Hypnotism Essay Example For Students

Hypnotism Essay The Encarta Encyclopedia defines hypnosis as,altered state ofconsciousness and heightened responsiveness to suggestion; it may be inducedby normal persons by a variety of methods and has been used occasionallyin medical and psychiatric treatment. Most frequently brought about throughactions of an operator, or hypnotist, who engages the attentionof a subject and assigns certain tasks to him or her while uttering monotonous,repetitive verbal commands; such tasks may include muscle relaxation, eyefixation, and arm leviation. Hypnosis also may be self-induced, by trainedrelaxation, concentration on ones own breathing, or by a variety of monotonouspractices and rituals that are found in many mystical, philosophical, andreligious systems. Another generally reliable source Websters NewUniversal Unabridged Dictionary defines it as,a sleep like conditionpsychically induced, usually by another person, in which the subject losesconsciousness but responds, with certain limitations, to the sugges tionsof the hypnotist. As I stated earlier, these two sources are veryreputed and the general population believes that they are correct. Yet,however often they may be correct, in this case they are not, or at leastnot completely. Not according to the scientific community at least. Mysources for this statement are The World Book Encyclopedia, The Wizardfrom Vienna: Franz Anton Mesmer, Applied Hypnosis: An Overview, AmericanMedical Journal, and Hypnosis: Is It For You? Although they state it indifferent ways they all basically agree that nobody can give a very accuratedefinition or description of hypnosis, or hypnosis. Although some may getthe definition partly correct, the chances of doing so completely are very,very low. So although I will probably not be able to give a totally accurateaccount of hypnosis and its workings, I will try. Although evidence suggeststhat hypnosis has been practiced in some form or another for several thousandyears, such as in coal walking, the earliest re corded history of hypnosisbegins in 1734. It begins with a man named Franz Anton Mesmer. Althoughhe was eventually disavowed by the scientific community because of hisunorthodox methods that made him seem more of a mysticist that a scientist,he is generally known as the father of hypnotism. Mesmer called his methodsMesmerism, thus the word mesmerize, but the name didnt stick, it laterchanged to hypnosis, its name being derived from Hypnos, the Greek godof sleep. He believed that hypnosis was reached by using a persons animalmagnetism. He used mesmerism to cure illness. In 1795an English physician named James Braid, who was originally opposed to Mesmersmethods became interested. He believed that cures were not due to animalmagnetism however, but the power of suggestion. This was the generallyaccepted opinion of the scientific community. Then in 1825 Jean Marie Charcot,a French neurologist, disagreed with The Nancy School of Hypnotism,which followed the guidelines of James Braids idea s. Charcot believedthat hypnosis was simply a manifestation of hysteria. He revivedMesmers theory of animal magnetism and identified the three stages ofthe trance; lethargy, catalepsy, and somnambulism. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov(1849-1936) was not a scientist who worked with hypnosis. Although he hadnothing to do with the hypnotic development itself, his Stimulus ResponseTheory is a cornerstone linking and anchoring behaviors, particularly NLP(Neuro-Linguistic Programming). Emily Coue (1857-1926) a physician, formulatedthe Laws of Suggestion which are greatly used in the hypnotic community. Mesmer called his methods Mesmerism, thus the word mesmerize, but the name didnt stick, it later changed tohypnosis, its name being derived from Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep. He believed that hypnosis was reached by using apersons animal magnetism. He used mesmerism to cure illness. In 1795 an English physician named James Braid, whowas originally opposed to Mesmers methods became interested. He believed that cures were not due to animalmagnetism however, but the power of suggestion. This was the generally accepted opinion of the scientific community. Then in1825 Jean Marie Charcot, a French neurologist, disagreed with The Nancy School of Hypnotism, which followed theguidelines of James Braids ideas. Charcot believed that hypnosis was simply a manifestation of hysteria. He revivedMesmers theory of animal magnetism and identified the three stages of the trance; lethargy, catalepsy, andsomnambulism. Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936) was not a scientist who worked with hypnosis. Altho ugh he had nothing todo with the hypnotic development itself, his Stimulus Response Theory is a cornerstone linking and anchoringbehaviors, particularly NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). Emily Coue (1857-1926) a physician, formulated theLaws of Suggestion which are greatly used in the hypnotic community. Her first law is The Law of ConcentratedAttention: Whenever attention is concentrated on an idea over and over again, it spontaneously tends to realize itself. Thesecond law is- The Law of Reverse Action: The harder one tries to do something, the less chance one has ofsuccess. Finally, the last law is The Law of Dominant Effect: A stronger emotion tends to replace a weaker one. MiltonErickson (1932-1974), a psychologist and psychiatrist pioneered the art of indirect suggestion in hypnosis. He isconsidered the father of modern hypnosis. His methods bypassed the conscious mind through the use of both verbal andnonverbal pacing techniques including metaphor, confusion, and many other s. He was definitely a major influence incontemporary hypnotherapys acceptance by the American Medical Association. There are many misconceptions abouthypnosis that are totally without basis. Such as, Hypnotized persons will tell secrets or will always tell the truth. The truthis, hypnosis will not cause a person to tell information the do not want to tell and a person under hypnosis canpurposefully