(This blog was originally posted on August 14, 2014)
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| Photo courtesy of Microsoft |
According to Hypnosis Motivation Institute founder John
Kappas, Ph.D., people escape or flee into hypnosis when they perceive a threat
or danger. As I learned during my
hypnotherapy training at HMI: “Hypnosis is created by an overload of message
units, disorganizing our inhibitory process (Critical Mind), triggering our
fight-flight mechanism and ultimately resulting in a hyper-suggestible state,
providing access to the subconscious mind.”
Apparently,
sharks do a similar thing.
Last year, I watched a
fascinating documentary about shark behavior in a Shark Week episode titled Zombie
Sharks on the Discovery Channel®. In it, Eli Martinez, a shark expert, explained a neuro-physiological
phenomenon called “tonic immobility.” According to Martinez, sharks can be
rendered immobile whenever they are turned over onto their backs or, in some
cases, by touching an area of a shark’s face. For all intents and purposes,
tonic immobility temporarily paralyzes the shark until the contact is removed
and/or it may rotate its body to a normal position.
Apparently, this
area of the face and down the back is loaded with sensors which can quickly
become overloaded by sensory stimuli. For example, an overload of sensory
stimuli would occur when a researcher places his or her hands on the animal’s
face or flips the fish onto its back to subdue it when inserting a tracking
device, or if a larger predator, such as an orca, catches it and turns the animal
onto its back as a predatory behavior. To complete this picture, imagine the
psychological stress that a shark experiences when another animal—whether it is
a human or another predator(s)—is swimming and lunging with hands or an opened
toothy mouth, to catch it. There would be even more stress and anxiety for its
survival when the fish is cornered and caught. In some instances, as in the
case of the researchers and videographers for Shark Week, there would be
additional sensory stimuli from the cameras and extra lighting in the ocean. By
the time the shark is subdued on its back, it has endured an incredible overload
of sensory stimulation. It is no wonder that the fish zones out.
This phenomenon
sounds a lot like hypnosis to me.
For more information about tonic immobility, check out the articles at
the following links:
- “Tonic Immobility on Sharks”: http://www.sharkaidinternational.org/report_tonic_immobility_on_sharks.html
- “Discovery Channel’s ‘Zombie Sharks’ Explores Tonic Immobility”, Woodlands Online at http://www.woodlandsonline.com/npps/story.cfm?nppage=53506
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/.
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