggestion, emotions, and pain. Hypnotic
suggestion was used to induce specific emotions. Then, the researchers
looked at how the various emotional states affected pain. They found
negative emotions such as fear and sadness increased the level of
perceived pain in participants. However, when positive emotions were
hypnotically induced, the positive emotions that resulted were static
and did not continue to increase. The significance of this study is
that certain emotions can be created with hypnosis without side
effects. The induction of hypnosis gives more control to the
researcher and does not create secondary emotions.

Other studies have used hypnosis on the study of emotions using both
highly suggestible and low suggestible participants. When highly
suggestible participants were given hypnotic suggestions to be
'emotionally numb' or unaffected by either positive or negative
emotions, researchers found that they were not susceptible to the
emotions and that the hypnotic suggestions were able to produce a
numbing affect on their emotions. When comparing highly suggestible
people to low suggestible people, the highly suggestible participants
experience more emotional numbing (Rainville, 2002).

The study of hypnotic suggestions plays a positive role in studying
the science of emotions. It gives researchers control over what
emotions to induce. By studying both highly suggestible people and low
suggestible people, it gives researchers greater insight into the
study of emotion.

<b>Sources</b>

Brain & Emotions Research. University of Wisconsin-Madison. Retrieved
on September 28, 2009: http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/e...

Oso, M. Controlling your emotions through hypnosis. Retrieved on
September 28, 2009: http://ezinearticles.com/?Controlli...

Rainville, P., Hofbauer, R. K., Bushnell, M. C., Dunca, G. H., Price,
D. D. (2002). Hypnosis modulates activity in brain structures involved
in the regulation of consciousness. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience,
14(6), 887-901.

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