Is hypnosis like sleeping?
The short answer is no. Although the word hypnosis is derived from the Greek god of sleep, Hypnos, studies have shown that hypnosis and sleep differ. Studies of brain activity have shown that although there are characteristic patterns of brain activity associated with sleep the same has not been demonstrated of hypnosis. To observers hypnosis might appear to be like sleep because suggestions of relaxation are commonly given as part of a hypnotic routine, but hypnotized people are in a state more similar to wakefulness (and hypnosis has even been induced in people riding exercise bicycles – so called ‘active alert’ hypnosis).
