(This blog was originally posted on August 14, 2014)
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| Image 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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