If you could hypnotize Ronald Reagan, or any other Alzheimer’s sufferer (perhaps not as severe a case as the president, who I’ve heard is no longer able to talk), could you get them to bring back memories that they’ve lost in their conscious lives? Has hypnosis ever been tried as a therapy for Alzheimer’s?
First, only a minority of healthy people can be hypnotized at all. As for severe dementia, only people whose attention can be attracted can be hypnotized. It is a common myth that hypnosis can aid memory. “Recovered memories” are often false memories.
Alzheimer’s doesn’t just destroy memories, it destroys the brain. Trying to recover memories by any means would be like trying to recover a diskette that had sections of it cut out or burned. There’s just nothing there.
My SO is a psychotherapist and, as part of her profession, is a licensed hynpotherapist as well. She assures me that hypnosis is definitely NOT the phenomenon that most folks think that it is - there is a very real difference between the hypnotherapy used in therapy and the “show business” kind. Additionally, it isn’t that hard to hypnotize another or yourself if you try. It all boils down to being so relaxed that you are able to completely block out external distractions and hyper-concentrate. As has been pointed out, with Alzheimer’s disease it isn’t just the thought and remembering proces that is destroyed, but the physiology of it as well.