Chapter 23 - For Medicinal Purposes

If you are engaged in any medical profession, such as surgery, dentistry, or otherwise, and it becomes desirable to hypnotize a patient, better results will be obtained by having the patient recline on a comfortable couch or in a comfortable chair before beginning the induction. I would not advise placing a patient in the dental chair or on the operating table for the first induction. If this is done, there is introduced one element which is sure to distract the patient's mind from the words of the hypnotist. This would force upon the patient's mind all the horrible thoughts of the operation and its possible unpleasant consequences. As long as such thoughts occupied the patient's mind, it could not be absorbed with the sleep words of the hypnotist. He is almost certain to invite failure by such crude methods. It may be done that way, but why invite trouble? Sometimes it may be necessary to attempt to induce hypnosis under unfavorable circumstances, but this should be avoided as much as possible.

The light should be dimmed and noises reduced to a minimum, until the patient is asleep. Tell the patient to gaze at some object, either held in the hypnotist's hand or hung on the wall. The object may be anything which will not arouse mental action. I prefer a disc with converging circles on it. This causes eye confusion, which in turn, causes confusion of the senses, aiding induction. The object should be above the level of the eyes so that the subject must roll his eyes slightly upward in order to see it. The wording and procedure are the same whether the subject is standing, sitting or reclining. They have been given heretofore.

Moving The Patient

After the patient is asleep, there are two methods to use in moving him. Either give him post-hypnotic suggestions of deep sleep on command, awaken him and have him go into the operating room, or tell him that you are going to move him and command him not to awaken. If you give post-hypnotic suggestions of sleep on command of operator, you may have the patient walk to operating room, then when he has been made ready for the operation, command sleep. Deepen the sleep and induce anaesthesia of the part of the body to be operated upon. If the patient is not awakened in the above manner and it is desirable to have him remain asleep, then tell the patient that you are going to move him and command him not to awaken. Tell him that he will feel no discomfort and no pain at any time and that he will awaken feeling fine. The method of removal is up to the one in charge.

If you desire to give post-hypnotic suggestions of sleep on command, either to move the patient, or for another treatment at a future time, just say to him while he is asleep, of course, "Any time I say to you, 'go to sleep," you will go to sleep, soundly and quickly. You will not be able to awaken until I tell you to awaken. When I command you to sleep, you will not be able to stay awake., You will be compelled to go to sleep." Repeat this two or three times. If you are moving the patient, say, "When I count three, you will open your eyes and go into the next room, get into the dental chair," or on the operating table, as the case may be, "You will then go soundly asleep when I say 'sleep' to you." When you count to three, the patient will open his eyes and go into the next room and get into the dental chair, or onto the operating table. It may be necessary to deepen the sleep.

If the patient is difficult to put to sleep, sodium pentothal may be used by a doctor or dentist, to assist in the first induction, but afterwards, this may not be necessary if post-hypnotic suggestions of deep sleep are given. Sodium amytal may also be used under a doctor's direction. While the subject is asleep, be sure to ascertain if he or she hears and understands you. This may be done by asking him questions which are simple, such as his name and address. If the patient hears and understands you, then say, "Hereafter, when I say, 'go to sleep, you will go to sleep quickly and soundly.'" Repeat it several times. Then, when you desire to awaken him, say, "I am going to count to three. When I count to three, you will awaken feeling fine. You will not have any headache. You will not feel drowsy. You will be wide awake. You will feel fine." If you have extracted a tooth, say, "Your gums will not be sore. They will not hurt. They will not bleed. They will heal quickly." If you have done an operation, tell the patient that he will feel fine and that the place of the operation will heal quickly, that he will feel no pain in the place of the operation. Then repeat, "Any time I tell you to go to sleep, you will go to sleep quickly and deeply." Repeat it. Then say, "One . . . You wish to wake up. Two . . . You are beginning to awaken. Three . . . You are awake. Wide awake." You may snap your fingers for emphasis. If the subject fails to awaken at your command, do not be alarmed. Tell him to rest and sleep for five minutes and then he will awaken, that he will not be able to stay asleep any longer than five minutes. If the use of drugs are necessary for the first induction, the process of waking may be difficult, but have no fear, the subject will eventually sleep it off. Here I wish to state for the benefit of beginners, that the difficulty encountered in hypnotism is not in waking the subject, but in getting the subject to sleep. They will always awaken, but not always go to sleep. If you follow my instructions, you will never have any difficulty in waking a subject, and not too much difficulty putting one to sleep.

Anesthesia Through Hypnosis

I have promised that I would explain to you how to induce anesthesia. I shall now do so. Remember that each case must be handled in the manner best suited to the circumstances of the case and the personality involved. Of course, when we speak of anesthesia, we usually have in mind using it for operating purposes. Bear this in mind. If you are not a surgeon or a licensed physician, you cannot perform an operation. Stick to inducing anesthesia or other useful hypnotic effects and let the doctor perform the operation, without any interference from you. Obtain his consent for producing anesthesia. Confer with him about the anesthesia and get details as to the location of the operation and the parts of the body to be anesthetized. Do not wait until the day of the operation to hypnotize the patient for the first time, unless it is unavoidable; because, if you do, you may have difficulty inducing a state of hypnosis great enough to obtain anesthesia. Once the patient is hypnotized, give post-hypnotic suggestions of sleep on command. Test him for anesthesia. This is done by inducing a deep state of hypnosis and telling him that he can feel no pain in his arm, that it is completely numb and has a very pleasant numb sensation; that he cannot feel you touch his arm and that he can feel no pain in it whatsoever, that all feeling has left his arm. Then, pierce it with a sterilized needle. Be sure that he feels no pain before you try this. Test his arm with a prick of the needle at several places. If he flinches the least, he is not properly anesthetized. The same method is used to produce anesthesia in any part of the body and to test for depth of anesthesia. After satisfactory results have been obtained, the operation is performed. It makes no difference in what part of the body the operation is performed, the same principles apply. If you are not the surgeon performing the operation, do not interfere with him. Be sure your subject is under hypnosis and is properly anesthetized, then step aside. Watch and make proper suggestions, if necessary, to the subject during the operation as to sleep, lack of pain and flow of blood, but do not interfere with the operation. You can regulate the patient's breathing, heart beat and blood flow, by proper suggestions. The surgeon should make the directions to you or you may transfer rapport to him jointly with yourself. If he is not a skilled hypnotist, you had better not leave him in charge, as I have seen suggested in other books. He might lose control of the patient and he would wake up in the midst of the operation. Some subjects do wake up after the hypnotist leaves their presence. You may make the patient conscious of the operation and let her witness it, but this I would not advise. The pains of childbirth may be eliminated in the same manner. Morning sickness may be totally eliminated and proper growth of the organs may be facilitated by direct suggestion.

Suppose that the operation has been completed and you are ready to wake up the patient. At a signal from the surgeon, you step up to the operating table and say, addressing your subject by name, "You can hear me now. Can you hear me now?" Be sure to get an answer. Then, continue, "The operation has been successful. You are in wonderful condition. You feel no pain. You feel fine. No blood will flow from the cut. The cut does not hurt. The cut will not hurt after you wake up. The cut will not bleed any more and it will heal rapidly. I am going to count to three, and when I do, you will be wide awake. You will feel fine. You will feel wonderful." (Add any other beneficial suggestions you deem advisable.)

"One . . . You wish to wake up. Two . . . You are beginning to wake up. Three . . . Wake up. . . . Wide awake."

Seems simple, does it not? It is just that simple. The only trouble you will have will be with subjects who are not hypnotizable by you or not at all. Remember that you may not be able to hypnotize a subject, but some other person can. After all, you are dealing with mental reactions and they are as varied as people vary. In case you are not able to induce hypnosis, some other form of anesthesia must be employed. Hypnosis may be induced or suggestion used after the anesthetic begins to take effect Even when the subject does not go deep enough under hypnosis to be hypnotized, suggestions may be employed to ease the shock of the operation, such as lack of nervousness on the operating table and afterwards, as to shock, sickness, healing, and after pain and discomfort.

Never lose faith just because one patient fails to react properly to your suggestions. This is also true of medicines. Just consider the fine effects you obtain with the ones who are hypnotizable. Think about the bad aftereffects of gas, chloroform, ether and other anesthetics which are used, and which bad effects you are able to eliminate with just a few words. The magic of it all should strongly appeal to everyone. With practice, you will be able to put more and more of your patients into deep hypnosis. Remember that many tries must be attempted on some person before hypnosis can be induced and that practically everyone is hypnotizable. Remember also that some persons cannot take any form of gas, ether or any form of sleep-producing drugs. Hypnotism is their only recourse. Recently, a child died in my neighborhood from the effects of such sleep-producing drugs. If hypnotism had been employed, this tragedy would never have happened.

For further treatises on the subject of medical hypnosis, I would advise you to read some of the latest books.

There are many other uses for hypnotism in the medical field other than those uses which I have given you, but this book was not intended to cover all such uses and it is really not the place for such discussions. My purpose was to state a new theory of hypnotism and make the science more understandable and more acceptable to the medical fraternity and people in general, because of such explanation. I hope that I have succeeded in my efforts.

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