HYPNOTISING SOLDIERS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XLV, Issue 3993, 28 July 1915, Page 3

H YPNO TISING SOLDIERS.

It is stated that one of the most intersring of the medical discoveries ' which have resulted from the tending • of the wounded ami disabled is the value of hypnotic, suggestion in the ■ cure of men broken down under the j constant physical and nervous sU'a'.n of modern warfare. In the eonaition known as shell shock, in winch the , sufferer, though not actually hit by a shell, has suffered from temporary j loss of memory, sight, smell, and taste . as the result of concussion, hypnotic • suggestion has been the most potent ; remedy of the physicians in charge. ; Describing the treatment of one of these shell-shock cases, a physician ■ at one of the London army hospitals j stated recently: “The patient is seated j m a chair and is brought by the ; operator into a slight degree of hypnosis in the ordinary way. He is told to clear his mind of all other thoughts, and to concentrate on the , single subject of Ins cure. It, as often happens, his vision is affected, lie is . told quietly and firmly by the opera lor j that the defect has been cured, and j that once again lie can see clearly. In j some cases a single seance is enough ; ! in others, the treatment may have to be repeated several times. In practically ;tll eases, however, great improvement. if not a complete outv, has eventually resulted.”