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A soothing balm for disturbed minds

Hypnosis goes a long way in relieving a mentally distressed patient

RELIEVER Hypnosis is said to cure many an ailment

Julie, a lecturer by profession, once said something that shattered my peace. I got confused, hit by some sort of vague fear that haunted me all the time. I felt withered . This was not merely a confession, but a true cry for help to a hypotherapist at a time of extreme distress.

It was a catharsis, typical of women like Julie. Not-abiding to the quid pro quo principle I put the patient on the psychoanalysing couch and led her into a happy trance to erase or nullify all distressing events, which might be lying at the root of the disorder. These traumatic experiences, and sexual desires were repressed or forcefully driven to the unconscious. Accruing a powerful emotional charge and continually striving to escape past the guard or security mind (super-ego), the traumatic events manifested either as dreams or neurotic symptoms in the case of Julie.

All maladapted behaviours, which might prove disadvantageous, non-beneficial or intolerable to the person were to be considered as neurotic or wrongly learned ones. Symptoms like these might emerge essentially for wish-fulfilling purposes. The wish was disguised or symbolised in dreams and so the wish was present in disguised form in Julie's symptoms also.

Julie in hypnotic states, used to reveal the desires, disappointments, unfulfilled wishes and desires. As the days passed by and when the guilt feelings and negative desires disappeared with therapy, during the hypnotic sessions, there were no theatricality or demonstrations. She would express her free, frank and repressed emotions, which were resolved by proper educative procedures and sex education.

Hypnosis is an art practiced for the sake of unravelling the dramatic and mysterious unfulfilled wishes, desires, conflicts, fears and unwholesome symptoms from the minds of the disabled ones to make them integrated, strong, powerful and dynamic personalities.

Trance

The practice actually goes back to the dawn of recorded history. The early historical documents reveal that the trance was utilised in religious rituals and ceremonies by the priestly cults of the ancient Egyptians, and the peoples of the Far East and India. But now the modern stories of hypnotism reveal much of the psychological phenomena originated with the efforts of Dr. Mesmer, a Viennese physician. Later on another competent person by name Puysegar discovered the hypnotic trance, which he called as artificial somnambulism by analogy with spontaneous somnambulism as occurring during sleep.

Afterwards Dr. James Braid, a Manchester physician, coined the word `hypnos' from the Greek word `hynos' meaning sleep and thus a scientific era began. Dr. Braid believed in fascination (fixation) and verbal suggestion. Presently hypnosis is safely induced by Braids methods and used to cure many a person with Julie's syndromes.

DR. C.P. SOMASUNDARAM

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