The Wizard From Vienna Franz Anton Mesmer Author

“The Wizard From Vienna” Franz Anton Mesmer Author: Vincent Buranelli by: Taylor Knuckey

WHO IS MESMER? 18 th century doctor who laid the foundation for modern psychiatry First person to investigate idea of hypnotherapy Famous for process “Animal Magnetism” Therapeutics later referred to as “Mesmerism”

EARLY LIFE Born in the small village Iznang, Germany May 23, 1734 Very catholic based family Went to school as a child run by monks

EDUCATION 1743 – Bavaria – studying to become a Catholic priest 1750 – Bavaria at the University of Dillingen for philosophy for four years 1754 – Bavaria at University of Ingolstadt for theology 1759 – University of Vienna, Austria for Law 1760 – University of Vienna, Austria for medicine 1766 - Earned Doctor of Medicine degree

DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTIFIC IDEAS Science of medicine era was dominated by physicians Van Swieten, De Haen, and Stoerck Interests always resorted in science Preferred general ideas to limited concepts Believed good evidence existed for its reality Education - modern and scientific thought

“The Influence of the Planets on the Human Body” Medical dissertation Explained the influence of the sun, moon, and planets on the earth and their effect of gravitation on human physiology Believed gravitational attraction of the planets affected human health through an invisible fluid or magnetic force found in the human body and throughout nature Believed that magnetic power could be used to heal people Everyone has a magnetic charge or fluid inside which he referred to as “Animal Magnetism”

ANIMAL MAGNITISM “Animal Magnetism” was the name Mesmer gave this invisible magnetic cosmic fluid Belief that all living beings had magnetic fields running through them which could be manipulated for healing or other purposes Theorized that disease was caused by an imbalance of this invisible magnetic fluid which resulted in “obstacles” in the fluid’s flow through the body Developed methods to restore the magnetic fluid’s flow of the body so diseases would be cured

ANIMAL MAGNITISM continued These obstacles could be broken by “crises” Initially, used magnets to come into contact with a patient Mysterious fluid displayed by the magnet entered the body of the patient and healed him of his illness or disease Once magnetic flow was restored in patient to normality, the patients’ disease was cured and their obstacle no longer existed This method of curing people known as “Mesmerism”

MESMERISM: THE TRANCE Trance of Mesmerism” is also known as “Mesmerism” — “to mesmerize” or “to throw in a trance” Ability and control to throw subjects into a state between sleep and wakefulness Normal thinking processes stopped functioning Able to cause paralysis, drowsiness, sleep, and semiconscious states in his patients Subject in a trance could obey his commands Today - Controlled Hypnotism

MESMERISM: THE TRANCE 18 th century Mozart featured Mesmerism to opera audiences Mesmer performed shows Thousand melodramas

18 th CENTURY VIENNA “City of musicians, patrons of musicians, and audiences intoxicated with music” January 10, 1768—Married Maria Anna von Bosch Member of the Austrian aristocracy Very wealthy Established physician clinic in Vienna Private practice in his home

PATIENTS Majority women Individuals and group therapy Patients would undergo convulsions Crisis rooms

FIRST STEPS IN ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY Francisca Oesterlin Suffered from a form of psychosomatic illness Franzl resisted Mesmer’s treatments until new theory of neuroses Neuroses Theory gave rise to school abnormal psychology Strong connection of his animal magnetism theory Ebb-and-Flow Effect - Tidal effect in the nervous system Patient was being bothered by the effect of the universal fluid, or animal gravitation, ebbing and flowing through her body Case led him to magnetism

FRANZL TREATMENT Franzl — First person to be mesmerized Experimented with magnets Turned the “current” in different directions Generated artificial tides in her nervous system Treatment was first insight to a possible cure of hysteria Hypnotic trance Cured her hysteria Classical case of hypnosis

RESULTS Reputation of healer Continued to take in more patients, work more cures, and became the talk of Vienna Told patients he was healing them with animal magnetism flowing through their bodies Cured mental and nervous afflictions ranging from deep depression to hysterical paralysis

CURING OF DEAF PATIENT Patient had gone deaf during a thunderstorm Received hearing back Method - Mesmer held his hands over his ears and put him in a hypnotic trance Believed his universal fluid could not only pass through humans but pass through physical objects

SCANDAL OF THE BLIND PIANIST Maria Paradis Hired by Maria’s parents to cure her of her blindness Uncertain techniques used Symptoms of hysteria began to clear up Mesmer asserts that he managed to cure her and managed to make Maria "see" images of faces and movements https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=o. Q 3 2 Req. IFGU

SCANDAL OF VIENNA Parents accused Mesmer of holding their daughter against their will and subjecting her to dangerous experiments Parents withdrew daughter from study Believed Mesmer had seduced her Maria relapsed back into her illness Mesmer was interested in women as patients Mesmer’s reputation badly damaged by the incident Accused by Viennese physicians of fraud

PARIS - SOCIETY OF HARMONY 1778 - Left Austria and settled in Paris Mesmer’s institution, medical school, and clinic Students purposed advanced theories of Mesmerism Learned how animal magnetism acted on the nervous system and the vital organs Watched practical application of animal magnetism to patients in the clinic Professional men and clergy attended Mesmerian Institute Success at the Society of Harmony brought Mesmer’s Mesmerism to its fullest elaboration 1779 published Memoir

1784 - INVESTIGATION King Louis XVI commissioned an investigation of animal magnetism Led by scientists and physicians Described as first placebo – controlled trial Replication of Mesmer’s session of hugging curative magnetized trees Results reported that Mesmer was unable to support his scientific claims Disapproval of Mesmerism - Paris Faculty of Medicine, Royal Society of Medicine, and the French Academy of Sciences Mesmerism movement declined https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=9 Bx 8 ZWZY 9 ls

REJECTION OF PARIS Continued his practice but again attracted resentment and great jealousy from medical profession Animal magnetism constantly rejected by the scientific and medical corporations of Paris Forced to leave Paris Continued to travel extensively through central Europe Suffered from psychosomatic problems Stressed from pass failures and rejection in Vienna and Paris Biography, Short History of Animal Magnetism Set up clinic in spa near Liege in the Belgian Ardennes Focused attention on patients

1785 - TURNING POINT Traumatic experiences - Society of Harmony Continued to see patients – less successful Decided to never launch another resolute campaign for the validation of animal magnetism Traveled Wife abandoned him after waiting eight years for his return

1798 - 1802 Lived in Paris and Versailles Remained distant from politics and Mesmerism Medical Mesmerism was being developed by other men in ways he did not approved French Revolutionary War period

MESMER’S LAST YEARS Left Paris in 1802 Moved to London to start still another practice Practice failed Moved to Switzerland Died in Switzerland on March 5, 1815

FROM MESMERISM TO HYPNOTISM Of Mesmer’s original system, the following can and must be said: “Animal magnetism” is a myth. There is no such cosmic fluid as Mesmer imagined. Animal magnets are therefore a myth. Nothing physical passes form hypnotist to subject. The Mesmerian crisis is a myth. No physical action-reaction takes place in the nervous system, at least in Mesmer’s sense. The Mesmerian trance is a reality. The trance can be handled scientifically. Mesmer was wrong in his scientific theory, but he made it possible for scientists to take the trance away from the occultists. “ https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=LUz. ZOGTk. Ot. M

HYPNOTISM Faults: Right facts and the wrong theory If it had not been for his theory, he might never have effected his remarkable cures, investigated their meaning, or persuaded others to join him in a search for explanation Scientific hypnosis would not have been developed if it were not for Mesmer James Braid-Replaced “Mesmerism” with “Hypnotism” Scientific methods of inducing lucid sleep “It will be observed, for reasons adduced, I have now entirely separated Hypnotism from Animal Magnetism. I considered it to be merely a simple, speedy, and certain mode of throwing the nervous system into a new condition, which may be rendered eminently available in the cure of certain disorders. I trust, therefore, it may be investigated quite independently of any bias, either for or against the subject, as connected with mesmerism. ”

QUESTIONS? If it was later stated that animal magnetism was a myth and there is no such thing as cosmic fluid, why do you think that people engaged in his medical practice of mesmerism? Do you believe that Mesmer actually believed in Mesmerism and what he theorized? Or was he doing it to get attention? A swindler? Do you think Mesmer’s theories and practices are significant to modern day psychology? Or why was Mesmer’s theories and practices significant to modern day psychology?