A recent email from a lady in USA explaining that she wouldn't download our free smoking cessation hypnosis session because she felt that hypnosis was dangerous, made me think.  I started wondering what made her think that hypnosis was dangerous and after a few email exchanges, I discovered that she had heard a story about a girl who died in her sleep after being hypnotised as part of a stage show.

I did some research and although i couldn't find any direct reports of the incident, I did find a couple of "hear-say" renditions of the story. 

Although the coroner in the alleged case apparently recorded a verdict of "death by natural causes", the writer of the story maintained that the girl had died as a result of the suggestions given to her by the hypnotist.  He claimed that the hypnotist had given the girl suggestions that she was in the electric chair and would soon feel excruciating pain as 10,000 volts passed through her body.

Two things came to mind as I read the story:

1, the job of a stage hypnotist is to entertain and make people laugh.  I find it hard to believe that any members of an audience would find the spectacle of someone writhing  in agony particularly amusing.  I would doubt that this really took place, and if it did, I'd be shocked if the hypnotist got another booking!

2, why wasn't I able to find even a newspaper article to substantiate the story?

So this particular story didn't appear credible to me.  Nonetheless, undeterred, I decided to look for more instances of hypnosis or hypnotherapy being dangerous. 

I found a story of another woman who attended a stage show, and a week later was still acting upon the suggestions given to her by the stage hypnotist.  In this instance she was told she would dance like a pop star whenever she heard a particular piece of music.  Unfortunately, she heard the music whilst doing her weekly grocery shop at the local supermarket.  This story appeared to be written by the stage hypnotist himself, and so on the face of it has a little more veracity.  Incidentally, the woman in question was apparently re-hypnotised  and the suggestion removed.  She no longer entertains her fellow shoppers.

As for dangerous instances, or cases where someone has been done real harm as a result of hypnosis, I was unable to find any.  I do believe that some stage hypnotists tread a fine line.  For example, a very common sketch is one in which they give the subject an onion and make them believe it is in fact an apple; the subject then happily chomps away at the onion believing it to be a tasty apple.  Funny yes, but what if the subject is allergic to onions?  What if the subject vomits?  Not life-threatening, but nonetheless unpleasant.

Then I started wondering if maybe there were indeed some cases of hypnosis "gone wrong" but either they went unreported or I just wasn't looking in the right places.  That led me to this conclusion:

If there are genuine instances of people being harmed in any way through hypnosis, they are so few that they don't merit being reported.  Either that or they are being covered up.  Why would the authorities allow that to happen?

I remember reading a survey in which most respondents who bought lottery tickets did so because they believed that they had a genuine chance of winning the jackpot.  Most of the respondents who smoked also believed that they would not suffer any ill consequences from smoking.

1 in 3 smokers will likely experience smoking-related health problems ranging from breathing difficulties to death.  1 in 3.  If you ever find yourself smoking in the company of 2 or more people, ask yourself who it will be.

I finally wrote back to the woman who sent me the original email explaining to her that I could find no credible evidence of anyone coming to any real harm as a result of hypnosis, but that 1 in 3 smokers will suffer ill health as a result of smoking.  I politely suggested that she consider those odds, and decide for herself if downloading our free smoking cessation session was worth the risk.