The founder of Sleep Therapy was the German physician Franz Mesmer, who worked at Vienna University. He believed that all animate things possess the biological magnetism that can be improved by practice. In the beginning, people took it to be deception, later on; it was looked upon as miraculous discovery. It now forms an important part of psychology. It is recognized all over the world as a powerful method of treating patients and is widely used in case of mental disorders.Five Hundred years before Christ, there were hundreds of temples in Egypt where the patients were brought and treated by sleep therapy. During the next hundred years, such temples sprouted in Greece and Rome. Even today, there are large numbers of such institutions in these countries where people are treated only by letting sleep peacefully. This method has been accorded national recognition in countries like America and France.
At the outset, the Christian missionaries got this method prohibited as they thought that it was devil’s raw work. Due to lack of religious sanctity, it could not make much progress. Many rulers, under the influence of these missionaries, exiled many votaries of this method. Some were even sentenced to death. The net result was that this old and ancient system of treating ailments was given up and became extinct at one stage.
It was only in 1776 that the German physician Franz Mesmer resurrected this method and laid its foundations. Mesmer worked in Vienna University. During his research in that University, he discovered that every human being possesses magnetic power. He called it biological magnetism and asserted that every animate being possesses this magnetic force. He also said that this magnetism can be increased by constant - practice.
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| Franz Mesmer |
According to Mesmer, the regular and constant flow of this magnetic force keeps the body in a healthy state. Only, when there is some obstacle before it that a man falls sick. Mesmer also discovered that an individual can influence others by his magnetism. On the other hand, one can use this force to distance people from himself. It means that this magnetism can be used both ways——to attract or repel people. During his experiments, Mesmer found that a person could be motivated by one who possessed more powerful magnetism. Many dormant potentialities of the mind could be activated by this method and a person could do anything. Mesmer was able to cure a lot of people by this method. His method came to be known as mesmerism. But, many people believed that he could control people by Sorcery or witchcraft. He was expelled from Vienna under the plea that his methods were undesirable. He had to take refuge in France. In Paris, he cured thousands of people in a miraculous manner by using his method collectively on them. Eventually, the government set up an enquiry against him. He was put up into a hospital on the charge of fooling people by recourse to magic.
After forty years there was a great uproar when an eye specialist Dr. James Bride discovered that the method used by Mesmer was harmless. He only hypnotized his patients and sent them to a sort of psychological sleep. He then aroused the capacity of the patient to fight the disease and thus cured them. In other words, he awakened the dormant desire of the patient to get cured. This discovery of Dr. Bride forced the scientists to experiment anew on an international plane. The net result is 4000 researchers are now doing intensive research on more than 1500 topics at 700 places all over the world. It is interesting to note that America and Russia are doing research in this method to brainwash people and make them work as their spies.
The name of this therapy has been adopted from the Greek word ‘hypnosis’ which means sleep.
Diagnosis of the Disease
The patient is mesmerized and during this sleep under hypnosis, he is himself asked details regarding his ailments. Marquis dePusager, a disciple of Mesmer gave this therapy a new name in 1874. He called it Somnambulism. Later on, it was called Sleep-therapy.
Apart from treating patients of many diseases, this method is widely used as a help in surgical operations. This method is not used in diseases like small pox, liver ailments, snake poisoning, stones and cancer.
Treatment
This method has been successfully used in a curing headache, pain during chid—birth, impotency, frigidity in women, gluttony, cowardice, hot temper, rheumatism, spinal pain, all diseases of stomach, ulcers, blood pressure, heart attacks, fear of death due to cancer and stammering.
First, the patient is hypnotized and then questioned about his problems. He is then in complete control of the hypnotist. The patient is given certain directions when he is under hypnosis. His mind accepts all these directions in that state. The hypnotist first finds out the imbalances in the body of the patient and then tries to remove the cause of the sickness. Then the disease is tackled in a methodical manner. If the disease is not entirely rooted out, it may become dormant and another disease may make an appearance.
It has been observed that this method has been quite beneficial in chronic symptoms like uneasiness, fear of all kinds, epilepsy, bed wetting, nail biting, making unnecessary sounds from the throat, licking lips, fear of crowd and many other conditions. Apart from the above-enumerated conditions, this method is efficacious in curing fear of heights as in air travel, dizziness during journey in the hills, pulling hair, peevish nature, suicidal tendency, addiction to intoxicants, highly emotional nature, lack of self—confidence, obesity, smoking, delivery, excessive interest or disinterest in sex. Some people are immersed in obscene thoughts all the time. They can also benefit from this therapy.
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