Hypnotic Regression

The use of hypnosis has cropped up in UFO abduction cases and looking into past lives. Personally I don't agree with it and would never suggest anyone volunteers for hypnosis, perhaps I am just too untrusting. What are your thoughts?

It's a great way to get witnesses to agree with what you want to believe.

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It's a great way to get witnesses to agree with what you want to believe.

Perhaps there is a good reason to use it afterall

Hypnotic regression has had one positive effect. It has shown that even people who claim to know nothing about aliens can still put together a reasonable abduction scenario under hypnosis. If they weren't really abducted (!) then it shows that they knew more about ufology than they were consciously aware of, probably through TV, movies, books etc.

I completely agree with 'shopper. Hypnotic regression is a great way to ingenerate false memories that feel completely real.
Jacques Vallee talked about this topic in Confrontations and expressed a completely negative opinon, particulary after he made inquiries to a number of respected medical establisments (University of California San Francisco, Stanford etc) and he had occasion to meet and interview a person (alleged UFO witness) who had been subjected to hypnotic regression by amateurs and as a result suffered from a number of psychological ailments.
It has to be said that after the uproar ingenerated by the lurid Michelle Remembers hypnotic regression lost much of its appeal even in "fringe" circles.

I think Mauro raises a good point about the dangers of amateur regression. In "Mothman Prophecies" John Keel paints a pretty negative picture of the naive UFO enthusiasts that were rife in the 60s and 70s - kind of like the MH fans today, I suppose - and how amateur hypnotism was often used with no benefit to genuine research but a considerable risk to the regressee. Scarier than Indrid Cold and co in some ways!

Interesting topic, Ian.

It's been proven (atleast on mythbusters ) that hypnotic regression helps people to remember facts more accurately, that is, it 'unlocks' memories and details that have been forgotten. Surely in cases of abduction, it would certainly help to remember the events. On the other hand it may just, as said above, unlock information about UFOs the 'abducted' didn't know they had, picked up from TV, paranormal forums, etc. Hmm..

I'll have a think about that one and get back to you.

I think the reality is that the depths of the human subconscious is a strange and so far largely unknown realm. As such, hypnotism may well throw up both forgotten facts and experiences as well as stranger products of imagination.

If you were getting really esoteric, you could take the view that imagination is linked to some higher "soul", and that the archetypal experiences recanted by those under hypnosis have something to do with this mechanism.

I am not sure if this is an urban myth or not, but I am sure I have heard that people that have been hypnotised are more likely to display psychological problems such as schizophrenia. Has anyone heard anything similar?

I doubt it Ian. My parents are psychiatrists and they think hypnosis is a perfectly valid technique, I doubt they would use it or permit it to be used on their patients if there was any risk of damage. I'll ask and get back to you.

Hypnosis is an altered state induced by suggestion. Suggestion, of course, is a means of introducing thoughts into a subject that are then accepted by them as real. An extremely careful hypnotist might be able to retrieve genuine memories however most are more likely to introduce false ones.