Hypnotism in the 19th Century

Hypnotism in the 19th Century

During the 18th century, little was known about hypnotism. It was not until the 19th century where it began to gain traction. Hypnosis, according to the Mayo Clinic, "is a trance-like state in which you have heightened focus and concentration.".When it began to become more prevalent, physicians and researchers began to delve into the fascinating subject that is hypnosis. In this journey, there became two groups of researchers: fluidists and animists. As stated by the website the History of Hypnosis, fluidists are researchers who believe that the mesmerism was being transfered through the cosmos, and animists are those who were a bit more skeptic and looked at hypnosis with a psychological approach. During the 19th century hypnosis was also given its name by a physician James Braid, who named the subject after Hypnos, the Greek God of sleep (3).

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Hypnosis has been used for good and for bad. For example, some uses include pain control, hot flashes, behavior change, cancer treatment, and mental health conditions (2). On the flip side of things, hypnosis has also been used for the opposite. In the article, "Hypnosis and False Memories," published in the American Psychological Association, hypnosis has been known to create false memories. This became more of an issue towards the end of the 19th century, when French physician Hippolyte Bernheim would intentionally hypnotize his patients to have false memories. Due to this, many criticism has come out on whether or not we are able to trust patients of hypnotism, because we are unable to know if they created false memories or if they a telling the truth (4). Another, more sinister, use of hypnosis for evil is demonstrated in the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. In the story, Dracula uses hypnosis on characters Johnathan Harker and Lucy Westenra, who are both his victims. Johnathan Harker states, "I felt myself struggling to awake to some call of my instincts; nay, my very soul was struggling, and my half-remembered sensibilities were striving to answer the call. I was becoming hypnotized!" Dracula uses hypnosis to become closer to his victims, eventually leading to danger.
Towards the end of the 19th century, hypnosis was seen as a common medical practice. It was also used in law and debate, according to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. While it was seen as common in the health field, courtrooms had much difficulty accepting it. Due to the concept of false memories, as talked about earlier, courtrooms could not rely on on hypnosis patients' statements. There even were calls to have hypnotism banned due to political and health concerns (5). Despite these calls and much concern, Hypnotism came out of the 19th century popular, with more room to improve the subject further.

Sources

1. “The History of Hypnosis.” Hypnosis in the 19th Century | History of Hypnosis, www.historyofhypnosis.org/19th-century.html.
2. “Hypnosis.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 1 Nov. 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/hypnosis/about/pac-20394405.
3. Orne, Martin T., and A. Gordon Hammer. “Hypnosis.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 Feb. 2020, www.britannica.com/science/hypnosis.
4. Robin, Frédérique, et al. “Hypnosis and False Memories.” Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, vol. 5, no. 4, 2018, pp. 358–373.
5. Maehle, Andreas-Holger, and Heather Wolffram. “History of Hypnotism in Europe and the Significance of Place.” Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, The Royal Society, 20 June 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5554309/.
6. “Hypnotist 19th Century.” Andrew Newton Hypnosis - The Worlds Most Experienced Hypnotist, www.newtonhypnosis.com/mesmeric-arts/hypnotist-19th-century/.