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HYPNOSIS the Outcast Science

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HYPNOSIS the Outcast Science What's Happening to HYPNOSIS The Outcast Science By Carolyn G. Hart, '58journ YPNOSIS to the general public has M. Ralph Kaufman, New York, N . Y., and Liable and proper as long as the hypnotist is gained a rather shady reputation, Dr. Zigmond M. Lebensohn, Washington, using the tool in an area in which he is bringing to mind visions of mustachioed D. C. trained. A dentist using hypnotism to pre- Svengalis practicing witchcraft on a vaude- The committee's findings will supple- vent pain in tooth extraction is clearly with- ville stage. ment a report made in September, 1958, in in his own sphere of competence . This The stage practitioner of hypnosis finds a the American Medical Association Journal would not be the case if he were to use hyp- willing volunteer from the audience and by the Council of Mental Health working notism to treat marital problems or psycho- proceeds by uttering in a soothing mono- as a committee of the whole. In this report neuroses for here he would be outside the tone such instructions as "`Fix your eyes on the Council for the first time endorsed the field of the dental profession . mine. Gaze deep into my eyes . you are proper use of hypnosis in medicine, but The interest of O.U.'s Dr . West, how- relaxing . relaxing . relaxing." stressed its opposition to the use of hypno- ever, is not only in the clinical applications The spiel is usually effective and the vol- sis for entertainment purposes or by any un- of hypnosis in general medicine, psychi- unteer enters a trance-like mesmerized state qualified persons . atry and various other specialties . In addi- in which he feels no pain, can be directed to The use of hypnosis medically, although tion, he and co-workers are vitally inter- perform acts he will not remember upon never widespread in the United States, has ested in using hypnosis to discover more awakening and can be given post-hypnotic been increasing steadily since it gained cur- about the mind and how it works. suggestions, which are also usually effec- rency during the World Wars as a tool for "Hypnotism is a valuable tool in the in- tive. treating "shell-shocked" or "combat-fa- vestigation of fundamental mental process- This then is the common picture of hyp- tigucd" military personnel. These combat es, an understanding of which is necessary notism and hypnotists, but a new picture is casualties were induced to recall through if we are ever to conquer mental illness," in the making. hypnotism painful experiences which, after Dr. West stresses. The Council on Mental Health of the being uncovered, could be discussed in a Dr. West initially did research with hyp- American Medical Association last spring healthier way, leading to relief of symp- nosis in connection with the subject of pain charged four psychiatrists, one of whom is toms. and the phenomenon of hypnotic anes- the head of the Department of Psychiatry, Lately the public has been hearing more thesia . Neurology and Behavioral Sciences at the and more of hypnotism. Currently a great "The prevention of pain by hypnosis has University of Oklahoma School of Medi- many discussions and magazine articles are always been a mystery," the psychiatrist cine, with the responsibility of determining devoted to the use of hypnotism as an anes- said. "If we could find out how it works, we the legitimate medical uses of hypnotism thetic . It has been very successfully used, would know much more about the basic and the needs and aims of training pro- for example, by dentists and obstetricians. mechanisms involved in the pain experience grams for those who employ hypnosis . "The medical profession has come full and in the human adaptation to pain . a Dr. Louis Jolyon West, O.U .'s youthful circle since the 1840s when hypoanesthesia "In fact, the hypnotic state may offer us (35) department head, explains that the was in vogue," Dr. West said . "Actually, tool for the study of the various processes committee is in the process of studying all there arc certain situations in which hypno- of adaptation in man. The mechanisms to aspects of hypnosis in medicine from the sis, as an adjunct to chemical anesthesia, or that must be involved in hypnosis seem point of view of organized medicine. His even used alone, can be quite useful." give every indication of being the same con- co-workers on the committee are Dr. Har- The AMA is now fully satisfied that the mechanisms involved in any kind of infor- old Rosen, chairman, Baltimore, Md.; Dr . use of hypnosis in selected situations is val- centration or scanning of incoming PACs: 10 SOONER MACAZI~e O .U.'s Dr. West : "Every physician . needs a basic understanding of hypnosis ." oration. A person could not bear to be con- As more faculty personnel are acquired oral public has a very confused picture of scious of all the stimuli that pour in on him. and facilities become available at the O.U. the technique. Misconceptions fostered by There is some sort of selective blotting-out Medical Center, Dr. West hopes to develop stage hypnotists and charlatans dominated process that goes on. It is this process which a post-graduate course in hypnosis for phy- the views of the public until recently. Today we draw upon in hypnosis . sicians in practice . Unlike some three-day there are new misconceptions fostered by "Hypnosis makes it possible to reproduce courses offered by traveling groups of in- science fiction and television. in the laboratory variations of these mech- structors or special seminars given by lay- A street-corner poll might likely reveal anisms. In other words we can induce brief men, such a post-graduate program will fol- these common beliefs : mental disturbances in normal subjects. low the new AMA standards for training in 1 . Anyone who doesn't want to be hyp- This provides an approach to the study of hypnosis . These call for a series of lectures, notized can resist it. what goes wrong in the adaptive processes clinical demonstrations and actual hypnot- 2. Only a few persons are susceptible to when mental illness occurs." ic work, under supervision, with patients, hypnotism and these are usually the high- With hypnosis now considered in many together with a refresher course in basic strung . nervous type. respects a valuable tool in medicine, medical psychiatry . Such a program would require 3 . A person under hypnosis can't be per- schools are faced with the responsibility of one day's work a week over the better part suaded to do anything he would not nor- giving it a place in the curriculum . The of a year. mally do. O.U. School of Medicine is assuming its Meanwhile, support is being sought for a 4. Hypnotism is difficult to perform. responsibility in this area. At the present long-range research program on basic phe- 5. Telepathy or ESP (extra-sensory per- time plans are being made to expand the nomena of hypnosis . The studies will be co- ception) can be achieved under hypnosis . teaching of hypnosis at the school . ordinatcd with similar undertakings at Mt. These beliefs are false. "Every physician who is graduated from Sinai Hospital, New York City, and Johns "Theoretically anyone can be hypno- this University in the future should have a Hopkins University School of Medicine, tized," Dr. West said. "In practice this basic understanding of hypnosis and its Baltimore. doesn't mean that a given hypnotist can place in the medical practice,"' Dr. West Because of the cold shoulder hypnotism hypnotize everybody, but another with a said, "and every psychiatrist who is trained received until very recently from the major here should be competent in its use." portion of the medical profession, the gen- Continued on Page 32 FEBRUARY, 1960 PAGE 1 1 HYPNOSIS : OUTCAST SCIENCE men. The French government appointed in the Mesmeric State." And in the Zoist, Continued from Page 11 a commission to investigate his claims and Elliotson reported use of mesmerism in concluded there was no such liquid, as- dentistry and obstetrics. cribing magnetic cures to imagination. The Another volume of the journal contains commission didn't, however, consider just the first report on work by James different technique may succeed through Esdaile, how imagination could effect a cure. The 1808-59, who performed a remarkable perseverance . Nine out of 10 persons can se- commission's report branded Mesmer as a ries of mesmeric operations in India be hypnotized to some extent on the first from quack. 1945-51. His was the most significant attempt. Four of these 10 can be hypno- appli- However, interest continued to develop cation of mesmerism for surgical tized to a profound degree, sufficient to anesthe- as a few other physicians used mesmerism. sia. Esdaile performed several permit the induction of such phenomena as thousand In the early 19th century it gained such in- operations, of which 300 were major hallucinations, age regression, anesthesia, opera- terest and backing in Germany that profes- tions. However, with the discovery of ether and very effective post-hypnotic sugges- sorships for animal magnetism were estab- anesthesia, mesmerism and surgery parted tions. lished at several universities . "The subject's cooperation is required Even with all the evidence of actual suc- only up to a point. Serious mental reserva- Its wide acceptance by some was empha- cess of mesmerism in many areas, it gained tions do not suffice to prevent hypnosis . sized in 1812 when Prussia passed a law a bad name because many of its supporters Even though he may not plan to be hypno- permitting only licensed physicians to use exaggerated its possibilities and, in Eng- tized, anyone who follows the hypnotist's mesmerism.
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