Hypnosis, or “artificially enhanced state of [tag-tec]suggestibility[/tag-tec] resembling sleep”, has been known for many centuries. In ancient days, however, there was neither understanding of it nor appreciation of its nature. Its power was attributed to darkness and magic. It is well known that ancient magicians and fakirs, particularly among the Hindus, practiced various forms of [tag-tec]hypnotism[/tag-tec]. The ancient magicians in the time of Genghis Khan also practiced group suggestion and hypnosis in order to obtain visual and auditory hallucinations, of which practices Marco Polo gave several unsatisfactory accounts.
The first practice of suggestion as a therapeutic measure, although it was not recognized as such at the time, began with Mesmer, whose period was from 1734 to 1815. Because
of his development of the art the word [tag-tec]mesmerism[/tag-tec] was adopted as a descriptive term.
The next great figure in hypnotism was John Elliotson. He was born in 1791, studied medicine at Edinburgh, and in 1817 was appointed assistant physician at St. Thomas Hospital, where he aroused much antagonism because of his liberal and radical attitudes toward the practice of medicine.
Elliotson was succeeded as the champion of mesmerism by James Esdaille (1808-1859). He began his work in India and was drawn to the study and practice of [tag-tec]hypnosis[/tag-tec] by reading Elliotson’s reports. He applied [tag-tec]hypnosis session[/tag-tec] to medical cases under government protection, and later founded a hospital for this sole purpose. Before he left India, he had utilized it in thousands of operations. Records of these cases are still publicly available to those seeking scientific proof. Despite being protected by the government, he was subjected to much persecution by his fellow-practitioners.
Following Esdaille came James Braid, an English surgeon who was born in 1795 but who did not take up the study of hypnotism until 1841. At that time he witnessed a mesmeric
trance and was loud in his denunciation of the entire scene as a fraud. The scientific aspect of [tag-ice]hypnosis[/tag-ice] began to emerge owing to the researches of Braid. He also coined and applied the terms hypnotism and hypnosis to the phenomenon instead of the misnomer of mesmerism , which greatly facilitated its acceptance by the medical profession.
By the end of his investigations Braid reached the conclusion that hypnosis was a matter of suggestion, which constituted the first attempt at a scientific and psychological explanation. He made a detailed study of the technique of hypnosis and the various phenomena obtained in [tag-tec]trance state[/tag-tec]. He was a prolific writer and left extensive treatises which are surprisingly modern in their conceptions. Since Braid, various other well-known clinicians have been interested in the subjects, particularly Charcot, Bernheim, and Heidenhain. More recent scientific leaders who studied hypnosis are G. Stanley Hall, William James, Morton Prince, Sir William Crookes, and Pierre Janet.
Tags: hypnosis, hypnosis session, hypnotism, mesmerism, suggestibility, trance state
