There are a lot of myths, mysteries, and misunderstandings surrounding hypnosis.

But does hypnosis work? Can it really help you feel better or change your habits?

Let's take a look at the science behind it.

Welcome back to savvy psychologist. I'm Dr. Jaid Wu and every week I'll help you meet life's challenges with evidence-based

research, a sympathetic ear, and zero judgment.

You may remember the scene from Jordan Peel's 2017 movie Get Out, where Chris, the main character, gets hypnotized by his girlfriend's mom.

All she does is swirl a spoon around her teacup, and Chris falls into the sunken place where his consciousness

becomes a viewer of his own life but he has no control over his body.

The hypnosis apparently cures him of smoking. In case you haven't seen Get Out, I won't

spoil the movie by telling you the more sinister things that happened the next time Chris

is hypnotized.

Let's just say that I became a little wary

of spoons and d cups after seeing this movie.

In our popular imagination,

hypnosis runs wild. In the 1800s. In our

popular imagination, Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story in which a mesmerist kept a dying person alive

through hypnosis.

Many thought the fictional story was an actual medical case study.

More recently, movie plots involving hypnosis have ranged from the horrific, like in The Exorcist, to the hilarious, like in Zoolander, where Derek

Zoolander is programmed through hypnosis to assassinate a Prime Minister at a fashion show. But is hypnosis actually possible? Can you put someone

into an altered state of mind and get them to do things they otherwise would not do?

Let's take a look at some questions about hypnosis today. I'll share the science and psychology behind what hypnosis can and cannot do.

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