In the '90s, there was a terrifying TV show called The Demon Headmaster, focusing on a villainous head teacher who hypnotized his students to do his evil bidding for him. It's been years since we had nightmares about him, but could it work in real life?
There's a lot more awareness of mental health these days, and with it, there's been a boom in therapists offering alternative methods of treatment.
Some might turn to hypnotherapy to get to the root of their problem, with some swearing it's helped them cut back on drinking, quit smoking, shift a few extra pounds, or simply get a better night's sleep.
Of course, there are plenty of skeptics out there. Like some remain unconvinced by spiritualist mediums, YouTuber Danny Gonzalez has tried to dispel some of the myths surrounding hypnotism.
Advert
Being put under with the help of a world-famous hypnotist, Gonzalez was surprised by the results at the end of his treatment.
In the video, Gozalez tries to be hypnotized by three different methods.
He starts out with a simple YouTube video about pulling your hands together by imagining magnets, but in reality, he agrees that this can't really be classed as hypnotism.
Gonzalez goes on to say that he always thought hypnosis was fake until he spoke to a family member who supposedly quit smoking thanks to hypnotherapy. Willing to try it out for himself, he wanted to undergo hypnotherapy to see if he could be cured of his addiction to biting his nails.
Paying a hefty $450 for two sessions, Gonzalez largely went in blind, admitting that he didn't want to research much about hypnotherapy before going under.
Supposedly getting hypnotized over Zoom, he wasn't allowed to reveal his hypnotist due to privacy reasons.
Going through relaxing techniques and imagining two versions of himself on a beach, Gonzalez said he found himself getting distracted during the session. Although he initially woke up and felt like he'd been 'cured' of biting his nails, it wasn't long until he was chewing again. Although he gave us an update after 30 days and reiterated he had stopped biting his nails, he's not convinced he was actually 'hypnotized'.
With two out of three being seemingly debunked, he rolled out the big guns for the final act.
Here, stage hypnotist Chris Jones tried to hypnotise Gonzalez in one last attempt to convince him of its power.
Gonzalez admitted that he believes it could work sometimes, and before long, Jones was putting his skills to the test.
Jones tried hypnotism on Gonzalez and his friends, with the YouTuber seeming to easily slip into a trance and have his arm stuck in the air.
The video concludes with Danny claiming he felt that he was in some kind of different headspace, although it's hard to say with any certainty that hypnotism actually works.
Responding to the stunt, one person said: "Danny saying he doesn’t think he’s hypnotized reminds me so much of an absolutely wasted person denying they’re drunk 😭."
Another added: "Hypnotism is weird because I'm almost positive it's all just placebos and is entirely in your head, but also that's kind of the point...
The stage hypnotist leaning fully into the psychological aspect instead of some kind of magic or power was really interesting."
A third concluded: "As someone who works full-time as a hypnosis researcher at Baylor, this video is fantastic. Danny, your experience is very similar to what a lot of people experience with hypnosis and there's good scientific explanation for that!"