By Shannon Young
University Police told students not to provide any information to unidentified callers over the phone under any circumstances, following several menacing phone calls and attempted telephone hypnotisms.
Obscene telephone callers have targeted college females ever since the invention of the telephone by Alexander Gram Bell, and they continue to focus on BYU students today, Lt. Arnold Lemmon said.
He said many of the callers identify themselves as students taking a psychology or sociology class at BYU doing a research project. Victims are asking broad, generic questions to keep them on the phone. All of the conversations end with sexually oriented questions, which cause victims to feel uncomfortable and violated.
'It was much worse years ago before the advent of caller ID,' Lemmon said. 'It still is a problem and now what we see is not just the telephone, it''s Internet chat rooms.'
Telephone harassment is a Class B misdemeanor, Lemmon said. It could result in up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $1,000. He said most offenders walk away with the minimum punishment, receiving a fine and probation.
University Police received a report a few weeks ago of a female student who had been hypnotized over the phone. Lemmon said the student talked to the caller too long and became extremely relaxed.
Victims rarely report callers, he said. They feel angry, afraid and victimized.
'As soon as you identify it as a call you don''t want, tell them not to call again and terminate the conversation,' Lemmon said.
Byron Edwards Sr., a clinical psychologist of 20 years, said a person cannot be hypnotized over the phone unless the person allows it to happen.
'It''s hard enough to hypnotize someone in a setting when you want it to work, let alone over the phone,' Edwards said. 'They have to be willing and gullible.'
Hypnosis has to do with attention, he said. It focuses on one thing and everything else is ignored.
'Sometimes people, because of their personality, background or characteristics are more likely to do what people say,' Edwards said. 'That person might be more vulnerable. It is not so much what the caller is doing, but the makeup of the person makes them more likely to do what the person says.'
Susan Bliss, a certified hypnotherapist, said she prefers to do hypnotherapy sessions in person, but she has performed hypnotherapy over the phone.
'It is a little more difficult to get feedback or for a person to reach a very deep state,' Bliss said. 'It depends on the person and how susceptible they are.'
She said experts have told her a person won''t do anything that''s against their values when they are hypnotized. She saw a young man in a deep trance state who refused to wear fake glasses. He would not wear them because the hypnotist said they would allow him to see through people''s clothing, which was contrary to his standards.
'The purpose of hypnotherapy is to empower a person to achieve their goals,' Bliss said. 'My intent is to help a person become their most magnificent self.'
Hypnotherapy is used to help people make positive changes in their lives, Bliss said. She said it is used to help people lose weight, stop smoking and manage stress and anxiety in school.
She advised students not to give any personal information to unidentified callers and not be afraid to be rude.
'The more information a person can gather, the more they could use to hypnotize a person,' Bliss said. 'Tone of voice, the way a person talks, can all be used to develop rapport over the phone.'
Students should pay attention to the person''s tone of voice and if sounds strange, hang up.
'Don''t let anyone hypnotize you unless they are a professional,' Bliss said. 'It''s not a good idea to do for games or parties. It''s not something to tamper with.'