A Brief Look Into History Of Hypnosis

Hypnosis has been existing in human civilization for as long as history has been recorded. Infact it predates most of our present practices. Be it greek or phraohs in Egypt, looks like everyone was mesmerized by hypnosis.

However it is Franz Mesmer who is acknowledged as the forerruner to the modern day hypnosis. Franz Mesmer was born in Vienna in 1734. If you have not already guessed it out then the term Mesmerized comes from Mesmer of Franz Mesmer's name. Mesmerized is defined as the process/stage of inducing trance. Franz used to buy the movement of his hands or by moving magnets over people. Franz is credited for the term "animal magnetizm". He was said to be quite succesful in the treatment of various ailments. However the medical community at that time discredited him. He was sanctioned by a committee that had likes of Benjamin Franklin and Joseph Guillotine.

The word "hypnosis" was first used by Dr. James Braid in 1841. He derived this from the Greek word "hypno" which means to sleep. He used to use a shiny object to put people into mesmerism, he used to believe that this shuns their nervous system. He believed that this puts his patients into a "deep hypnosis sleep" in which they were ready to accept his healing suggestions. More on this in next post..