Self-Hypnosis on Superbowl Sunday at Stanford’s Experimental Therapeutics Hub

We are most hypnotizable at the age of 6-10 years old (a developmental critical period). As adults, about 20% of us are highly hypnotizable and 20% are resistant. We had a similar distribution in Dr. David Spiegal’s impromptu test of our crew (seen here).

While we have genetic markers for hypnotizability, there are few correlates with other measurable traits — other than the subjective ability to be imaginative and disassociate from distraction. Hypnosis therapy has been effective for many disorders from anxiety to addiction (e.g., 20% cessation of smoking).

You can take Spiegal’s 3-minute hypnotizability self-test here.

They have shown that they can increase responsiveness to hypnosis treatments with SAINT rapid TMS. And I suspect the same will be found in an upcoming study of psilocybin, given its potential to reopen critical periods (ref. Gül Dölen’s work).