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Hypnotism
By:Rick Gambrino
The Encarta Encyclopedia defines hypnosis as,"altered state of
consciousness and heightened responsiveness to suggestion; it may be
induced by normal persons by a variety of methods and has been used
occasionally in medical and psychiatric treatment. Most frequently brought
about through actions of an operator, or "hypnotist", who engages the
attention of a subject and assigns certain tasks to him or her while
uttering monotonous, repetitive verbal commands; such tasks may include
muscle relaxation, eye fixation, and arm leviation. Hypnosis also may be
self-induced, by trained relaxation, concentration on one's own breathing,
or by a variety of monotonous practices and rituals that are found in
many mystical, philosophical, and religious systems." Another generally
reliable source Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines it
as,"a sleep like condition psychically induced, usually by another person,
in which the subject loses consciousness but responds, with certain
limitations, to the suggestions of the hypnotist." As I stated earlier,
these two sources are very reputed and the general population believes
that they are correct. Yet, however often they may be correct, in this
case they are not, or at least not completely. Not according to the
scientific community at least. My sources for this statement are The World
Book Encyclopedia, The Wizard from Vienna: Franz Anton Mesmer, Applied
Hypnosis: An Overview, American Medical Journal, and Hypnosis: Is It For
You? Although they state it in different ways they all basically agree
that nobody can give a very accurate definition or description of hypnosis,
or hypnosis. Although some may get the definition partly correct, the
chances of doing so completely are very, very low. So although I will
probably not be able to give a totally accurate account of hypnosis and
its workings, I will try.
Although evidence suggests that hypnosis has been practiced in some form
or another for several thousand years, such as in coal walking, the
earliest recorded history of hypnosis begins in 1734. It begins with a man
named Franz Anton Mesmer. Although he was eventually disavowed by the
scientific community because of his unorthodox methods that made him seem
more of a mysticist that a scientist, he is generally known as the father
of hypnotism. Mesmer called his methods Mesmerism, thus the word
mesmerize, but the name didn't stick, it later changed to hypnosis, its
name being derived from Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep. He believed that
hypnosis was reached by using a person's "animal magnetism". He used
"mesmerism" to cure illness.
In 1795 an English physician named James Braid, who was originally opposed
to Mesmer's methods became interested. He believed that cures were not due
to animal magnetism however, but the power of suggestion. This was the
generally accepted opinion of the scientific community. Then in 1825 Jean
Marie Charcot, a French neurologist, disagreed with "The Nancy School of
Hypnotism", which followed the guidelines of James Braid's ideas. Charcot
believed that hypnosis was simply a "manifestation of hysteria". He
revived Mesmer's theory of animal magnetism and identified the three
stages of the trance; lethargy, catalepsy, and somnambulism. Ivan
Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936) was not a scientist who worked with hypnosis.
Although he had nothing to do with the hypnotic development itself, his
Stimulus Response Theory is a cornerstone linking and anchoring behaviors,
particularly NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). Emily Coue (1857-1926) a
physician, formulated the Laws of Suggestion which are greatly used in the
hypnotic community. Her first law is The Law of Concentrated Attention:
"Whenever attention is concentrated on an idea over and over again, it
spontaneously tends to realize itself". The second law is- The Law of
Reverse Action: "The harder one tries to do something, the less chance
one has of success." Finally, the last law is The Law of Dominant Effect:
"A stronger emotion tends to replace a weaker one." Milton Erickson (1932-
1974), a psychologist and psychiatrist pioneered the art of indirect
suggestion in hypnosis. He is considered the father of modern hypnosis.
His methods bypassed the conscious mind through the use of both verbal and
nonverbal pacing techniques including metaphor, confusion, and many others.
He was definitely a major influence in contemporary hypnotherapy's
acceptance by the American Medical Association. There are many
misconceptions about hypnosis that are totally without basis. Such as,
"Hypnotized persons will tell secrets or will always tell the truth." The
truth is, hypnosis will not cause a person to tell information the do not
want to tell and a person under hypnosis can purposefully lie or remember
in a distorted fashion. Another myth about hypnotism is, "Hypnosis won't
work on highly intelligent people." In reality innate characteristics such
as intelligence do not at all effect hypnotism. Any person however can
resist being hypnotized either actively or passively, if they desire. I
believe that hypnotism would be a more commonly used method in medicine if
it were not for all the myths going around about hypnotism. They are
probably the result of the very limited knowledge of exactly how hypnosis
works. Hypnosis has been used to treat a variety of physiological and
behavioral problems. It can alleviate back pain and pain that comes from
burns or cancer. It is controversial as to whether this actually works or
not, but it is believed that it can be used to insure normal and safe
childbirth.
Hypnosis sometimes is employed to treat physical problems with a
psychological component, such as a circulatory disease known as Raynaud's
Syndrome. It has also been used to initiate behavioral changes, for
example cigarette smoking, overeating, insomnia, and the overcoming of
phobia's. Although hypnotism has shown its uses as a fairly valuable
medical tool, in this modern "technological age" there are very few
physicians who use it. The major use of hypnotism in modern days, is
entertainment. Performed as a sort of "Magic Show" it is used to cause
some people to laugh, and some people to be amazed. Hypnotism has come a
long way since 1734 and who knows what future developments will be made in
this field? It may become a commonly used medical tool, or it may come to
be thought of as a completely useless "magic trick".
Word Count: 1,023
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