IF a young boy is given a post-hypnotic suggestion which asks him to wake up at 6:00am next morning, even without an alarm clock, he will open his eyes at that exact time.

　　If a person under hypnosis is told that a glass of plain water is sweet, then he will really detect a sweet taste in the water. What's more unbelievable is that his blood sugar level will also rise.

　　"These are some of the unexplainable results that appear during hypnosis," said Professor Sun Shijin, director of Fudan University Psychology Research Centre. He is also China's first hypnotist with a medical degree. "In fact, hypnosis still surprises me a lot," he said.

　　TV demo

　　Professor Sun used to be invited to appear on a well-known talk show "Shi hua shi shuo" (Talk it as it is) produced by CCTV as a VIP guest to demonstrate hypnotism.

　　"The part I played in the programme was not complicated," he said.

　　He would choose about 10 members from the audience as his subjects for hypnotism. He would first tell them to close their eyes and to relax and to put themselves under his suggestion.

　　After about a minute, he would tell one of the subjects, a boy, that his body was as hard as a board. Then he would let the boy lie on two chairs, as if he were a bridge, with his head on one chair and his feet on the other.

　　Then he would ask another boy to stand on the subject's stomach. Incredibly, the subject didn't collapse as the audience thought would happen but remained as stiff as a board.

　　To make the demonstration more believable, Sun invited another young subject onto the stage. When two adults set the man onto the chairs, his body also looked as firm as a board. This time, Sun himself stepped onto the man and was supported in the air by the subject who didn't feel any discomfort.

　　"The experiment surprised most of the audience because, before that, few of them believed in hypnosis at all," he said.

　　The nature of hypnotism

　　In China, people have been told that physical matter is the only reality and that anything else, including thought, feeling, the mind and the will, can be explained in terms of physical phenomena. People find it hard to believe in the existence of abnormal powers, especially if they are well-educated.

　　Professor Sun said he had once conducted a survey among his students. The question was simple: Write some words about hypnosis. The most frequently-mentioned words were mysterious, witchcraft or magic.

　　When Professor Sun showed some experiments in the school, some students wrote notes asking him not to overdo it.

　　"After some research in hypnosis, I can say the hypnotist is not a wizard. But because of misunderstandings about hypnotism, I feel some pressure to do research about it," he said. "It seems a grey area in the minds of some people."

　　But to apply successfully for a research project into hypnosis is very hard. Some doctors feel a strong antipathy towards hypnosis.

　　"They think nothing can solve a problem that conventional medicine can't solve" Sun said. "So lately I have stopped demonstrating hypnotism except for audiences of professional people."

　　Explaining it away

　　"People may relate hypnosis with superstition or witchcraft because the latter uses some hypnosis. But the difference is that hypnosis informs you of the potential magic power that exists within yourself while the phoneys pretend it is all their 'super' powers," Sun said.

　　There are several theories that try to explain hypnosis in a completely scientific way but up to now no single theory gives a satisfactory explanation.

　　Hypnosis can help stimulate some memory or potential power in people under post-hypnotic suggestion, according to Sun.

　　When people are in a conscious state, because of their normal way of thinking, they may believe it is impossible to do something and give up trying. But under post-hypnotic suggestion, they forget this constraint and a so-called miracle is produced.

　　"There are different ways to induce hypnosis such as playing music or using a spotlight. I usually ask people to relax and then do hypnosis because I think it is safer," Sun said.

　　After being hypnotized, people may have some illusions, such as flying, becoming bigger or seeing light. If the hypnotist gives the person a pillow and tells him it is his lover, he will hug the pillow and also have a happy expression.

　　"It is very strange that under hypnotism, people can only hear the voice of the hypnotist. A bad hypnotist may mislead a patient," he said.

　　For example, a hypnotist may suggest that a patient stare at the sun. Under hypnotism, the patient can stare at the sun for a long time but it will harm his eyesight.

　　During a successful hypnosis session, a patient may follow the suggestions of the hypnotist willingly but if a hypnotist makes a suggestion that violates a patient's sense of right and wrong, the patient will wake up suddenly with a headache.

　　For example, under hypnotism it is impossible to ask a dutiful son to kill a parent or ask a woman to striptease. However, if they follow such suggestions, it means they have a secret longing to do these things.

　　Hypnosis is now used in medical treatment as hypnotic psychotherapy to treat diseases of both the body and the mind.

　　Before the invention of anaesthesia, doctors used hypnosis in performing operations.

　　Professor Sun once used hypnosis to cure a Tongji University student. The student, a young woman, always felt extremely nervous when she took a bus or was on any fast-moving vehicle. She couldn't explain why. After receiving hypnotic psychotherapy, she remembered falling off a bicycle when riding down a slope about 10 years earlier.

　　Professor Sun helped her uncover the reason for her fear which was rooted deep in her mind and under hypnotism suggested that she imagine beautiful scenes out of the vehicle's windows. Gradually, the student recovered.