Essay/Term paper: Hypnosis

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Psychology

The
Encarta Encyclopedia defines hypnosis as,"altered state of consciousness and
heightened responsiveness to suggestion; it may be induced by normal persons
by a variety of methods and has been used occasionally in medical and psychiatric
treatment. Most frequently brought about through actions of an operator, or
"hypnotist", who engages the attention of a subject and assigns certain tasks
to him or her while uttering monotonous, repetitive verbal commands; such tasks
may include muscle relaxation, eye fixation, and arm leviation. Hypnosis also
may be self-induced, by trained relaxation, concentration on one's own breathing,
or by a variety of monotonous practices and rituals that are found in many
mystical, philosophical, and religious systems." Another generally reliable
source Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary defines it as,"a sleep
like condition psychically induced, usually by another person, in which the
subject loses consciousness but responds, with certain limitations, to the
suggest
ions of the hypnotist." As I stated earlier, these two sources are
very reputed and the general population believes that they are correct. Yet,
however often they may be correct, in this case they are not, or at least not
completely. Not according to the scientific community at least. My sources
for this statement are The World Book Encyclopedia, The Wizard from Vienna:
Franz Anton Mesmer, Applied Hypnosis: An Overview, American Medical Journal,
and Hypnosis: Is It For You? Although they state it in different ways they
all basically agree that nobody can give a very accurate definition or description
of hypnosis, or hypnosis. Although some may get the 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 accurate account of hypnosis and its
workings, I will try.
Although evidence suggests that hypnosis has been
practiced in some form or another for several thousand years, such as in coal
walking, the earliest recorded history of hypnosis begins in 1734. It begins
with a man named Franz Anton Mesmer. Although he was eventually disavowed
by the scientific community because of his unorthodox methods that made him
seem more of a mysticist that a scientist, he is generally known as the father
of hypnotism. Mesmer called his methods Mesmerism, thus the word mesmerize,
but the name didn't stick, it later changed to hypnosis, its name being derived
from Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep. He believed that hypnosis was reached
by using a person's "animal magnetism". He used "mesmerism" to cure illness.
In
1795 an English physician named James Braid, who was originally opposed to
Mesmer's methods became interested. He believed that cures were not due to
animal magnetism however, but the power of suggestion. This was the generally
accepted 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 Braid's ideas. Charcot believed that hypnosis
was simply a "manifestation of hysteria". He revived Mesmer's theory of animal
magnetism and identified the three stages of the trance; lethargy, catalepsy,
and somnambulism.
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936) was not a scientist who
worked with hypnosis. Although he had nothing to do with the hypnotic development
itself, his Stimulus Response Theory is a cornerstone linking and anchoring
behaviors, particularly NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming).
Emily Coue (1857-1926)
a physician, formulated the Laws of Suggestion which are greatly used in the
hypnotic community. Her first law is The Law of Concentrated Attention: "Whenever
attention is concentrated on an idea over and over again, it spontaneously
tends to realize itself". The second law is- The Law of Reverse Action: "The
harder one tries to do something, the less chance one has of success." Finally,
the last law is The Law of Dominant Effect: "A stronger emotion tends to replace
a weaker one."
Milton Erickson (1932-1974), a psychologist and psychiatrist
pioneered the art of indirect suggestion in hypnosis. He is considered the
father of modern hypnosis. His methods bypassed the conscious mind through
the use of both verbal and nonverbal pacing techniques including metaphor,
confusion, and many others. He was definitely a major influence in contemporary
hypnotherapy's acceptance by the American Medical Association.
There are
many misconceptions about hypnosis that are totally without basis. Such as,
"Hypnotized persons will tell secrets or will always tell the truth." The
truth is, hypnosis will not cause a person to tell information the do not want
to tell and a person under hypnosis can purposefully lie or remember in a distorted
fashion. Another myth about hypnotism is, "Hypnosis won't work on highly intelligent
people." In reality innate characteristics such as intelligence do not at
all effect hypnotism. Any person however can resist being hypnotized either
actively or passively, if they desire. I believe that hypnotism would be a
more commonly used method in medicine if it were not for all the myths going
around about hypnotism. They are probably the result of the very limited knowledge
of exactly how hypnosis works.
Hypnosis has been used to treat a variety
of physiological and behavioral problems. It can alleviate back pain and pain
that comes from burns or cancer. It is controversial as to whether this actually
works or not, but it is believed that it can be used to insure normal and safe
childbirth. Hypnosis sometimes is employed to treat physical problems with
a psychological component, such as a circulatory disease known as Raynaud's
Syndrome. It has also been used to initiate behavioral changes, for example
cigarette smoking, overeating, insomnia, and the overcoming of phobia's. Although
hypnotism has shown its uses as a fairly valuable medical tool, in this modern
"technological age" there are very few physicians who use it.
The major use
of hypnotism in modern days, is entertainment. Performed as a sort of "Magic
Show" it is used to cause some people to laugh, and some people to be amazed.
Hypnotism has come a long way since 1734 and who knows what future developments
will be made in this field? It may become a commonly used medical tool, or
it may come to be thought of as a completely useless "magic trick".