Have you ever? (Hypnotized)

by Terry 6 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Terry

  HAVE YOU EVER? (Hypnotized)

  (1978)
  I had been hypnotized the night before and "woke" in the middle of a job interview the following day.
  It startled me.

  The face of my interviewer twigged as well, witnessing this emergence of a "new" amplitude in my ... well... let's call it "being."

  Looking back on this, it's like those devil possession scenes in films when the beast makes itself known.
  Except - I remind you - it was THE REAL me.
  I'll give you a few seconds to catch up to what I'm reporting to you.

  (Pause)
  Okay then...

  My interviewer registered awareness of this transformation.
  The sleepwalking Terry vanished.
  Seated in the same chair, the refurbished "me" crackled with personality.

  My interior was scrambling; playing catch up. I had to save the performance -- I needed this job!

  I tossed in an unasked-for-explanation.
  "You'll have to excuse me - I was up very late last night at a party and all the coffee I've had this morning - well - the caffeine has suddenly jolted me."
  Big smile from me.

  A flicker of understanding on the Interviewer.
  (The involuntary nod.)
  I gave a big finish. The day was won.

  Afterward, interior panic struck. What the hell had happened the night before?
  I provisionally "thought" I knew. Only -- it was now obvious this was not "knowing" knowing. It was a passive, lazy, neutral list of events only.

  Somebody had stolen my soul!
  Okay - that's stupid and overly dramatic. It just felt that way.

  I NEVER believed in hypnotism as anything genuine.
  And yet --- this ...this....?

  What had happened was this. (I've probably mentioned it in some previous anecdote.)
  At a party, a hypnotist asked for volunteers and I was offered up by those gathered (rather unwillingly.)
  Resistance is futile when the mob cries out.

  "Imagine there is a helium balloon tied to your wrist."
  "Relax completely and feel the slight tug of the string on your wrist as the balloon pulls ..."
  "You arm is light as a feather. It begins to rise ....to rise higher ...higher..."
  Long story short: I decided to "play along" and ham it up.
  HA!
  The joke was on me - the foolish victim cannot fully realize this is exactly what hypnotism counts on to work properly.

  A wee spot of participation, surrender, compliance.
  It's seduction.
  Just one kiss - okay? (We all know where it leads.)
  So I was royally fucked! Up!

  Fast Forward. Next Day. Job Interview.
  The Interviewer had spoken some word which released me from my walking dead performance.
  BAM!
  He's back!

  I was a driver-less car all that time.
  Now why am I bringing this up suddenly?

  The next time this happened was about 6 years ago.
  I was at work on my way to the cash register at the Book Store where I ----
  Suddenly I wake up much LATER - in the driver's seat of my car on the f-ing freeway (for God's sake!) on my way to Dallas from Ft. Worth.

  Holy Shit!
  This is Billy Pilgrim stuff here! Slaughterhouse Five.
  I've come un-stuck in time or something.
  Horrible.

  I figured it was a Panic Attack.
  Sure. Why not? At least that sounds like "something".
  It rattled me enough.
  I took two weeks off for "therapy."
  I ended up retiring for good.

  When it comes to an EXPLANATION I can't say there is one.
  I do know one thing. When I woke up this morning I had subconsciously (dreamed?) put 2+2 together.

  It all started at that party. Whatever it is / was.
  
  Right at this morning I am either:
  A. Awake and understanding my "sleep"
  or
  B. Asleep dreaming I'm awake.

  Can any of us know for sure who's driving?
  Are we a passenger?

  Sigh.
  HAVE YOU EVER? (Hypnotized)

  
  
• 

  peacefulpete

  Have you talked to your doctor? It does seem significant.
  
• 

  Vanderhoven7

  There are dangers when submitting to hypnosis. Sounds like fun, looks like fun to onlookers as you are set up to perform tasks you would never do when aware of your surroundings and in control of your thoughts and faculties.

  Had a friend, Brian, in his early twenties hypnotized by the Great Ravine in a theater in Montreal in the 60s. He and I went up on stage to be hypnotised. I wasn't, he was.

  Brian soon became a famous pianist performing without a piano, bowing before the audience and the fun went on and on. Before he was awakened and sent back to join us in the audience for the intermission, he was told that when he heard the music at the end of the intermission he would be entranced again and would make his way back to the stage.

  We laughed him to scorn wjen he rejoined us and told him what he would do when the intermission ended. He fought it with all he had...and remained in his seat. Afterward he told us that he was an emotional wreck as he fought the urge to go forward. Others of course complied and the fun continued for us...but not for Brian
• 

  blondie

  Several times trained practitioners have tried and failed. I guess I am not very suggestible. I also can manipulate lie detectors having had the FBI perform it several times for grins (I worked in conjunction with the local FBI).
  
• 

  peacefulpete

  I understand Terry is using hypnotism as a metaphor of his feeling detached and absent, even to the point of personality change. It is concerning and he should take it seriously.

  As to hypnotism I volunteered in a stage act and really wanted the experience but it just did not even begin to work. I was glad it didn't when I saw the embarrassing things he did to those who he hypnotized. He had one girl humping a large stuffed teddy bear.....Her boyfriend in the audience was not amused.
  
• 

  Terry

  Unless...you are "trying to play along" ...you know? FAKING it (so you think) and complying willingly (you think) you probably won't fall under.
  I was (so I believed) doing just that -- consciously going along for the ride.
  When we hear the word SLEEP we think of a different kind of dreamy story in our head.
  HYPNO-sleep (as far as I can suss) is lucid and passenger like.
  
  Like I said - I think most hypnotism is B.S. But - I can't KNOW for sure.
• 

  under the radar

  Terry, sometimes the mind's short-term memory storage function (think DVR) doesn't work properly for a (usually short) period of time. An extreme example is an Englishman named Clive Wearing. There are several documentaries about him and his condition. Basically, his short-term memory is a continuous 7-second loop.

  More common is a brief episode of say, an hour or two. Someone I know personally had this happen to them, only once as far as I know. When he "came to," he was completely blank about the last few hours. Scared his wife to death! The weird part is that he had been completely functional and apparently normal during the episode. Doctors never did find a definitive cause in his case, but a couple of possible causes are micro-strokes that self-resolve and something called a TIA (transient ischemic attack).

  Something similar happens when someone is administered a "date rape" drug.

  If this happens again, Terry, I strongly recommend that you get it checked out right away. It could save your life.

  Good luck, my friend.