Crossdressing is a little like hypnosis

[Lisa Gerrie]

My dad was a psychiatrist (MD) who used "clinical hypnosis" as a technique during therapy. (Stage hypnosis is very different.) I won't go into the clinical details because this post is about the experience of being under hypnosis. I was hypnotized before I could speak in full sentences, and throughout the years that I lived at home. Same for my five sibs. Even in my 50s I still use some of the techniques for relaxation and pain control. Disclaimer: I'm a hypnotist's kid, not a hypnotist. Just because I know how to pronounce the words doesn't mean I understand them in depth. Anyway...

As you read this, you are not aware of the pressure of your bottom on your chair seat. Until I bring it to your attention. The same is true for the tounge in your mouth (see, you did it again) and a million other things. We constantly filter a huge volume of sensory input, and pay attention very selectively. We have to. One hypnotic induction technique is to point that out, and eventually focus the subject's entire attention on the practitioner's voice. To me, that focus is the essence of being in a hypnotic trance. Self hypnosis is much the same, but you focus on your own mind's voice. It is intense and relaxing at the same time.

I often experience a similar mental state when dressed. I am aware of the pantyhose on my legs, or the softness of a slip. At its best I somehow experience sensory focus all over my body -- yes, I know that's contradictory -- and I feel like I am immersed in the experience. In a trance, surrounded by softness and femininity. As I get used to being dressed full time it is becoming routine and I am not aware of it, except... when I become aware of it. In another thread I said that when I'm doing the dishes I'm just doing the dishes, until I have to adjust my bra strap. Amy called them "sweet reminders". It is like a momentary return to the comfort and relaxation of a trance. I experience it, inhale, exhale, then move on. In a sense I feel like I am in a light trance the entire time I am dressed, and sometimes dip down into the deeper parts. Getting undressed at the end of the day is like "counting backward from ten, you will start to wake up..." and I return to normal spacetime.

I wonder how closely a hypnotic trance corresponds to the mental state that so many crossdressers report: simply feeling more alive, in focus, and "in the moment"?

PS: I have a theory that Sheer Energy pantyhose are so popular among this group because they remind you that they are there.

[Chickhe]

I doubt it, but maybe in reverse...maybe you hypnotise yourself to feel a certain way. A case of wishful thinking?

[Angela Campbell]

Not for me. When I dress up I feel no different. They are just clothes. When I look in the mirror I just see me. This is what I am not the image when I dress like a man.

[Dena]

There can be a ritualistic aspect to it, that can be trance-like.

[Beverley Sims]

Mich,
I found your statement about hypnosis interesting.
I always say you learn something new every day and as I sit here I an getting sensory perceptions about my bra strap, boobs and the skirt I am wearing.
I appreciate your post from that regard and I have said in other recent posts that my sensory perception is diminishing due to dressing constantly.
You are going to send me mad now looking out for these diminished feelings I am having.
I will go and put some lipstick and perfume on now and see what happens.
An interesting and thoughtful post.
Maybe you have clinically hypnotised me.

[Nyla F]

Mich,
I like this idea, I think it has merit. I naturally try to focus my attention on the sensation of being dressed, but I don't think I've approached anything like a trance.

Would you say the pink fog is another name for this trance like state?

[Lisa Gerrie]

Hmm. Sure, the ongoing euphoria of a pink fog is similar to the feeling of well-being that can come from hypnosis, meditation, watching nature, snuggling, etc.

But for me, those are periods of clear thinking. Or at least calm thinking. I associate the pink fog with an intensity -- even a frantic-ness -- that can lead to impulsive and otherwise-bad decisions. Maybe it's the word fog, the opposite of clarity. What I experience when dressed is more like a clear blue sky.

[Shari]

That's spot on Mich.
I often wondered if others felt "hypnotized" as I do when dressed. The clothes definitely take me to another place, a blissful place. The small and gentle reminders of an ankle strap or the silkiness of the lingerie keep me there and I never want to wake up.

[Kate's at home]

Mich,

The moments of heightened awareness are certainly true for me. The momentary awareness of a 'cue', a kind of waking up. In some ways it's like some forms of meditation in being in and out of awareness, only with a different focus of mind. The letting go and letting be are also similar, though not the same. Interesting.

Kate

[Amanda M]

One current definition of hypnosis is "A state of profound relaxation, during which there is an altered state of conscious awareness".

Does this fit with your experience, Mich?

[Lorna]

You make a very sound point: when I am dressed in "normal" male attire, I hardly give a thought to how it feels, but when I dress in female clothing my main purpose of doing so is to experience the feelings it brings. I therefore concentrate on what it feel like and how those feelings change depending on what I'm doing - for example, walking around, sitting and relaxing, carrying out a household task, etc. I am intentionally looking out for the subtle changes in how the clothes feel - something I never do in male mode.

[Lisa Gerrie]

Does this fit with your experience, Mich?

It does. That description sounds like meditation too, but hypnosis can involve a lucid conversation with the practitioner. It can work as an extension to talk therapy, with the same goal: personal insight.

I want to emphasize that this isn't the kind of hypnosis that somebody might use to try to quit smoking. You can't really "hypnotize somebody to do something" in the sense of "programming" them. I suppose that a therapist could manipulate somebody into doing something they didn't want to do, but you don't need hypnosis for that.

[Geena75]

Interesting point. I had a limited opportunity to dress recently and just chose to sit in the living room and play spider solitaire on an IPod. Usually I ace it without really trying. This time I was stumped--struggled to put a couple moves together. While not aroused by the clothing, I was aware of it and really enjoying the experience. Obviously I was not just "cozy and relaxed." Sounds like my mind was focused on the sensations and not on the cognitive process of the game.

Geena