Scientists have been fascinated by hypnosis and made a study of it since it was developed by Dr. Franz Mesmer in the late 1800's. In fact the early proponents of hypnosis were primarily scientists who sought practical ways to use hypnosis to help people, such as using hypnosis as an anaesthetic for surgery. The first recorded use of hypnosis for pain relief was in 1842, an amputation described by James Braid, an n early proponent who actually coined the word hypnosis.

Most scientists believe that hypnosis is a way of connecting directly to the subconscious mind. Most people who have had basic psychology in school, or who have watched enough television shows featuring psychologists have an idea of what is meant by the conscious and subconscious mind. Generally a person is only aware of the thought processes in the conscious mind. The subconscious controls automatic functions. Breathing, walking, and even driving a car or doing other things we have committed to habit are products of the subconscious mind. A person may perform a conscious action, such as forming the words and choosing the words for a speech. But while doing that it is the subconscious mind that is doing the majority of the work behind the scenes. The subconscious mind is the unconscious. It has a vast reservoir of information, much like a computer and allows the human mind to carry out functions. If a new idea comes to you, your subconscious already thought of it and transmitted the idea to your conscious mind.

Think about it this way, you don't have to think about breathing in order to breath. The subconscious mind does that for you. You don't have to think about every action when driving a car. Your subconscious takes over. You don't have to sweat the small stuff with your conscious mind because your unconscious can handle it. It has been said that the real brains behind your brains are your subconscious mind. And when you sleep the conscious mind is resting while the subconscious has control over you, perhaps explaining dreams, a way in which the subconscious works out problems. Scientists believe that hypnotism works because it is deeply relaxing and allows the subconscious mind to have reign over the conscious, allowing a hypnotist to work directly with the subconscious mind for you.