History of Hypnosis is many
centuries old, and has been a part of religious ceremonies
in many ancient cultures. Evidence has been found that
hypnosis was used as far back as Ancient Egypt, and
subsequently in many different societies throughout
history.
Many cultures have used chanting, or the beat of
drums during spiritual rituals in order to induce a
hypnotic trance. It has even been used by to control
animals and livestock! In Germany during the 17th
century, troups travelling between towns drew crowds
with demonstrations of controlling animals. During this
period, hypnosis was also used to calm animals before
slaughtering.
During the late 18th century, Dr Franz Anton Mesmer
achieved worldwide reknown by practicing what he termed
"animal magnetism". He is considered the first modern
practitioner in the history of hypnosis. Dr.
Mesmer claimed the ability to heal the unhealthy,
using magnets on patients to create "vibrations"
to aid in healing. He also employed other
techniques such as singing and staring into
patients' eyes as a means of inducing a hypnotic
trance.
Though he died in 1815 unable to convince his
medical colleagues of the success of his practices, he
gained immortality as his methods become synonomous with
hypnotism. To this day the term "Mesmerize" which is
derived from his name, is part of the popular lexicon.
In the mid ninteenth century, a Scotish doctor
named James Esdale gained attention by performing
operations in Calcutta using hypnosis in place of
anesthetics. He operated on almost two thousand
patients successfully without causing them pain. This was a
first in the history of hypnosis according to modern
records.
Notable in the history of hypnosis was Sigmund
Freud, who became so intrigued by the subject
that it became part of of his studies in psychology. After
Freud took interest, hypnosis began
to became more closely aligned with psychology rather
than medicine.
Dr. Milton H. Erickson, born just after the turn of the
twentieth century (1901), was an American psychiatrist who
specialized in medical hypnosis and family therapy,
and went on to become the founding President of the
American Society for Clinical Hypnosis. Dr. Erickson was
noted for an often unconventional approach to to psychiatry
and for conceptualizing the unconscious as highly separate
from the conscious mind.
Dr. Erickson is an important figure in the history of
hypnosis for his influence on "Neurolinguistic Programming", or NLP,
which was in part based upon his working methods.
Recent Times
The field of hypnosis has recently received much
support from the science-oriented psychology community
thanks to the great amount of research into hypnotic
phenomena that has been conducted by both practitioners and
theorists.
Most recently, the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine did a
study that looked at two groups of patients facing surgery
for breast cancer. One group received hypnosis
prior to surgery, the other group receiving none.
The results of the study shows that the first
group reported less pain, nausea, and anxiety after
surgery, as well as a shorter recovery period, than
did the control group.
The history of hypnosis continues to be written, with
large bodies of literature and research being conducted at
major universites, medical schools, and in the private
sector.