I bet you are asking yourself why I went for Hypnosis after writing my last blog entry. Well, actually I didnt. This was a session I had a long time ago that I had forgotten about.
Hypnosis is a pretty secretive thing. At least it seems that way. I have seen all the commercials on TV, but they are just marketing fluff. They dont give you any real information on what to expect at all. And of the inquiries I have made with hypnotherapists, not one has given me any real indication of what a session involves or what to expect to calm my fears.
So I thought it might be helpful for me and others out there to write about my experience.
I was in the Air Force at the time. It was around 1983. I went because I was afraid of women. I would become physically ill when I was around them. When your single, which I was at the time, this complicates dating a bit.
So, I wanted help. Back then, I was young and didn’t think about things like consequences. I had a problem and this looked like it offered a solution. (I kind of miss the good ole days of not caring or having to think about things like what’s good or bad for me etc...)
I needed help and there it was, so I jumped at it. Of course now that I think about it, not thinking about if something was a good idea or not, got me in a lot of trouble. So on second thought, perhaps I am better off now.
It has been a long time ago, so I don’t recall much in the way of details. My memory is not very good. It never has been. At least not as far as I can remember.
I remember going into the Hypnotherapists office for my session. I don’t recall what he said or how he “put me under”. I do remember that I was conscience the whole time. I did not fall asleep like you see on TV and in the movies.
I felt like I was in control, but at the same time was not in control. He told me to sit upright in a chair, which I did. He told me to put my arms on the armrests of the chair, which I did.
The hypnotist told me to imagine (Not sure of the exact word he used) a balloon was tied to my wrist. The balloon had helium in it so it floated. Then he said that another was being tied to my wrist and then another.
With each one, I could feel my wrist getting lighter. Then after several of these imaginary balloons were attached to my wrist, my entire arm began to float. I do recall being in disbelief that this was actually happening. I never would have thought that I could be hypnotized.
But here it was. It seemed to be happening. The power of suggestion was actually making my arm rise just like when Anikan Skywalker rose to become Darth Vadar.
I don’t remember anything else from the session, or what happened afterwards. I have no idea if I ever went asleep or if I would have. Perhaps the whole thing is just about suggestions that the hypnotists makes while you are seemingly awake and in control. But in realty, since the Hypnotherapist was able to make my arm rise, I was not in control of what I did. He was.
So, this would seem to be the biggest reason not to go to Hypnotherapist. I was handing over control of my mind to another person. This is wrong. The only person that should have control over my mind is Jesus. No man or woman should be allowed to do this.
Throughout history, we have struggled with people in control. Dictators in the middle east and elsewhere have wielded control. Many have been unseated because the people decided they did not like the control they had over them.
We don’t even like the control that the President, Congress and Senators have over us. It’s the old saying of absolute power corrupts absolutely.
It goes way back to the Israelites when God took them out of Egypt. They were told by God that they should not have a king (A man in control over them). Only God was to rule over them. God knew that no man had this ability. Israel insisted they wanted a king to rule them. So God allowed this, but told them that it was a really bad idea and they would be sorry (My paraphrase)
When I went to this hypnotherapist, I allowed a person to have control over my mind and I let them make suggestions that would affect who I was and what I did. I don’t believe that anyone is good enough or righteous enough or trustworthy enough to be given this power. In fact, the Bible says exactly that.
Romans 3:10 tells us that no one is righteous, No not one. Luke 18:19 says that no one is good except God.
Let’s look at this logically. According to God, no one is good. So to give someone that is not good control over your mind is just plain dumb.
How about looking at hypnosis scientifically? We know very little about the human brain. The brain is the most powerful thing on earth. We really don’t know what all the brain is able to do, but estimates are that the control the brain has over our bodies is in the billions or perhaps even trillions. It controls everything from our heart beats, to how fast our nails grow. It controls our emotions, everything we feel, or don’t feel.
Modern day computers have hard drives (Storage or Memory Capacity) that are around 1 terabyte right now. They are no where even close to being able to do what the human brain can do. We have no way of measuring how much storage capacity the human brain has. This is mostly because the human brain, despite modern techniques, is still pretty mysterious. We just don’t know how the brain really works.
Now, I come back to logic. We have come to the conclusion that the brain has absolute control over who you are, what you do and what you don’t do. It controls every single function of your body from the biggest to the smallest including your emotions. We have no idea how the brain works with all its complexities.
So why in the world would anyone allow a mere man or woman, to take control of a mind that they know so very little about and put suggestions into it? Suggestions that we have no way of knowing what the full ramifications of those suggestions might be.
When I went to this Hypnotherapist, I was giving him permission to come into my mind and take control over it. Since my mind, which is another word for brain, has control over who I am, I was giving this person permission to take control of my life and tell me what I should and should not do.
This is God's domain. He is the only one that Christians should be looking to and giving permission to have control over us and tell us what we should and should not do.
Hmm, who else do I know that loves to take control of peoples lives, their minds, their wills and their very soles? I will give you a minute.
That would be satan. Since I was not giving this control to God, and since there is only 1 other power in the universe, I was effectively giving satan permission to take control of my mind and therefore my very life.
Isn't logic a cool thing?
This is my log of my day to day issues with living to Avoidant Personality Disorder. My hope is that in writing this, it will help myself and perhaps others that are also srtuggling with this disorder or another like it.http://www.AvoidantPersonality.com
