Suggestion Only Affects Our Mind

Suggestion is one of the most interesting phenomena in the human mind. It is a psychological state in which a person experiences sensations and ideas that someone else suggests or that someone else leads him to. Suggestion can also mean that you stop sensations that another person is distancing from yourself. It is something implanted in the mind without us being aware of it.

The concept of suggestion seems to be very old – there is even evidence that hypnotic techniques were used thousands of years ago in countries like China, India, Greece, Mexico and many other cultures. Some remains indicate that Egyptian culture used a type of hypnosis very similar to the kind used today more than 3,000 years ago. At the time, the phenomenon was associated with a magical-religious experience.

Franz Anton Mesmer, a man who lived in the eighteenth century, was the first to attempt to provide a rational explanation for the power of suggestion. However, he combined scientific observations with charlatanism and this caused him to be disbelieved. Later it was Dr. James Braid who made a real effort to give these phenomena scientific status. He was followed by many more men in science and together they managed to explain hypnosis, especially from the concept of the unconscious.

Types of suggestions

The four types of suggestions are: direct, hypnotic, indirect, and autosuggestion. We speak of direct suggestion when one person exercises authority over another person who is subject to it. Hypnotic suggestion comes from a hypnotic trance, which can appear in different ways.

Indirect suggestion, on the other hand, is what happens when other people’s ideas are put into your head as if they were your own. Finally, autosuggestion is something that a person does to himself, more or less consciously. The person is prompted to incorporate an idea or a feeling into their mind. For example, if it’s cold and he says to himself, “I’m not cold, I’m not cold,” trying to convince himself that it really isn’t cold.

Autosuggest also has a subtype. This is involuntary autosuggestion. It happens when an individual, unwillingly, finally convinces himself of an idea. Sometimes it’s an unwanted idea. For example, when someone develops a skin rash and begins to think it is something serious. He refuses to go to the doctor to avoid bad news, but is sure that he is suffering from a terrible disease.

The power of suggestion

Suggestion has enormous power over our actions and, of course, over the way we perceive reality.

Hypnotic suggestion

Hypnotic suggestion can also contribute to therapeutic purposes. However, its effectiveness is limited. First, because not everyone is sensitive enough to hypnosis. Second, because suggestions in a state of semi-conscientiousness cannot withstand time.

Direct suggestion

Direct suggestion comes from people who can convince others, even dangerous ideas. These individuals don’t talk into people’s logic, but their emotions. In particular, on their fears and their desires. They break down people’s will and make them do what they want. It is a form of suggestion associated with power, though not necessarily with great powers. You often see it in relationships, in the commerce market, and especially with heads of state or dictators.

Indirect suggestion

Indirect suggestion is more complex and harder to detect. It builds on the ‘world of ideas’ that society has built. Various institutions create and promote it, even without us being aware of it. Even some religious beliefs apply it. The suggestion that there is more after this life, for example. Many literally believe it, even though they don’t have any evidence to back it up. Some even see it as a threat when someone else tries to prove otherwise.

Autosuggestion

Autosuggestion, especially the involuntary kind, is more present in our lives than we would like. Much of what we think is nothing more than a set of beliefs that really have no basis at all. We do many things because we have seen others do them or simply because they have become a habit. However, we often don’t think about why we do this. What is clear is that we have beliefs about ourselves and about everything in general that could hardly stand a rigorous analysis at all. That’s just how we’re put together.