The Psychology Book

22

DORMEZ!

ABBE FARIA (1756 –1819)

T

he practice of inducing

trance states to promote

healing is not new. Several

ancient cultures, including those of

Egypt and Greece, saw nothing

strange about taking their sick to

“sleep temples” so they could be

cured, while in a sleeplike state, by

suggestions from specially trained

priests. In 1027, the Persian

physician Avicenna documented

the characteristics of the trance

state, but its use as a healing

therapy was largely abandoned until

the German doctor Franz Mesmer

reintroduced it in the 18th century.

Mesmer’s treatment involved

manipulating the body’s natural, or

“animal,” magnetism, through the

use of magnets and suggestion.

After being “mesmerized,” or

“magnetized,” some people suffered

a convulsion, after which they

claimed to feel better.

In this state

the subject becomes

more susceptible

to the power of

suggestion.

...to induce a state of

“lucid sleep”

(hypnotic trance).

...combines with the

highly concentrated

mind of a subject...

A gentle request or

commanding order...

IN CONTEXT

APPROACH

Hypnosis

BEFORE

1027 Persian philosopher and

physician Avicenna (Ibn Sina)

writes about trances in The

Book of Healing.

1779 German physician Franz

Mesmer publishes A Memoir

on the Discovery of Animal

Magnetism.

AFTER

1843 Scottish surgeon James

Braid coins the term “neuro-

hypnotism” in Neurypnology.

1880 S French psychologist

Emile Coué discovers the

placebo effect and publishes

Self-Mastery Through

Conscious Autosuggestion.

1880 S Sigmund Freud

investigates hypnosis and its

apparent power to control

unconscious symptoms.