10 Most Compelling Pieces Of Evidence That Proves Hypnosis Is Real

Hypnosis rarely works in the way popular culture suggests. It's not the Demon Headmaster with swirly eyes or waving a pocket watch before your face to make you more suggestible; it's not all glory being given to the Hypno-Toad's bedazzling looks; it's not Rosario Dawson making James McAvoy into Thomas Crown or whatever Trance was about.

It's also not Paul McKenna promising to make you thin, happy and rich. Debate continues to rage as to whether hypnosis is actually a thing, and whether it actually has any viable uses besides making somebody cluck like a chicken whenever you click your fingers (and even if it's possible to make somebody cluck like a chicken whenever you click your fingers).

That's before you even get into the concept of self-hypnosis... The one thing everyone can agree on is that hypnosis doesn't work for everyone and it's difficult to prove that it works for some people even, because all you can go in is their word - and that it might have something to do with how suggestible you are and the make up of your brain. Which is pretty cool.

Does the practise work at all, though? Are all those stage magicians simply hacks? Was the US military mistaken in trying to utilise the form to brainwash people? Is Paul McKenna an awful man who preys on the low self-esteem of others? Should all glory go to the Hypno-Toad?

Here are ten compelling pieces of evidence that hypnosis works.