The Search for Bridey Murphy (33 page)

Although we can only guess what hypnotism may eventually accomplish after it is fully accepted and explored, we already have a lengthy list of achievements—and some spectacular hints as to what we may expect in the future. Such a hint was provided by the staid
British Medical Journal
in 1952. The article relates the almost fantastic episode of a British lad who had been born with ichthyosis. This is one of the most hideous diseases imaginable, a congenital affliction,
often dubbed fish-scale disease, in which the skin forms a thick black casing over practically the entire body. The skin, furthermore, is covered with close-set black bumps between which is a scale as hard as a fingernail. When this scale is bent, it cracks and oozes a bloodstained serum. For this loathsome disease neither cause nor cure is known.

But this particular victim, even though his condition was so repulsive that his teacher and fellow students at school resented his presence, was more fortunate than others. An English hypnotherapist heard about the case and offered to try hypnosis. Understandably, other doctors were skeptical of what seemed to be a ridiculous gesture. Already the boy had undergone, to no avail, treatment in the best British hospitals. And even a trial operation for grafting new skin to the hands had only aggravated the matter. The grafted skin blackened, shrank, and brought more pain.

No wonder, then, that many scoffed at the young hypnotist who dared think that he could “talk out of existence” a serious congenital disease. Nevertheless, he started his cure, after taking only ten minutes to induce a trance, with five words: “The left arm will clear.” He repeated the direct suggestion several times. Sure enough, to the amazement of everyone, within five days the coarse external layer turned soft and crumbly and fell off. Soon the skin underneath became pink and soft. The hypnotist shifted his suggestion to other parts of the body with similar results. Twelve doctors witnessed the hypnosis and the outcome.

There are many other clues, too, indicating that hypnosis, instead of dealing only with functional diseases to which it is ordinarily confined by standard textbooks, may actually cure certain organic conditions as well. Indeed, the boundary between organic and functional diseases is growing ever dimmer in the light of new knowledge. Gastric ulcer, for instance, becomes an organic lesion once the ulcer has formed in the stomach; yet it is generally admitted that this disease has frequently yielded to hypnosis.

Even without referring to sensational cases and the promise of still greater discoveries in the future, the array of ills which this science is successfully tackling every day is so imposing that one wonders why it is generally overlooked. A list of these would include psychoneuroses, alcoholism, bed-wetting, excessive smoking, insomnia, stammering and stuttering, homosexuality, stage fright, blushing, overweight, nail-biting, drug addiction, high blood pressure, asthma, migraine, rheumatoid arthritis, skin diseases, and many more.

The effectual use of hypnosis in dentistry is spreading rapidly, and there are constant gains, too, in obstetrics and surgery. Some psychiatrists are employing hypnosis to facilitate analysis and to accelerate
psychotherapy. Keep in mind, moreover, that a brief psychotherapy means a less expensive one. It is interesting to note that in many prisons, where a fast, inexpensive method of psychotherapy is a necessity, a combination of narcosynthesis and hypnosis is frequently employed. Still, the unfortunate fact remains that the majority of practitioners, both in medicine and psychology, snub this mighty weapon.

True, at first glance it appears curious that one method of treatment can be of assistance in such a varied host of complaints. The real answer to this enigma will turn up only after the mystery of hypnosis has been finally solved. But this much we know now: Regardless of what may have caused many of these conditions, the nervous system has the power to alleviate the trouble or to banish it altogether. It is actually possible, under certain conditions, to “tell” the nervous system what to do; evidently it really has the power to “listen” to proper suggestions. This is one of the miracles of human nature. And we would be foolish indeed to ignore its reality.

While hypnotism is no cure-all, there are many complaints for which it is the ideal treatment and a still greater number of conditions for which it is a valuable adjunct to conventional medical methods.

Practically all authorities agree that the higher the intelligence and the steadier the concentration, the better are a subject’s chances of entering a trance. But a third factor, an unknown “X” factor, is the missing key to hypnotizability. Since the trance state is not yet understood, it follows that the capacity for entering a trance is not yet defined.

Many current studies are being made in order to determine the correlation between hypnotizability and mental and personality traits. Perhaps something may eventually come of these efforts.

Most authorities concur that almost 90 per cent of all people can be hypnotized. But my own experience places the effective figure closer to 50 per cent. The remainder fall into three groups: those who cannot be hypnotized; those who require too much time to hypnotize; and those who enter such a light or mild trance that they do not think it has occurred.

Leading texts also agree that one out of every four or five subjects
can enter the deepest trance (somnambulism), but I find that fewer than one out of ten can achieve this depth. It may be that classic texts are entirely sound regardless of whether my own experiments show the same results. On the other hand, it is remotely possible that, on some points at least, each authority has accepted the findings of the last authority. If the latter is true, then we need an entirely new experimental investigation of hypnosis.

In regard to the matter of hypnotizability, there are several tests of susceptibility that are quick tip-offs as to what sort of hypnotic subject a person will make. These tests are usually referred to as susceptibility tests, and a favorite is the handclasp test. The subject is asked to clasp his hands together and place them, usually palms out, on top of his head. He is then told that he will notice that his hands will, as the hypnotist counts three, become more tightly locked together. As the hypnotist counts, he makes suggestions to this effect, and on the last count he insists that the hands are so tightly locked together that it will be very difficult for the subject to pull them apart. The response to this little test, which requires about sixty seconds, is ordinarily a direct indication of how good the subject will be. Other quick tests are concerned, in the same fashion, with locking the eyelids, hand levitation, and body swaying.

As to the genuineness of hypnotic age regression, Dr. L. M. Wolberg has this to say:

My own experience is in accord. But I believe that there may sometimes be elements of both fact and artifact during a regression experiment. This business of hypnosis is no cut-and-dried matter.

The literature on this topic is fraught with interesting examples. In one case a forty-five-year-old man was regressed to his third birthday,
at which point he violently gasped, wheezed, coughed, and choked. It was obvious to the doctors who were present that the subject was undergoing an attack of asthma. An examining physician reported the presence of a high pulse and rales (a bubbling sound in the bronchi). Later the man’s mother stated that he had had asthma during childhood and that his third birthday had been the occasion of a severe attack.
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Another case concerns a woman whose eyesight had been defective since childhood. She had worn glasses since the age of twelve. During a hypnotic regression, however, she complained that her glasses were uncomfortable. And when her glasses were removed, her vision improved as she was regressed to earlier and earlier levels.

Dr. Robert M. True explored another idea. He asked a group of unhypnotized subjects whether they could remember the day of the week on which their last birthday and Christmas and other events had occurred. Almost none could answer. But the same persons, when hypnotically regressed, could name the day of the week of their tenth, seventh, and fourth birthdays. They could similarly designate Christmas and other events. The large group participating in this experiment gave 82.3 per cent correct answers.
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As to how far back through time a subject can be regressed, it is to be noted that very few researchers have concerned themselves with any sort of prenatal experiments. (There are exceptions; e.g., Dr. Sir Alexander Cannon.) Even so, the work in this field has been most interesting and would seem to call for deeper exploration. Dr. Wolberg writes, “To what earliest period a subject can be successfully regressed is difficult to say with certainty. On one occasion I attempted to regress a somnambulistic subject to the first year of life. The subject was unable to speak, and he exhibited definite sucking and grasping movements.” The type of regression referred to here, of course, was the total or true regression, not the recall type.

Drs. Hakebush, Blinkovski, and Foundillere believe it is possible to utilize regression to a neo-natal state,
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Also, Dr. Nandor Fodor contends that prenatal events are recorded in our memory,
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and Dr. W. Stekel
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states that patients in analysis sometimes recall the experience of having been born.
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The post-hypnotic suggestion is an amazing bit of business. Commands that are in keeping with the individual’s character will usually be carried out even though they are downright silly. On the other hand, unreasonable suggestions that run counter to the fundamental moral character will probably not be acted upon even though the subject has been in the deepest somnambulistic state.

Even after a light trance, simple post-hypnotic suggestions will ordinarily be effective despite the fact that the suggestion is clearly remembered by the subject. If the subject is told, let us say, that he will become aware, after awakening, that his wrist-watch band is irritating his wrist and that the itch will persist until he removes the watch and massages the wrist, he will usually follow through just as instructed. Although he distinctly recalls the suggestion and regards it as rather foolish, he will usually discover, much to his amazement, that his wrist really does itch; he is finally compelled to remove the band and rub his wrist.

The power of the post-hypnotic suggestion depends upon the depth of the trance, the nature of the suggestion itself, the manner in which it was phrased, the technique employed in its deliverance, and the personal reactions of the subject. Consequently, such a suggestion may remain in effect for only a few minutes or it may persist for a lifetime. The latter fact has obvious therapeutic importance.

Another interesting fact is that the subject can be directed to act upon the suggestion, not only immediately after awakening, but many years after awakening. There are countless cases on record in which the post-hypnotic act is to be executed after a long lapse of time, and in these cases the passage of time does not appear to diminish the force of the suggestion. One authority, for instance, reported the case of a person in whom a post-hypnotic suggestion was still potent after
twenty years had passed. Another subject, told that he would write a letter to his brother exactly one year from the date of the trance, did exactly that. A famous medical hypnotist recorded the following case:

Two extreme types of post-hypnotic suggestions that may be carried out by somnambulistic subjects are positive hallucinations and negative hallucinations. An example of the positive type, which refers to the subject’s “seeing” a suggested object or scene which is actually not present, is the “television hallucination” which I effected with a very good subject. This person, capable of entering the somnambulistic trance quickly, was told that after she awakened the television set would be turned on and she would notice that Jack Benny would be clearly visible on the television screen. At that time we did not yet have television in our city; it was due in about one month, but her set had already been installed.