A Brief History of Hypnosis

For a while I have wanted to write some background information about the Science of Hypnosis, here is a very brief overview of the history of hypnosis.

A Short History of Hypnosis

In the latter part of the 18^th Century the group of “physicians” that were still finding our the science of Psychiatry made the decision that the only way that anyone in the medical field would ever take them seriously would be if they were to break completely from the historical roots and beliefs that were practically responsible for the entire existence of their field of study. The study of the human mind begins as far back as the ancient Egyptians and Greeks. Much is known about the philosophies of the ancient Greeks,

But this is largely due to the fact that the philosophies of ancient Greece were modeled and kept alive through many other societies, Greek philosophy was a cornerstone of the foundations of ancient Roman society; also it was much romanticized through out the Renaissance as well. So much so that the language of ancient Greece is still the root of almost all languages spoken the world over.  Much of the histories of the Ancient Egyptians have been lost due to factors including wars (both in recent and ancient history), the changes in the rule of the Pharos (it was often policy that if a previous Pharaoh’s policies and belief’s were unacceptable to the current Pharaoh and the Priests of the various god’s of Egypt that their histories would be destroyed after the Pharaoh’s death, much history was lost this way), Or simply that it was lost in the sands and still has not been uncovered to this day in Egypt. But it is known that the Egyptian’s practiced embalming (through which they gained a tremendous amount of knowledge about the body and the internal organs), surgery techniques, prescriptive medications and compounds, as well as many other healing practices still being used today in modern medicine.

*Note: Both Egyptians and the Greeks had temples dedicated to hypnosis, as it was used as a healing technique, religious ceremonies (still in common practice today), and relief from a variety of maladies that plagued their daily lives. The Term “Hypnosis” is actually the name for the Greek God of sleep Hypnos.

Franz Mesmer and Austrian physician has been credited as being most responsible for bringing hypnosis to the attention of the medical community and world in the 1700’s. Mesmer was well know and sought out by many for cures for maladies from headaches to severe mental problems (demonic possession at the time), and all kinds of physical health problems. Near the end of his life and career the medical authorities of the day had started to form their own coalitions and boards of other physicians to judge medical procedures, restorative cures, and all sorts of medical techniques that were employed by both professionals and self proclaimed doctors and apothecaries of the time. In this time Mesmerism as it was known was judge by the Faculty of Medicine as commissioners appointed by King Louis XVI that included distinguished Members such as Joseph-Ignace Guillotine and American Ambassador Benjamin Franklin, the commission conducted a series of experiments aimed, not at determining whether Mesmer's treatment worked, but whether he had discovered a new physical fluid. The commission concluded that there was no evidence for such a fluid. Whatever benefits the treatment produced was attributed to the "imagination” of the patient. Mesmer was completely discredited by these proceedings and the science of hypnosis was forgotten for another 30 years or so until it was revived once more by a student of Mesmer named James Braid.
Dr James Braid was Scottish surgeon who had studied hypnosis in his efforts to develop a functional method of anesthetizing his patients for surgical procedures, which at the time were very painful for the patients that had to suffer through the very rudimentary surgeries that were available at the time. During this same time period doctors around the world were studying various kinds of anesthesia such as ether and chloroform, instead of the common bottle of whiskey used up till then. But Braid studied hypnosis and became highly proficient at inducing hypnosis and coined the phrase “neuro-hypnotism” which was shortened to become Hypnosis. Braid was a very successful surgeon and enjoyed a fair amount of notoriety for his pioneering use of hypnosis, and was directly responsible for bringing hypnosis back to the attention of the medical community which ultimately ended less than a decade later after one of the most famous doctors that pioneered the mental health sciences attempted to learn to use hypnosis and suffered such significant failure in gaining the ability to hypnotize his patients he ultimately gave up the study of hypnosis and decided to attempt to develop other methods of therapy to assist his clients.
Sigmund Freud is the therapist that was unable to utilize hypnosis to assist his clients. I have heard that it was because he suffered from problems with his teeth and like George Washington and had dentures that were made of wood, this was theorized that the imperfections with his dentures caused him such problems that he had troubles speaking and could not comfortably speak well therefore he designed a form of therapy that involved speaking little and having the clients describe their feelings, histories, and daily life experiences to be analyzed to find problems and ways to help clients fix them. Freud himself stated that his creation “Cognitive Therapy” would take many hours of consultation and years of analysis by a psychiatrist before a client could even begin to find solutions to the problems that plagued their lives. Freud unfortunately published many papers that disclaimed and defamed hypnosis as a form of therapy. He was directly responsible for the stigmatism that the science of hypnosis has endured ever since Freud began his studies to this very day.

It wasn’t until the 1940’s in America a Psychiatrist named Milton H. Erickson who has been heralded as the “Father of modern hypnosis” and was the man who is directly responsible for the techniques that transformed hypnotism from a cheap form of sideshow entertainment into the science it is today. Erickson lost his practice during one period of his career from 1945 till 1947 for the use of hypnosis in his practice. In 1947, after 3 days of hearings with a board of medical professional that included MD’s, Psychiatrists, and Psychologists, and not only got his practice restored, but also proved the value of hypnosis as a valid form of treatment once and for all. Since that time the American Medical Association not only recommends hypnosis as a treatment for certain problems but also recommends its use to its members and the general public.