Suggestion

Sensitivity of an entranced subject to suggestion is the characteristic and invariable accompaniment of the hypnotic state and is also a distinctive feature of hysteria. Indeed, many scientists gave to hypnotism the name "suggestion." An abnormal suggestibility implies some measure of cerebral dissociation. In this state every suggestion advanced by the operator, whether conveyed by word, gesture, or even unconscious glance, operates with abnormal force in the brain of the subject, which becomes relieved from the counterexcitement of other ideas and stimuli.

In the view of psychologist Pierre Janet, all suggestibility implies a departure from perfect sanity, but this, although perhaps true in the strictest sense, is somewhat misleading, since all individuals are more or less amenable to suggestion. In hypnotism and hysteria, however, the normal suggestibility is greatly exaggerated, and the suggestion, meeting with no opposition from the recipient's critical or judicial faculties (be-cause there are no other ideas with which to compare it), becomes, for the time, the subject's dominant idea. The suggestion thus accepted has a powerful effect on both mind and body; hence the value of suggestion in certain complaints is incalculable.

The miracles of healing claimed by Christian Science, New Thought, and other groups, the efficacy of a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the feats of healing mediums —all testify to its powerful effect.

Posthypnotic suggestion is the term applied to a suggestion made while the subject is entranced but which is to be carried out after awakening. Sometimes an interval of months may elapse between the utterance of a command and its fulfillment, but almost invariably at the stated time or stipulated stimulus the suggestion is obeyed, the recipient usually being unaware of the source of the impulse.

Autosuggestion does not proceed from any extraneous source, but arises in one's own mind, either spontaneously or from a misconception of existing circumstances, as in the case of a person who is persuaded to drink colored water under the impression that it is poison and exhibits every symptom of poisoning. Autosuggestion may arise spontaneously in dreams, the automatic obedience to such suggestion often giving rise to stories of "veridical" dreams.

The outbreaks of religious frenzy or ecstasy that swept Europe in the Middle Ages were examples of the results of mass suggestion (i.e., suggestion made by a crowd, and much more potent than that made by an individual). Cases of so-called collective hallucination may have the same cause.

Psychical researchers have been interested in suggestion because it involves abnormal conditions of mind and body. It may be an aspect of healing by faith, for suggestion can cause and cure diseases and bad habits, remove inhibitions, mitigate deficiencies of character, stimulate the imagination, vivify the senses, and heighten intellectual powers.

William James described suggestion as "another name for the power of ideas, so far as they prove efficacious over belief and conduct." According to F. W. H. Myers, the power is exercised by the subliminal self. He defined suggestion as "successful appeal to the subliminal self." It is well known that dreams may be influenced by external stimuli applied to the sleeper, such as whispering in the ear or moving the limbs. Suggestion is also a powerful factor in advertising, particularly in the use of persuasive repetition and "subliminal suggestions" in television commercials.