u try, and the more you try, the more tightly they will be closed." The process of induction may take a few hours or a few seconds, depending on how often the subject undergoes it, and also depends on how willing the subject is. Usually, if suggestions are made during hypnosis that it will be easy to induce hypnosis again, the subject will usually enter a trance almost instantly upon an agreed signal from the hypnotist. In conjunction with these induction methods, drugs such as sodium pentothal, alcohol, and certain barbiturates may be used to make the procedure easier, but these are hardly ever necessary and can sometimes even be dangerous. Aside from normal methods, there are a number of specialized techniques used by some psychiatrists to hypnotize their patients. There are a number of other techniques as well-a blow to the side of the neck (a method used by some stage magicians), among others-that are not approved by the medical profession and that can be highly dangerous. Subjects are wakened at the command of the hypnotist, who usually orders them to return to their normal state and suggests that they will feel alert and well afterward. Some subjects may still feel disoriented and drowsy for a period following a trance. In order to produce hypnosis, the hypnotist should have an authority over the subject. Many experts believe that the more the subject believes in the power of the hypnotist, the more readily he or she will give way to hypnotic suggestion. Many factors seem to contribute to hypnotic susceptibility, however, but it is still unclear what these factors are. There is evidence to indicate that a good subject tends not to be anxious, but to be interested in new experiences, imaginative, and intelligent; some research also suggests that hypnotic susceptibility is in part genetically determined. Only 5 or 10 percent of the population can be hypnotized deeply enough to experience the very deepest of the hypnotic trance. This...
