BOON OF HYPNOTISM.

Grey River Argus, 8 December 1928, Page 4 (Supplement)

BOON OF HYPNOTISM.

MANY USES FOUND FOR IT. BAD HABITS CURED. MINOR OPERATIONS WITHOUT ' PAIN. ' The statement was made at the Bri- • fish Association meeting that several university students had passed diffi* I uh examinations after hypnotic treatment. Hypnotism has always been Zk. s bit <»f a “rank outsider” as a inMfiod of treat no nt. It has been exploited by “quacks.” it has been used as a • turn in variety shows, it savours of • the occult r.nd the mysterious. The popular idea of it is that of a T man of magnetic personality, and with s n basilisk Jeye, itn periou dy ordering '* a subject to “sb*ep,” ind while s asleep, inciting him to stand on his s head or perform sone- other ridicup lous action. Even to incite him to G crime. It is no wonder that th? public .ooked and still look at it askance. II Yet within certain well-<b fined limits u and in responsible hauls it is an ex- •’ trmemly valuable mcthoil o f treating ’* some disordered conditions and of imb proving the mental outlook and power What It Can. Do. It <•«» abolish for the time some < forms of pain. Probably the reader may have seen G hypnotised persons having needles < stuck right through their arms without o any sensation. That, of course, is a ’* mere show of its power. Yet pain can <1 be abolished by it so that small opeI rations ran b e performed. « It can control sleep, provided no 'ti organic conditions are present ;> • G counteract sleep. t It can, in some cases get rid of cers tain habits and practices ami ideas that are extremely harmful or even a worse. Take the case of stammering, '• for instance, which is due to a defecff*tive working together of the nerves d that create speech. ' A Harl.'y Street doctor cured by hypnosis and suggestion a member of Parliament who was afflicted with this - trouble, greatly to the shaker.’s dc- •** tr«?m*nt. and this is far from being an isolated case. It can cure inebriety in e a certain percentage of eases. When '• in. considers the usual hopeless out-

look for the confirmed inebriate this :s indeed a striking result. Continental practitioners—for t is far more generally used abroad han in Britain— have been completey successful in this respect, with ■ncre than a third of all cases. Doctors—rjid Quacks. There are a number of physicians in Lcn<l »n. and one or two in each big city who regularly treat various conditions by this method. The various pubhr services each employ an expert to deal with and treat suitable cases. But outside these, it is empjo\ ed b\ a number of irregular prae titiomrs who east discredit on t > vho’e method by getting hold of the' redulous and th e neurotic, provided ‘le v have money. There is really nothing mysterious or occult’ ’about it. Many people ean hypnotise if they know the simple Technique of it. Hypnosis is a condition of an’fieial sleep, an.l ean he made as light or as ’e< p as needed. It is when ihe subpct is ill this condition that the real -■iisines begins, viz., * ‘ suggestion. ” llien their minds are locked and the su .j< et is under the absolute control Ot the operator, except in one respect. The operator cannot implant evil suggestions in the mind of the subject with any hope of sueeess. But he ean implant every other kind, hope, confidence, stability, ete.. with perma,v good results. He ean drive out the irrational fears which are such a marked feature in some eases of nervous disorder.

Mhen the two minds are "locked" in this way no third person ean inrrene. Thus you put a person into a state of hypnotic sleep and tell him not to awaken unless you give him at m ord to do so. Then let someone else try to do so and watch the reut. A third party may give him a real good shaking ineffectually, bur only the whispered word "awaken" from the operator will have the desired effect.

A new development of hypnotic suggestion consists of taking advantage of the process fo r educational tests. It is claimed by some experts that many ixominatwns have '’been successfully passed by this means. Here. thek are possibilities which onlv experience and time can test. Enough has been said to show that in capable f -Gesponsible hands it is a meth, /Hr treatment of remarkable power and as yet unexplored limits.