Franz Mesmer: The Power of Hypnotism and Placebos

Before taking this class, I was somewhat familiar with hypnosis and the power of mesmerism. Though I’ve never experienced this firsthand, I have seen others become hypnotized at parties or online, albeit with some skepticism as to the actual effect of the procedure.  However, my interest in this subject deepened when reading about mesmerism and hypnosis on p. 210 of A History of Magic and the Occult. In my casual experience with such subjects, I had never given much thought to the history behind such practices. 

 

Though his work was discredited in 1785 (p. 211), it seemed to have a genuine effect on the folks he performed it on; his practice appeared to have been medically beneficial as well as a fashionable activity to partake in socially.  However, something else I recently read changed my perspective on mesmerism in particular and other occult practices in general.  Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It was published last year by Ethan Kross, a psychologist and neuroscientist, who explored the ways that we can use our inner thoughts to our advantage. 

 

In chapter 7, “Mind Magic”, Kross shares the story of Maria Theresia von Paradis, a three-year-old girl who woke up in 1762 and discovered that she had gone blind, spontaneously overnight. Despite this ailment, she grew up to become a prodigious musician, never losing hope of regaining her vision, despite many unsuccessful treatments, which often worsened her health overall. However, she and her family met Mesmer, who by that time “claimed to have pioneered a medical intervention that could cure a broad range of physical and emotional ills by altering the flow of an imperceptible force that coursed through the universe using magnetic principles alone,” (Kross, p. 130). As we have read about in A History of Magic and the Occult, this practice was known as “animal magnetism”, and later simply as mesmerism.  Slowly, Maria’s vision returned—until her family and the doctor had a disagreement and no longer saw one another. As Kross further noted, not all of Mesmer’s patients improved as much as Maria did, while “simply felt cured,” (p. 131). 

 

Although Mesmer was later discredited, and western medicine does not make use of mesmerism today, Kross noted that this was an example of another modern-day medical concept: placebos. According to Kross, “placebos are commonly understood to be a substance… in reality, though, a placebo can be anything… a person, an environment, even a lucky charm.  And what makes placebos so intriguing is that they can make us feel better even when they have no active medical ingredients,” (p. 133). That is to say, while some medical procedures or medications don’t have benefits in and of themselves, the fact that they make patients feel better does bring benefit, despite the lack of empirical science behind them.  Kross goes on to mention modern-day placebos which have been beneficial for patients with Parkinson’s disease, asthma, migraines, and IBS. 

 

This finding made me reevaluate my viewpoint on Mesmer and hypnosis. While I think of myself as a scientific person (and will continue to rely on modern medicine and established western practices to manage my health), I will likely be more open to trying placebo practices in addition to the typical treatment regimen—it seems that there may be at least some benefit, often with little cost and risk (for example, spending more time outside, bringing a loved one to an appointment, or bringing a lucky object).