Not upset with you but I need to ask: Is your one time experience in college the basis for your non-belief in hypnotism? IMO there are some very questionable reports of being hypnotized and some valid ones. It's almost impossible to have a conclusive view on its validity much like lie detector tests that most courts have ruled are unreliable. However a lie detection analysis using Sodium Pentothol has often been admitted in court works by shutting off higher brain functions. The reasoning is that lying is a more complex behavior than telling the truth, so administering this drug should induce a person to tell the truth. Hypnotism done under a true expert works similarly in that it closes off the higher brain function responsible for deniability (i.e. I don't want to do this)

My wife gave me Sodium Pentothol the night before we got married. Now the only words that come out of my mouth are "yes".