As the owner of a chocolate shop, Donna Young is surrounded by sweets. But this past fall, as the economy tumbled, the 61-year-old Torontonian fell into a sour mood. “All anybody talked about was the economy. I started to feel so down.” She couldn’t sleep; chatting with customers turned into a chore.

Just before Christmas, Young decided to seek help — not from a doctor, but from a hypnotist. Now, she says, “nothing negative affects me.”

Hypnosis has long been used to help people quit smoking or lose weight. But lately more of us are seeking treatment to deal with anxiety over the recession, according to the U.S.-based National Guild of Hypnotists (NGH). “People are saying ‘I’ve worked for so many years, and now I’ve lost so much money in the stock market. What’s going to happen?’ ” says Debbie Papadakis, a Toronto hypnotist and president of the guild’s Ontario chapter.

Hypnotists say they’re able to help by tapping into a client’s subconscious. They encourage hypnotized subjects to recall happier events from the past and suppress fears by picturing ourselves enjoying those same blissful moments in the future. “You’re basically changing the tapes in your head,” says Dave Large, a hypnotist on Vancouver Island.

Hypnotists try to “lock” good feelings into the subconscious permanently. One way they do that is through post-hypnotic suggestion. A person who has trouble saving money, for instance, will be told that each time their phone rings, it’s a reminder to deposit $100 in a savings account every Friday.

It sounds kind of kooky but Young and other people who’ve gone through hypnosis swear by it. “I’m way more upbeat,” she says. Still, Young has a hard time explaining why. The best she comes up with is bad thoughts don’t seem to nag at her anymore.

Despite its association with stage magicians and the like, hypnosis is a bona fide field of medicine that goes back to the early 1800s when a Scottish surgeon named James Braid found he could put people into a trance by having them stare at a shiny object like a swinging pocket watch. These days it’s rare to find a doctor who uses hypnosis, but a U.S. medical study two years ago found that breast cancer patients hypnotized before surgery recovermuch faster and have fewer painful side effects.

What is it like to be hypnotized? To find out, I make an appointment with Donald Currie, a Toronto hypnotist who has been practicing for eight years. Currie used to work in an investment brokerage but gave it up after he was hypnotized. “It worked for me, so I decided this is something I wanted to do myself.”

The first thing Currie tells me is that almost everyone who’s hypnotized remembers the experience. The second is that hypnotists cannot control a person. “If you were under hypnosis and the fire alarm rang, you’d get up and walk out of the building, just like everyone else. You’re in full control.” He adds that one out of every nine people cannot be hypnotized.

Currie’s office doesn’t look hypnotic. The walls are green and the window shades are open, so it’s bright. But a scented candle and new-age music in the background sets a tranquil mood. He invites me to sit in a comfortable chair facing a wall.