Hypnotism

Bernard J. Stokes

Professor Pleas

English IV

27 February 2006

Title: The scientific and clinical uses of Hypnotism.

Thesis: Hypnotism is used as a physic medical instrument and is believed to restore memory and enhance healing conditions.

All about Hypnotism

A. Neurohypnotism

B. Development

II. Hypnotic pioneers

A. John Elliotson

B. James Braid

C. Franz Mesmer

III. Scientific and clinical uses*

A. Scientifically

B. Clinically

IV. The dangers people think about*

A. Wrong Treatment

B. Mind Control

V. Altered effect*

A. Subconscious bypass

B. Auto Hypnosis

The scientific and clinical uses of Hypnotism.

Hypnotism is used as a physic medical instrument and is believed to restore memory and enhance healing conditions. The term “neuro”, combining from a nerve or the nervous system, put together with hypnotism is the act or practice of inducing hypnosis. It was coined by James Braid to describe the state of being mesmerized or put into a trance (Charcot). It was induced by staring or maintaining a strong focused fixation upon an object. The term neuro is now dropped due to development and is now known and pronounced as hypnotism.

In the early forms of hypnotism the development began with the Egyptians and Greeks. Together they found out that the actual state of hypnosis is very different from sleep. Both the cultures found it easy to come together and work on this because of the similarities in religion. With that in common they came together with their personal problems. The Egyptians and Greeks would ask for answers in their prayers but still didn’t know what the problem was. They would ask for the way to be shown in a dream. And to start it off right hypnosis was used to induce the dream session while the rest of the people and some pioneers of hypnotism stood by to analyzed and come up with the problem and answer (McKenna).

Three positive researchers of hypnotism are John Elliotson (1791-1868), John Braid (1795-1860) and Franz Mesmer (1734-1815). John Elliotson was a professor at London University. During his time he was famous for introducing the stethoscope into England. Elliotson often tried to master mesmerizing people on his free time. He often gave demonstrations of this to a willing crowd or parties of people in his home. While doing this, far from James Braid, Elliotsons’ demonstrations built up his knowledge and interest on hypnotism (McKenna).

James Braid was a Scottish eye doctor. He developed an interest in the study of hypnotism by coincidence. One day he was late for an appointment and found his patient staring into an old lamp in the waiting room of his office. Braid being entertained by this gave the patient some commands and told the patient to close his eyes and to go to sleep. The patient complied and braid’s interest grew. Not knowing what this was, Braid found out that getting a person or patient to focus into or upon something was the first and most important part of putting them into a trance. Braid also found out that in hypnotizing a patient, the swinging of a watch wasn’t always needed (McKenna).

Franz Mesmer was known as a showman, but nevertheless was he brilliant. He developed the theory of “animal magnetism”-the idea that diseases are the result of blockages in the flow of magnetic forces in the body. Mesmer believed that he could store his animal magnetism in baths of iron filings and transfer it to patient with rods or by “mesmeric passes”. His idea on mesmeric passes went down in history as one of the most interesting but undoubtedly way to put somebody into a trance (McKenna).

Hypnotism has many founders and researchers all over the world. But in the early to mid-1800 in France, Jean Martin Charcot was the known founder of neurology and one of the most versatile medical researchers of his time (Plessen). Some other professors began to study the phenomenon of hysteria in Paris. Hysterical symptoms were very common in the late nineteenth century in Europe and were looked upon as a challenge to medical science.

On the scientifical side of hypnotism,