History of Hypnosis

SOME  HISTORY ON HYPNOSIS
 
 
    The history of hypnosis is fascinating and I believe to understand the history of hypnosis is to understand  the history of suggestion. And it's interesting that the development of hypnosis through the centuries is a direct reflection of human consciousness in each era.  I believe it's accurate to say that suggestion has motivated man since the beginning of time. For example, the "sleep temples" of the ancient Egyptians are recorded in stone dating back as early as 1000 B.C.  These "temples" were places priests put people to "sleep" and suggested that they were cured, and they usually were.  These priests actually performed the procedure for formal hypnotic induction much as it is known and used today. The success of the Egyptian temple led to their introduction in Greece and then Rome.
 
    The famous Franz Anton Mesmer period was approximately between 1760-1842. He was not well received but Mesmer was tenacious and strong willed. Mesmer became popular with French nobility and because of this his practice grew  well beyond his control. It was reported that at one point as many as up to three thousand...yes...3 thousand people per day came to see Mesmer!

   Then came the Englishman Dr. James Braid (1795-1860) who studied Mesmer's work and became fascinated by it because it worked!  Braid  introduced the term "hypnosis" for the first time, as well as the terms "hypnotist" and "suggestion".  The word hypnosis was derived from the Greek hypnos which means sleep. By the time  Braid came to realize that the "hypnosis" was misleading and technically incorrect, it had already gained momentum and great popularity, and it "stuck", even to this day.  We still use the terms "awaken" and "wake up" when bringing a client out of hypnosis. Braid's contributions are important because;

 1- He proved that the power of hypnosis lies within the individual and that the hypnotist is secondary. 

 2- He is also responsible for the first shift in the misconceptions about hypnosis from the occult and that it is a serious discipline.
 
  Along the way came Dr. James Esdale (1818-1859) began to experiment with hypnotic anesthesia while in India. He had outstanding success that resulted in the lowering the surgical mortality rate to less than five percent! 
 
  In the early 1900's the French pharmacist named Emile Coue made the discovery of "auto-suggestion". 
He discovered that the actual suggestions given by the hypnotist accomplished nothing and that rather, instead , that accomplishment only came when the subject's mind *accepted* the suggestions. Coue discovered that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis.
 
  Things were rather slow for hypnosis for a long time. It was used some during World War I by the Germans for pain control when they ran out of chemical anesthetics and for the treatment of shell shock victims during and after the war. World War II and the Korean War also saw the use of hypnosis for pain control and to help the mentally crippled.
 
   By the 1950s the interest in hypnosis for medical uses grew and in 1958 the American Medical Association approved the therapeutic use of hypnosis.  Since then hypnosis has gained respect and acceptance. This trend has continued today. Hypnosis is here to stay!