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Show Yj It Cure Bad Habits? It is now used to help people quit smoking and drinking—sometimes with dramatic results after one hypnotic session “67D REATHE DEEPLY... you are relaxing . . . close your eyes... you feel sleepy ... you are falling into a deep, deep, sleep...” With these words—spoken softly, slowly, and repeatedly—the hypnotist guided his subject into a trance. Once the patient was hypnotized, he was told to stop smoking, that smoking was poisoning his body. Then he was brought out of his hypnotic state and went back to his office. Was the experiment successful? Can hypnotism stop harmful habits? Can other psychological or medical benefits come from it? “T used to smoke two or three packs of cigarettes a day,” a young New York businessman said recently. “I tried as hard as I could to stop, but failed. I decided I needed help and went to a p iatrist. He endorsed hypnotism and used it on me. He even taught me self-hypnosis. “Now, I put myself into a brief trance several times a day and repeat the formula he taught me to reinforce myresistance. I haven’t had a 4 Family Weekly, March 15, 1970 cigarette in eight months.” Sets like this are b relatively common as some experts confirm the usefulness of hypnosis as a therapeutic medical tool. In recent years, hypnosis has found a place in a wide variety of fields—in habit control, psychotherapy, obstetrics. Even surgery has been performed such problems as smoking, drinking, fearof flying. in just one session. Claims of success also vary widely —one doctor says 80 percent of his patients break the smoking habit; another says 60 percent. One of the most experienced meninthefield, Dr. Herbert Spiegel, limits his success on patients under hypnoanesthesia. claims to 20 percent. Withthe aid of hypnosis, dentists extract teeth painlessly. Such problems as bed-wetting, stammering, and facial twitches can be treated. What this all adds up to is new acceptability and respectability for a practice which, until not too long ago, was frowned upon. Courses in hypnosis are now offered in growing numbersox medical schools. Two professional organizations devote themselves to writing and research on the subject. In 1958 the American Medical Associ which i had been dubious—cautiously, but officially, endorsed the use of hypnosis by responsible, trained personnel. Of hypnosis’ new uses, probably the one which has stirred the widest public interest lately is control of In a recent address to the AMA, Dector Spiegel, an associate professor of psychiatry at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, reported that his 20-percent figure was drawn from a questionnaire sent to 615 patients he had treated during a six-month period. Patients succeeded in quitting, he said, if they sincerely wanted to. In a single 45-minute session, Doctor Spiegel teaches his patients to lead themselves into a hypnotic state of relaxed concentration. Following the session, the patients put themselves into the same relaxed state several times each day and repeat the instructions to themselves. In addition to controlling smoking, hypnosis can be helpful—to varying degrees—in treating overeating, alcoholism, drug addiction, and other harmful habits. In all these instances, treatment centers on strengthening the patient’s desire for change. In the case of obesity, for example, the hypnotist might put the patient in a light trance and ask him to concentrate on how he looked before he gained weight. Although hypnosis has become useful in medicine, it has yet to shed its mysterious stigma. A hypnotic trance is similar to sleep in that unconscious thoughts replace conscious ones in the forefront of the mind— yet there are significant differences, too. In sleep, the switch from conscious thoughts occurs automatically, while in hypnosis a therapist guides the switch. Also, a person under hypnosis, unlike a sleeper, is completely aware of his surroundings, actions, and sensations, A common misconception about hypnosis is that the hypnotist has supernatural powers over his. patient. What actually happens is that, with svothing,repetitive suggestions, the hypnotist helps the patient to use |