MESMERISM: HISTORY AND TECHNIQUES - MEDICINE - 2024

The mesmerism or magnetism is the animal a therapeutic technique developed by Franz Mesmer to the end of the eighteenth century. This German doctor thought that there is an invisible force that all animals and humans possess, in which physical changes can occur.

From his work, Mesmer had numerous detractors, but there were also those who supported him with great determination. Almost 250 years later, biomagnetism and magnetotherapy are accepted within the medical world. Mesmer's vision allowed progress towards organic recognition systems such as magnetic resonance imaging.

The approaches of this eighteenth-century scientist called for opening trails, including hypnosis. His visions have fed the works of numerous writers up to the present time.

Franz Anton Mesmer

Mesmer was born in Swabia, a region of present-day Bavaria, on May 23, 1734. His parents were Catholics: Antonio was a forester and María Úrsula was the daughter of a blacksmith. There were nine brothers, and Franz Anton was the third of these.

At 15 he had already studied philosophy and theology. Then he moved to Inglolstadt, to a Jesuit university, to complete theology. At the age of 31 he obtained a doctorate in Medicine at the University of Vienna; His thesis dealt with Newton's theory and the tides.

Two years later, he married a wealthy widow; that allowed him to become a patron of art. His home was continually visited by Mozart, Haydn and Gluck for musical evenings.

History of mesmerism

Mesmer stated that the Sun and the Moon exert magnetic influences on bodies as well as on waters. He affirmed that it was necessary to harmonize the magnetism in the inner being to balance the imbalance generated by the disease. From there began a series of publications.

Mesmer's first publications

In 1775 Mesmer published the Letters to a Foreign Physician in Vienna. Three years later, in 1778, he settled in a consulting room in Paris. He tried the recognition of the Royal Society of Medicine; Although he did not obtain it, he received the support of a highly respected scientist: Charles d'Eslon.

The following year he released the work Memory on the discovery of animal magnetism. In addition, he developed a device for medical treatment called a baquet. This was a container with a condenser and iron rods that were connected to the patients; a minimally invasive method at a time when indentation was the standard practice.

In 1784 King Louis XVI created a commission to determine whether the Mesmer method served or was charlatanism; one of the members was Dr. Joseph Guillotin, inventor of the guillotine. This tool was later used to cut off the head of Louis XVI himself and two members of the aforementioned commission.

Years later he published the book Memory on the discovery of animal magnetism, where he explains in detail the theoretical model of magnetic therapy. He also speaks of provoked sleepwalking and sleepwalking lucidity.

In 1814 Mesmer published the book Mesmerism or system of interactions: theory and application of animal magnetism as a general medicine for the preservation of man. This was his last work and deals with the theory and applications of animal magnetism.

Mermer died on March 5, 1815, in Meersburg, and 16 years later the Academy of Medicine approved a report in favor of animal magnetism.

His detractors associated mesmerism with the occult, spiritism and healing through faith. So much so that in 1784 they coined a term that became popular to this day: placebo.

According to the medical literature, placebo is a "fake medicine" that works because the patient has faith in the treatment. In other words, it is a tool to convince through psychological means.

Techniques

Mesmerism primarily uses non-verbal actions such as touching, fascination, movements, gazing, and other ways to induce trance and affect the "energy field" of the body.

In this scene from the film Mesmer (1994) it can be seen how a group session applied with this technique could have been:

When Mesmer spoke of animal magnetism he was referring to a vital fluid where the electric and the magnetic are conjugated. It is based on the action of cosmic force on the nervous system.

For the researcher, the disease is the result of a congestion in the organism. Therefore, if it is possible to generate a magnetic current that accompanies all the organs, the recovery of health will be achieved.

The scientist worked with several patients and at the same time with the baquet. From 1776 he began with the laying on of hands as a vehicle to balance the magnetic forces in the patient's body.

Mesmerism transcended the treatment itself and worked from the philosophical perspective. His utopian social principles were defended within the revolutionary process of France in 1789.

Mesmerism as inspiration

Some of his followers worked with psychic research. There were those who perceived it as the science of the future and began to reflect it in the fantastic literature of their time. Such is the case of Mary Shelly with her work Frankenstein or the modern Prometheus: this last character is brought to life through the rays of a storm.

Another example is the stories of Edgar Allan Poe and hypnotism. Mesmerism is even present in the novels of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

The same happened with hypnosis as part of the therapies, and with Sigmund Freud's own psychoanalysis.

The term mesmerism may have had a negative connotation for a time. Now a scientist who blazed trails for important breakthroughs in contemporary science is honored in recognition.

Franz Anton Mesmer created spaces for non-judgmental research. The existence of magnetic resonance technology speaks of achievements and contributions that grow over time.

References

1. Aguilar, A. (2005). From mesmerism to magnetic resonance imaging. Revista de la Unam, 21-36. Recovered in: revistadelauniversidad.unam.mx
2. Bonet Safont, JM (2014). The image of animal magnetism in fiction literature: the cases of Poe, Doyle and Du Maurier. Dynamis, 34 (2), 403-423. Recovered at: scielo.isciii.es
3. D'Ottavio, AE (2012). Franz Anton Mesmer, a controversial personality in medicine and in cinema. Journal of Medicine and Cinema, 8 (1), 12-18. Recovered at: dialnet.unirioja.es
4. Domínguez, B. (2007). Hypnotic analgesia in chronic pain. Ibero-American Journal of Pain, 4, 25-31. Recovered at: hc.rediris.es
5. García, J. (2016). On the path of applied psychology (Part One): Mesmerism and Physiognomy. Arandu-UTIC. International Scientific Journal of the Intercontinental Technological University, 3 (1), 36-84. Recovered at: utic.edu.py
6. Macías, YC, González, EJL, Rangel, YR, Brito, MG, González, AMV, & Angulo, LL (2013). Hypnosis: a technique at the service of Psychology. Medisur, 11 (5), 534-541. Recovered at: medigraphic.com
7. Pérez-Vela, S., & Navarro, JF (2017). Ibero-American Journal of Psychology and Health. Recovered at: researchgate.net