British Airways is starting to use hypnosis on its passengers 

For many people the thought of getting on a plane can cause them to break out in a cold sweat. Of course often these same people turn to hypnotherapy to help them overcome the fear. I certainly see an increase in people who have decided it’s time to let go of their fear of flying as the summer holidays approach.

Now BA have decided to offer hypnotherapy to its passengers during their long haul flights.

For a long time now the entertainment packages available have been getting more sophisticated and now, for the first time you will be able to listen to hypnosis audio recordings as well as watching the latest blockbusters and episode of Mr Bean. The new service starts on the 1st March and bearing in mind that British Airways have 13 million long haul passengers a year it really opens up a world of opportunity for people to understand that hypnosis and all the thoughts and feelings that go along with hypnotic ideas are really not about taking control of your mind like you see on cheesy television shows!

The recordings will help you if you are thinking about quitting smoking, cutting down on your drinking of alcohol or even if you want to eat more vegetables. All in all there will be five different experiences that you can listen to. Each one lasting for 30 minutes. 

As a clinical hypnotherapist myself, I always make sure that I record the work that I do with cients so that they have it ot listen to at home and it really does help to reinforce the work that we do. I'm not sure how well listening to something once whilst on a flight will work. However, even though these can only be generic recordings and not tailored to individual needs, just taking some time out to relax will always be a good idea.

It will certainly be interesting to find out how well listening to a hypnosis CD on a long haul flight will work. You definitely have plenty of time and nowhere else to go, so there will be no issues of someone ringning your phone or doorbell whilst you are trying to listen!

If you want to listen to a relaxation MP3 for yourself to find out just how calming it can feel to switch off for a few moments, then just click the link at the top of this page.

The Guardian recently republished a fasciniating report about hypnotism with soldiers from the second world war. Not everyone is aware of the history of hypnosis and reading about this report which helps those who fought to cope with thr trauma of war it brings to mind the situation of soldiers in conflicts today or from other more recent conflicts who suffer from PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to give it its full name

The report first appeared in the Guardian Manchester edition on the 3rd February 1920.

Soldiers who suffered in the war years have responded well to the unusual form of therapy, say observers

"IT is nearly three years since Professor ELLIOT-SMITH and Professor PEAR, in their book on the nature and treatment of “shell-shock,” which added so greatly to the prestige of its writers, committed themselves to the opinion that “hypnotic treatment, when used with skill, discretion, and discrimination, has its place in the treatment of shell-shock and similar conditions, both in the acute and in the chronic stages.” 

In a recent lecture at Manchester University Professor PEAR went considerably beyond the position taken up in the book in which he was a collaborator, and cited several interesting cases in which, after careful inquiry had elicited from the patient the cause of his functional nervous disorder, it was possible under hypnotism to restore him. 

It is very interesting to read about the fact that these were medical professionals who were undertaking study and ensuring that the treatment was carried out in the correct manner

The British Medical journal also published much of the results helping to give a credence to the work that was being made to help soldiers suffering from the after effects of the conflict.

It is also fascinating to read the accounts of how the sessions took place such as this one described by Doctor Brown...

He was put to sleep and made to live through that experience. He reconstructed the whole scene, shouting loudly and shaking violently, especially in his right hand. Then he became absolutely still, and, when awakened, remained so. “The next morning he was able to shave himself with an ordinary razor, for the first time since his illness.” 

It was his own explanation of the cure that “the emotion excited in him by his accident had been bottled up, with the result that he had suffered from the hand tremor.” Was this working off of the emotion, Dr. BROWN asks, the cause of the recovery; and he inclines, from his experience of similar cases, to think it was. 

Since this article was originally published of course there have been many thousands of clinical studies into the effective use of hypnotherapy in treatment for a huge variety of issues, from anxiety and stress to fears and phobias, as well as the more well known issues such as helping people to stop smoking or gain control of their weight. If you have ever wondered about the history and story of hypnosis then there is much available to read that can further your knowledge.