| Hypnosis has been around since the dawn of time, and at least to the time of the ancient Babylonians, Greeks and Egyptians. It was known to Hippocrates. Indeed, Hypnosis is named after the Greek word for sleep, hypnos, although the actual state of hypnosis is very different from sleep. I has, however, been called different names, by different cultures, different religions and different individuals. The use of chants, drumming and monotonous dancing rituals to change or alter consciousness fall under the definition of hypnosis. such methods have been used successfully by the Druids, Vikings, Indian Yogis, Dervishes, Hindu priests and holy men of all religions and denominations for centuries. In 2600 BC , the father of chinese medicine, Wong Tai, wrote about techniques that involved incantations and passes of the hands. Accounts of what we now know of hypnosis can also be found in the Bible, the Talmud, and the Hindu Vedas written about 1500BC MODERN WESTERN HISTORY OF HYPNOSIS 1775: Dr Franz Mesmer developed healing by 'animal magnetism' or mesmerism, which was later renamed hypnosis. 1784: Count Maxime de Puysegut discovered a form of deep trance he called somnambulism. 1821: First reports of painless dentistry and surgery in France using magnetism. Major breakthrough was made by J.M. Charcot (1825-93), a Paris neurologist. 1791-1868 John Elliotson, President of the Royal Medical and Surgical Society of London used hypnotic trance to perform 1834 surgical operations. 1795-1860 Scottish eye doctor and physician James Braid renamed magnetism/mesmerism as hypnosis. 1857-1926 Emile Coue, a frenchman, pioneered the use of autosuggestion and the use of affirmations. 1883-1887 Sigmund Freud, father of cathartic method, free association and psychoanalysis, developed the use of hypnosis. 1891 The British Medical Association reported favourably on the use of hypnosis in the field of medicine. 1901-80 Milton H. Erickson, the recognised leading authority on clinical hypnosis. |
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