Time Flies When I'm On-Line

In compliance with current WHO and CDC recommendations to minimize risk of exposure to and spread of the COVID-19 virus, I am temporarily suspending in-person hypnotherapy sessions with me in my office. However, phone and Skype consultations ARE and WILL REMAIN AVAILABLE! 

(This blog was originally posted on December 14, 2014)

Image courtesy of Microsoft

Scenario #1: You’re sitting at your desk writing a report for work or a term paper when you realize that you need to find one more reference to complete your project. You steel yourself against temptation to browse the internet for anything unrelated to your question and type a key phrase into the Google or Bing search engines. “This should only take a couple minutes,” you tell yourself as you wait for the search results. Scenario #2: You are answering a very important e-mail or posting a response on your Facebook page. Then, to your exasperation (but secret delight) you notice something very interesting on the Internet and decide to check out one more post.

In both scenarios, not only have you forgotten what you were originally looking for but an hour (or several) has passed. Where did all that time go? And why—how—could so much time pass without your even noticing?

If your answer or explanation was “hypnosis,” you are right. While you were on-line, all those images and words that you were looking at on the screen gradually, subtly overloaded your subconscious mind with information (message units). Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John Kappas, Ph.D. explained that this phenomenon occurs when sensory stimuli bombard the inhibitory process of the mind with information (message units). This sensory overload disorganizes the inhibitory process of the subconscious mind, which triggers the fight-flight response and produces the hyper-suggestible state we recognize as hypnosis.

As I explained in my blog titled “Natural States of Hypnosis,” there are many common instances of this trance-state. I think computers and smartphones, which have operating systems and web-browsing capabilities, likely induce a form of environmental hypnosis whenever we go on-line. The instant we connect to the internet, the subconscious mind is confronted with a cornucopia of information. Somehow it must interpret and process information that often includes audio and visual data designed to pull browsers into the virtual worlds they are exploring. Then there’s the tactile (touch) stimuli that the mind must process as you type on the keyboard and manipulate the cursor, whether that is the computer “mouse” or the index finger on one of your hands. A final source of this data overload will come from your conscious mind: whatever you are thinking about or your motivation to conduct that on-line search or interact with friends is an important source of subconscious overload. Many of us eat or drink, or simultaneously talk to someone on the telephone while we are doing internet searches or interacting with friends and acquaintances on-line. It’s no wonder that the conscious mind temporarily “checks out” until there is less sensory stimulation going on.

When we come out of this trance-like state, we may feel temporarily disoriented and even forget where we are for a little while. Following are some tips to help you remain aware of yourself and your physical environment while you are on-line so you can be alert and aware of yourself and your surroundings when you (finally) log off.

• Limit the amount of time you spend working on the computer. Take a break from the activity every hour or so: put the device on sleep mode (or silent mode, for the smart phones) and walk away from the screen. Work on another task for a little while or at least take a genuine break or time-out from the on-line conversations and hashtag trends.

• Regularly count yourself out of this hypnotic state while you are working on the computer, etc. Say to yourself: “One, two, three, four, five. Eyes open [say your name], wide awake and in a fully alert and aware state.” Repeat this mantra as necessary.

• Stand up and stretch and take deep breaths. Do jumping jacks or run in place for a minute to get your body moving and switch your focus and awareness to your physical environment.

• While you are working or interacting on a social-media site, eat nutritious snacks that contain protein to keep your mood even and reduce your suggestibility to things you see, hear or read while you are on-line. (For more information about the role between nutrition and suggestibility, go to my blog titled “Nutrition and the Development of Phobias.”)

Special Offer!

Save 15 percent on all a la carte (individual) phone and Skype hypnotherapy sessions, including the 2-hour introductory First Session!

*This offer may not be combined with other promotional discounts/session packages and is not redeemable for cash. Offer expires on June 30, 2020

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. In July 2019 she was voted the Best Hypnotherapist in Santa Clarita, California. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2020

 

Think It All Through

(This blog was originally posted on December 5, 2016)

Photo by Rick Hustead

You may have heard or read about a preponderance of fake news that was being shared on social media outlets recently. The sources of these erroneous reports and the reasons/motivations to share this information is of less interest to me than how and why people so easily accepted and believed what they read and heard.

The last few months have been very stressful for a lot of people, especially in regards to the contentious United States presidential election that we just went through. There was plenty of rhetoric to go around from both (all) sides of the electoral ticket. Between nonstop television advertisements and various political canvassers calling several times a day, every day, to encourage us to vote for their candidate, there was hardly a moment of quiet to collect our thoughts. It didn’t even stop when the election was over.

These days, a lot more people get news and other social information from the Internet compared to television or even newspapers. As most of us have experienced, once we are on-line it is like being sucked into a stimulation vortex. Video links automatically begin to play and pop-up advertisements for consumer products or holiday gifts flash across the screen—tailored to each user’s specific interests, no less. It is natural to seek sources of information or entertainment that resonate with our own beliefs and ethics/morals, so any “facts” that we read or hear are more readily believed and accepted because we want them to be true. If you don’t believe this, consider how often you change the television channel if you don’t like what a reporter is saying, or abruptly end conversation or on-line chat exchange if the other person challenges your beliefs. Such discord is painful to the subconscious mind. When we are on the Internet, it is much easier to simply tune in to someone or somewhere else that supports our view-point. Furthermore, the more emotionally and cognitively/intellectually invested we are in the subject, the more likely we are to react and respond to this information; the more we react and respond to it, the more invested we become. Of course, people who work in advertising/marketing and dissemination of information are very aware how this process works and possess the skills to draw our attention where they want it to go.

Fortunately, the fake-news schemes have been exposed and executives of the sites that allegedly participated in them are taking steps to correct the programs that allowed these transgressions to occur in the first place. But this experience has understandably left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths: We trusted ‘X’ to tell us the truth! They lied to us/I believed what they said! What does that say about me?

As I explained in my blog titled Time Flies When I’m On-Line, it is very easy to become overloaded by sensory stimuli while we are on the Internet or even watching television and drift into a state of trance (hyper-suggestibility). Here are a few suggestions to prevent this from happening:

·         Regularly count yourself out of the trance state by saying, “One, two, three, four, five, eyes open [say your name], wide awake.” This mantra will help you immediately return to an alert and less suggestible state of awareness.

·         Get in the habit of walking away from the computer, put down the hand-held device or turn off/change the channel on the television or radio and do something different for a little while. Take this time while you are off-line to think critically about what you have read or heard. Does it make sense to you? Consider possible flaws in that original argument. If necessary, give yourself permission to imagine there are other possible explanations and imagine what an alternative scenario might be. How does that picture feel to you?

·         Have a nutritious snack that includes some protein to stabilize your blood-sugar level and thus minimize potential irritability, frustration and over-reaction to what is going on around you. This step will help you remain more objective and patient to listen to and even consider opposite points of view as you come to your own decision about what you have heard, seen or read.

·         Remember, you are most suggestible to yourself. If you (your conscious mind) don’t like or do not feel comfortable with the information you are hearing and/or the way you are behaving, decide to make a change. That change may simply be to log-off the computer, change the channel/switch off the TV or radio, or learning how to relax and think/evaluate situations around you more critically rather than automatically react to them. Hypnotherapy is great for that, too.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2017