SSRG International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering Volume 10 Issue 12, 83-92, December 2023 ISSN: 2348-8549/ https://doi.org/10.14445/23488549/IJECE-V10I12P108 © 2023 Seventh Sense Research Group ® This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) Original Article Harnessing EEG Data to Explore Stress Reduction through Hypnosis Swati Kamthekar 1 , Brijesh Iyer 1* , Prachi Deshpande 2 , Manjiri Gokhale 3 1 Department of Electronics and Telecommunication, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Maharastra, India. 2 Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Shreeyash College of Engineering & Technology, Maharastra, India. 3 Saunvad Centre for Music and Healing, Maharastra, India. *Corresponding Author : brijeshiyer@dbatu.ac.in Received: 10 October 2023 Revised: 22 November 2023 Accepted: 12 December 2023 Published: 23 December 2023 Abstract - The rising prevalence of stress in today’s fast-paced world has incited individuals to seek complementary and alternative methods, such as yoga, meditation, and hypnosis, to find solace and peacefulness. Allopathic medicines are increasingly being shunned due to their adverse side effects. Hypnotic susceptibility assessment and stress reduction analysis are critical areas of research. To date, the hypnotic susceptibility was measured with a scale. That scale score was used for the supervised classification of the hypnotic susceptibility of the subject using EEG-like inputs. Scale scores are subjective and, hence, may be prone to errors. This paper reports a novel approach that utilizes only EEG-based evaluation of hypnotic susceptibility. The subjects classified with medium and high susceptibility were considered for stress reduction and EEG analysis using hypnosis. For hypnotic susceptibility analysis, Redefined Composite Multiscale Dispersion Entropy (RCMDE) and Multivariate Dispersion Entropy (MvDE), along with an unsupervised K-means classifier, were used. For stress analysis, alpha and beta asymmetry are used as features. The results obtained from this approach deliver valuable insights into hypnotic susceptibility and stress reduction, contributing to the advancement of EEG-based assessment methods. Keywords - Alpha beta asymmetry, Complementary medicine, Entropy, EEG signal, Multivariate, Stress reduction. 1. Introduction Stress is a usual response to challenges and demands, and if it persists for a longer duration, it affects individuals positively and negatively. However, conventional stress reduction medicines often carry harmful side effects, which have led to a growing interest in complementary and alternative approaches. Stress detection is reported using features like alpha asymmetry, theta beta ratio, functional connectivity analysis, Heart Rate Variability (HRV) [1, 2] and EEG Fusion. Alpha asymmetry considers asymmetry between the left and right lobes of the brain, and increased right lobe activity indicates stress in the individual. A rise in the theta-to-beta ratio highlights stress-full conditions. During stress, the synchronization between brain lobes reduces, and there is minimal information flow between brain lobes [3, 4]. Generally, stress reduction obtained by allopathic medicine has an adverse effect. Hence, the use of meditation, yoga, and hypnosis as complementary and alternative methods has become a priority [5, 6, 23-25]. Meditation requires practice, and yoga has different poses of body parts that are not possible for people of all age groups and people with spondylitis, knee pain, and similar diseases. Hypnosis is a result-oriented technology for stress reduction. Progressive muscular relaxation is body relaxation; here, every part of the body is relaxed one after the other. Guided imagery, deep breathing and relaxation, and positive affirmations are commonly used hypnosis techniques [7, 8]. Guided imagery is viewed as an effective method as the subject is in a hypnotized state while following instructions, and by imagining vivid mental creations, the mind is gently diverted, and the adoption of relaxation is made possible [9, 10]. Guided hypnosis, unlike methods that impose stringent instructions such as focusing on the breath or specific body parts, offers a more flexible and inclusive approach. This makes it accessible to individuals of all age groups, allowing them to engage in the hypnotic process without the constraints of rigid directives. Before the application of hypnosis therapy on any person, his or her hypnotic susceptibility should be evaluated; it will add weight to the accuracy of the results. Hypnotic susceptibility can be evaluated using different scales like the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale Form C (SHSS-C), Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic