The phony health craze that inspired hypnotism

In the 1780s, a charismatic healer caused a stir in Paris.

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Scientific progress in the 18th century in Europe, a period known as the “Age of Enlightenment,” was demystifying the universe with breakthroughs in chemistry, physics, and philosophy. But medical practices were still relying on centuries-old treatments, like leeching and bloodletting, which were painful and often ineffective. So when Franz Anton Mesmer, a charismatic physician from Vienna, began “healing” people in Paris using an alternative therapeutic practice he called “animal magnetism,” it got a lot of attention.

Mesmer claimed that an invisible magnetic fluid was the life force that connected all things and that he had the power to regulate it to restore health in his patients. He was a celebrity figure until the King of France, Louis XVI, commissioned a group of leading scientists to investigate his methods in 1784.

Benjamin Franklin headed the commission, and they debunked the existence of the magnetic fluid in the first-known blind experiment. Mesmer was ruined, but “mesmerism” didn’t end there. The report also acknowledged that Mesmer’s methods were making his patients feel better, which they attributed to the power of the human imagination. This experiment ultimately laid the groundwork for our understanding of the placebo effect and inspired an evolution of Mesmer’s practice into something more recognizable today: hypnotism.

Further reading:
Mesmerising Science: The Franklin Commission and the Modern Clinical Trial, by Urte Laukaityte
https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/mesmerising-science-the-franklin-commission-and-the-modern-clinical-trial

Franz Anton Mesmer and the Rise and Fall of Animal Magnetism, by Doug Lanska
https://academia.dk/MedHist/Biblioteket/pdf/Mesmer-and-the-Rise-and-Fall-of-Animal-Magnetism.pdf

Note: The headline on this piece has been updated. Previous headline: Hypnotism evolved from a phony health craze

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