this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2026
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Aphantasia and Hypnotism? (lemmy.zip)
submitted 2 days ago by Electrical_Depth@lemmy.zip to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml
9 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

So I was wondering, is it possible to hypnotize a person who has Aphantasia. Now, before you get into a debate that a human cannot just make another human to run on commands. I'm no talking about this kind of hypnotism.

Where an expert in this field guide his/her patient/client to close their eyes and imagine a bunch of scenarios to calm their mind, I'm talking about this kind.

What will happen if a client turned out to have aphantasia?

Will the expert be successful in his/her method?

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[–] Paragone@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Bower or Bowers wrote a book debunking the "hypnotism doesn't exist" pseudoscience, decades ago.

Basically, if you get 2 populations, & have 1 population go into hypnosis-session intentionally faking it .. and you don't have the other population going into it faking,

& the hypnotist is competent,

THEN the measurable difference-in-behavior between the 2 groups is proof that it's real.

Hypnosis is as real as multiple-personality-disorder, or as different-personality-while-in-shock-from-trauma.

It's just a more unconscious-mind dominant state, is all.

Dreams are real, too, btw.

Lack of visual-imagination doesn't affect hypnotizability.

I'm aphantasic: it's wrongly-named.

It means "no imagination", but the truth is we've plenty of imagination, just not visually.

_ /\ _

[–] Sludgeyy@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

It means "no imagination", but the truth is we've plenty of imagination, just not visually.

It's not a coincidence that the word image is in the word imagination. Most people image to imagine.

We have learned you don't need to image to imagine. If you would have asked me awhile ago if I saw images in my head I would have said yes because I can hold details of an image in my head and "see" it. It's like I'm imagining an image to imagine.

Just like I can imagine what would happen if you placed a ball at the top of a hill and let go. I don't need to see images or a video to "imagine" the ball is going to roll down the hill.

Phantasia is a word used by Aristotle to describe "mental images". What is thought of as "imagining". He described it as a mind's eye.

Imagining is the term that is wrongly named. It could be used for only processing thinking with images but like you said you "imagine". I have aphantasia and I'm just "thinking" about the ball and it rolling down the hill, not imaging it doing it in my head.

[–] ickplant@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I’m a therapist and also trained in hypnotherapy. It is possible or but harder IMO. I just tell people to “pretend” instead of “visualize.”

“Pretend you are standing at the top of a staircase” is something most people can do even if they don’t get a visual. It’s “a felt sense.”

You can do this test: if you pretend or imagine to bite into a lemon, do you start to salivate a bit even if you can’t see it in your mind’s eye? If yes, you can be hypnotized. If no, doesn’t mean you can’t, but it means there will be extra work.

[–] Sludgeyy@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

As an aphant I cannot begin to imagine salivating by thinking of biting a lemon.

I believe some aphants can have smell and taste memories since it only has to do with a lack of visual imagine. Just like some cannot hear inner speech.

I cannot say it's impossible but I've never believed in hypnotizism.

[–] ickplant@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

I think a lot of role misunderstand hypnosis. It’s just putting your brain in a relaxed state (theta waves) that you normally experience when you sleep and dream. If you experience that state when you are asleep, you can also experience it awake. It’s just a matter of finding the right relaxation technique.

One thing I didn’t mention in my comment is that for people who struggle to visualize, we just do a progressive muscle relaxation induction rather than a visualization. No need to imagine anything.

[–] accideath@feddit.org 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Person with partial aphantasia (when I really try, I can get about the graphic fidelity of Star Fox on SNES on a monitor with a broken backlight) here:

I always found those thought-journey thingies somewhat pointless when teachers at school n such tried to do them with us. Of course they weren’t experts, though, so maybe someone who really knows what they’re doing could invoke something but realistically, probably not.

On the other hand, dimming the lights, closing my eyes and the relative quietness of only one person calmly telling a kind of story, made me calm and sleepy regardless, so maybe the imaginary journey isn’t necessary anyways.

[–] novibe@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I have a hard time freely forming realistic images in my head. Like if I TRY to picture an apple, I just get the vibes of an apple but no image.

But I did yoga some years ago. We did 15 min of breathing exercises, 45 min of actual physical practice (vinyasa), then 30 min of guided meditation. The whole point of the class was the meditation really, everything before that was preparing to meditate.

Anyways, first time I went, I did the breathing, did the “flows”, then we laid down to meditate. The instructor guided us through this meditation, about being in an open field, and riding a horse, and feeling the wind on your face the horse underneath you, and dude… I could picture it all like it was real life. I could see in full 4k 3D. So much I started to feel like I was there, I could actually feel the wind the horse. See the bright sun. I actually cried a little.

So yeah I think with the right guidance you could probably see in your mind like it was real life.

[–] ickplant@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

“Vibes of an Apple” are fine. You don’t need to see it, just to have a felt sense of it for the most part. Of course, everyone is different, and I cannot say this would work for everyone.

[–] Sludgeyy@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I have aphantasia.

Personally I never thought being hypnotized was possible for me

When someone says "Imagine an apple" I think of the concept or idea of an apple. I would need them or me to give more details about what this imaginary apple has. Green/red, leaf/no leaf, connected to tree or not.

The more details I add the more I have to think about it to hold all the details together.

Example, I know my house very well. I can tell you every detail I remember about my house. But if you told me to imagine your house and just threw details at me I wouldn't be able to remember the majority of them. If I physically walked through your house I could remember a ton of details.

Feel free to ask any questions!