Hypnosis Daily News

The following case illustrates this psychological tendency. "Miss G., aged 19, an uneducated girl, had been frequently hypnotized, and was a good somnam-bule. She had had sixteen teeth extracted at Leeds during hypnotic anaesthesia. At a later date, having examined her mouth and found that a fragment of one of the stumps remained, I asked her to come to my house "An Experimental Study in Hypnotic Anaesthesia," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, to have it removed. She mentioned this to one of her neighbors, an old woman, who advised her to have no more teeth extracted, as this would cause her mouth to fall in. The following day she presented herself, and was at once hypnotized; she refused to open her mouth, or to permit me to extract the tooth. Emphatic suggestion continued for half an hour produced no result. This was the first occasion on which she had rejected a suggestion. I then awoke her, and asked why she refused to have the tooth extracted. She told me what her neighbor had said, and expressed her determination to have nothing more done. I explained the absurdity of this, and pointed out that, as she had only the fragment of one tooth remaining, its removal could not affect the appearance of her face. As she was still obstinate, I said: "Unless this fragment is removed you cannot have your artificial teeth fitted'. This argument was sufficient. She gave her consent in the waking state, was at once hypnotized, and operated on without pain."