| Domain Info
|
|---|
| |
| Map
|
|---|
| |
| AboutUs Badges
|
|---|
 |
Title edit
SusanGreen.net
Description edit
‘ Hypnos’ is the Greek word for sleep, although the state of hypnosis is very different from sleep, and references to hypnosis can be found going all the way back to ancient Greece and Egypt. Both cultures used hypnosis to aid problems.
Austrian physician, Franz Mesmer (1734 - 1815), from whose name the word 'mesmerism' is derived, is credited with reviving the use of hypnotism in modern times. Although a brilliant man, Mesmer was criticised by his peers who no doubt found his methods of inducing hypnosis rather strange and certainly longwinded. For hours on end Mesmer would make his subjects stand still while he swept his arms over their body. While this probably did little by itself, Mesmer also used suggestion and told his subjects that something extraordinary would happen to them. His success led to jealousy on the part of his colleagues and then his eventual public humiliation.
A number of other pioneers since Mesmer have experimented with different techniques. James Braid, an eye doctor in Scotland (1795-1860) pioneered the method of using eye fixation on light as a means of inducing trance and also the swinging watch that may people still associate with hypnosis. Braid is responsible for renaming Mesmerism, suggesting that it become known as hypnotism. He tried to convince the medical establishment of his findings, but they laughed at him and declared that pain was character-building. So hypnosis became, and remains to this day, an 'alternative' form of medicine.
