The History of Hypnosis

Many people do not understand hypnosis because they don’t know its history. The fact is that hypnosis has been around since the beginning of time. Animals and plants even show signs of hypnosis, for example when animals hibernate this can be seen as a kind of hypnosis. The earliest references to hypnosis date back to ancient Egypt and Greece. Indeed, 'hypnos' is the Greek word for sleep, though actual state of hypnosis is very different from that of sleep. There are many references to trance and hypnosis in early writings. In 2600BC the father of Chinese medicine, Wong Tai, wrote about techniques as did Hindu Vedas in 1500BC.

The following sections have been created to give you an insight into the history of hypnosis and who has developed the process though the ages.

The Egyptians

Egyptians used rhythmic chanting and monotonous drums to enter a trance state. Even though it was a hypnotic trance the name was not given until 1842 when James Braid, a Scottish surgeon, took the Greek word “hypno” with means “to sleep” and coined the term hypnosis. There are also Egyptian paintings that have references to hypnosis that show a sleeping person with others who seem to be making hypnotic passes over them.

The next sections will give you an insight into some of the key figures in that have helped to shape the world of hypnosis.

Franz Mesmer (1734 – 1815)

Franz Mesmer (1734 - 1815) was a doctor who is widely referred to as the ‘father of hypnosis’ as he was a key figure in helping to develop the practice. In his time Mesmer was seen as a dreamer, not as the brilliant man he is now known to be. His theory was that all people have a magnetic fluid in their body and that the nerves somehow absorbed this fluid from the air. When people got ill he considered it to be a blockage of the circulation, in which he initially used a magnet to try and cure the circulation. He called this ‘animal magnetism’, where he thought he could store animal magnetism and transfer it to patients by ‘mesmeric passes’.

It is quite amazing that hypnosis actually survived the early days as Mesmer had many of his colleagues against what he was doing, most out of jealousy. The mesmeric pass managed to put his patients into a trance through a very long winded process of sweeping his arms across the patient. Many of his critics however thought that he simply bored the patients into a trance, either way it is clear he was an intriguing and flamboyant person. Many people were successfully cured by Mesmer, and it is clear that his practices clearly paved the way for hypnosis to develop in the future.

Marquis de Puysegur (1751-1825)

After Mesmer’s death Marquis de Puysegur (1751-1825) carried on his work and found his own way to lead a patient into a trance, he called this state “somnambulism”. To get into this trance he used relaxation and calming techniques (The term “somnambulism” is still widely used among hypnotherapists today in reference to a deep hypnotic trance state.)

The three cardinal features of this deep trance state or somnambulism were:

Concentration of the senses on the operator
Acceptance of suggestion from the therapist
Amnesia for events in a trance

James Braid (1795 - 1860)

James Braid was born in 1975 and is seen by many as one of the pioneers of hypnosis. It was Braid who took the greek word “hypno”, meaning “ to sleep”, and created the word hypnosis. His journey into hypnosis started much by chance as he one day walked into his eye surgery and noticed a patient looking into a lamp. Intrigued by what he saw he started giving the patient some commands and to his surprise the patient complied. It was from this point he realised that getting a person into a trance was the most important part of hypnosis.

During his research into hypnosis he formed the following ideas, most of which still stand today:

That in skilled hands there is no great danger associated with hypnotic treatment and neither is there pain or discomfort.
That a good deal more study and research would be necessary to thoroughly understand a number of theoretical concepts regarding hypnosis.
That hypnosis is a powerful tool which should be limited entirely to the medical and dental professions.
That although hypnotism was capable of curing many diseases for which there had formally been no remedy.

Braid died in 1860 of a heart attack but is widely remembered for his work in hypnotism and the major contributions to the therapy that we still use today.

Albert Mason

In 1951 Albert Mason offered his services as a doctor to help a very ill young boy who had suffered with a case of ichthyosis his whole life. Ichthyosis is a skin condition which results in skin becoming very dry and scaly due to the lack of sweat glands. Conventional medicine methods had been useless in treating the young boy, so Mason decided to use hypnosis to try and help him.

In front of a dozen or so highly sceptical doctors, in a hospital in Sussex, Mason hypnotised the boy suggesting that his left arm would become clear from his skin disease. Five days after the hypnosis session the arm started to clear up and the skin became more normal. After ten days the arm was completely clear of the disease. Dr Mason continued to treat the rest of the boy’s body in the same manner, until the boy was healed. The results were seen as being revolutionary and the case was even reported in the 1952 edition of the British Medical Journal. Further research three years later by Mason showed that the results seemed to be permanent, and the boy had been healed by the use of hypnosis.

Albert Mason went on to research into hypnotherapy and other similar types of treatments. His most famous idea was actually that the minds imagination is always more powerful than the will. He used the example of walking across a plank of wood on the floor. If somebody was asked to do this then they would generally not struggle. However if you ask someone to imagine that they are walking across this plank when it is suspended above two buildings, hundreds of feet above the ground, they will always start to wobble and sway.

Milton H. Erickson (1901-1980)

One of the most influential figures in hypnosis in recent times is Milton H. Erickson. He was actually a psychotherapist who used hypnosis to help his patients to gradually recover from their various conditions. He had a very close relationship with his patients that allowed him to build a very quick rapport. He used metaphors, confusing statements, surprise, imagery, and even humour while intensely observing and recording his findings. His methods of trance inductions are now often referred to as Ericksonian hypnosis.

Recent Times

So probably the most important part for people is where hypnosis has got to in the current day. It is important to remember that if it wasn’t for a number of figures in the history of hypnosis that it wouldn’t be where it is now. It is probably as an exciting time as ever with hypnosis, discoveries are happening all the time which is helping to enrich people’s lives. It is clear that many of the fundamental methods of hypnosis still stand, but also these methods have been honed and developed to be more effective than ever. In a constantly changing world there are always new needs that hypnosis can help with. Hypnosis can also be delivered in numerous form, you no longer have to be face to face with the hypnotist to receive the benefits of hypnotherapy. The great thing about hypnosis is that it is helping people to live life to the full by solving psychological problems, phobias and fears that can be put in their place by these well-founded therapies.

The best thing about modern day hypnotherapy is that information is so readily available through the internet. This means that if you have any doubts about using it, you can do thorough research to make sure that you are happy with the procedures. Better still you can even buy hypnosis products safely and securely from the internet!

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Conclusion

Hypnosis can be tracked back in time before history was even being recorded. It is clear that many different characters have helped to shape the way that hypnosis has formed and been developed. One underlying fact remains however, that hypnosis is actually a very natural process that should not be feared. It can help such a wide variety of people in numerous different ways. No matter how society changes hypnosis can provide a helpful and natural remedy.

Please note that this is only a brief history into hypnosis and many other key figures that have helped to develop the process have not been mentioned. This does not mean that they were not significant, there are just simply too many to mention!