Age Regression Through Hypnosis? Some people believe that hypnosis can allow you to reexperience an earlier stage of your life—a phenomenon called age regression. Under hypnosis, some adults do appear to relive experiences from their childhood, confidently displaying childlike speech patterns and behaviors. However, when attempts are made to verify specific details of the experiences, the details are usually inaccurate (Spanos, 1987–1988). Just as actual deafness and blindness are not produced by hypnotic suggestion, neither is a true return to childhood. Instead, hypnotic subjects combine fragments of actual memories with fantasies and ideas about how children of a particular age should behave.

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