OH NO! Stuck in trance for five hours!

This story is hilarious! From the UK Telegraph: Trainee hypnotist puts himself in trance using mirror A newly trained hypnotist accidentally put himself into a trance for five hours after practising in front of a mirror. Helmut Kichmeier was ''just starring at himself in the mirror, his pupils were tiny'' Helmut Kichmeier, 27, was found by his wife, Joanna, staring into thin air after the bungle in their north London home as they prepared for a tour. Read it, and check out the picture, here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6936814/Trainee-hypnotist-puts-himself-in-trance-using-mirror.html As much as I'm entertained by the story, I don't think it's true. The idea that an ordinary person can be "trapped in trance" is largely an old wives tale. All hypnosis boils down into self-hypnosis, so it's not likely that a person couldn't get himself out, whether he got into it himself or not. Also the mirror is kind of a giveaway. It may scream self-hypnosis ti the uninitiated, but using a mirror's pretty rare. Now it could be that mentally, he was a little bit different and able to get stuck in such a state, or that he was hyper-suggestible. Or he might have been on a drug (I knew a guy who took acid and stared at a clock for seven hours, waiting for the hands to move. He never saw them move, but he still had a great time). It's also possible that, due to his line of work, he was already able to go into a much deeper state of alternate consciousness than most people, but if that were the case, he'd also probably have a greater control to get back out. True or not, it's a great story and great publicity!