HYPNOTIC POWER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21462, 8 April 1933, Page 2 (Supplement)

HYPNOTIC POWER

USE AS TREATMENT - DOCTOR'S STARTLING CLAIM CONTROVERSY IN LONDON \ • 111 A patient whom he could hypnotist by telephone, even to the extent of. making him commit a crime, was mentioned by Dr. Hildred Carlill, of Har-f ley Street and Westminster Hospital,| in a recent lecture to the boys of DuK wicli College, London. " I have a patient," he said, " who has had to be hypnotised so many times and has come so many times under my sway that he will do anything I tell him. The man has become *o saturated with my dominance and so easily amenable to my suggestions that there is no noed for him to be in the room. If he were in Paris ;ind I telephoned him he would do exactly as I told him. Ho would not even stop at crime.

" Hypnotic power is a thing of vast magnitude. If you are wise you will not lightly allow yourselves to be the subject of hypnotism. It is not worth it. It is a terrible business and should be left entirely in the hands of physicians. " If one of you breaks a leg at rugger, you recover and play the next season as if nothing had happened. There are people who break legs and get into such a state of mind that they go about in a bathcliair for years. That part of their brain which is not amenable to analysis, reason and argument takes control of them. Yet, in certain conditions such people can be cured in a day with the judicious help of hypnotism. . Complete Cures Effected " There have been many such instance;; in a variety of diseases at' Westminster Hospital and elsewhere where complete cures have been effected. That is not sensational." Dr. Carlill explained that there was hardly a symptom in the? v bodv which might not be due to listeria, and which coiilcl not be cured if given the right treatment. '-The published report of the lecture raised the . question in many peopled minds as to the extent to which doctors can and do exercise hypnotic power over some of their patients, and what the such treatment, is likely to be if improperly exploited. While leading English medical authorities generally agree that extreme cases of patients coming completely tinder a doctor's influence are usually due to the patient's exceptional susceptibility, rather than the doctor's powers as a hypnotist, it is admitted that great harm" can be done in thi« way by an ignorant or unscrupulous member of the medical profession. . ■ Use Not Extensive ff-A doctor," said one authority, " lias greater opportunities than al- . most anyone else to exploit such powers, and while in rare . instances hypnotism may be beneficial it is a dangerous thing for a doctor to tamper with, unless he is well acquainted with the subject. " Real hypnotism, which means that the patient must first be ' put to sleep ' by the doctor, is of little use as i» method of treatment and is not practised to any great extent. People are usually too frightened to allow even a doctor to practise hypnotism on them knowingly; and I do not think there are many doctors who would dare use it extensively without the patient's consent. It can, of course, be practised between a doctor and a patient without the knowledge of anyone elso, but were it being used much there woidd have been an accident before now and we should have heard- about it. " Hypnotism should not, however, be confused with psychology or psychoanalysis, both of which are being used extensively by members of the profession to-day. "Some knowledge of psychology is an almost essential part of a doctor's make-up. It may help him to improve his bedside manner, assist him to convince a sick patient that he will re-, cover, or persuade a nervous but healthy patient that some harmless preparation is doing him good. All that is excellent. Psycho-analysis, on the other hand, may be definitely harmful. It is in this form of psychiatry, when used by ignorant persons, that the real danger lies. " Most Insidious Practice " "The commonest form of treatment is to direct the attention of the patient to certain things in his or her life, and attribute the patient's present condition to complexes of early life. This is not hypnotism, of course, but it is .. a most insidious practice, for in most cases the patient implicitly believes the doctor." The official point of view in the matter, which was explained by a high authority, is to regard hypnotism and some other forms of psychiatry with disfavour, but it is realised that there is nothing to prevent a doctor from acting as he pleases in the matter, within limits. " A doctor is entitled to use any legal methods which he considers may help to cure a patient," stated this authority, " and hypnotism and psycho-analysis are not illegal. I am certain that hypnotism is not looked upon favourably by most doctors, although I know there are a few who uso it.

" Hypnotism and psycho-analysis are not part of a doctor's training, and because he is a medical authority it does not mean that he is better qualified to use hypnotism than the layman. But because he is answerable for the patient's health, and is in a responsible posi» tion he must use considerably mora caro than anyone else."