Art, obsession, and identity
Indeed, hypnosis has been used in different forms for centuries. Today, it's a hugely popular therapy for complaints ranging from quitting smoking to stopping panic attacks. During hypnosis, a person enters an altered state of consciousness where they become more suggestible. For people who struggle to make healthy choices, it can open the door to a different way of life. But what about the cases where hypnosis has taken a dark turn?
There have actually been several mysterious and fatal events involving hypnosis. Intrigued? Check out this gallery to discover what happened when suggestibility turned deadly.
Hypnosis emerged in the 18th century, when German physician Franz Mesmer developed mesmerism. The term "hypnosis" originates from the Greek word for sleep.
Hypnosis puts you into a sleeplike state. In this state, a person becomes more suggestible, i.e. open to suggestion by another.
Although hypnosis and sleep aren't related, they do have something in common: both focus the brain.
The brain becomes more active during hypnosis. In fact, compared to a resting brain, under hypnotic trance many areas of the brain come online.
Becoming less conscious of yourself may be the reason why hypnosis works so well. But being hypnotized shouldn't mean losing free will, or control over behavior.
Despite this, hypnosis isn't without controversy. There have been a number of unusual deaths implicating hypnotized people.
The case of Ella Salamon in 1894 is one such bizarre story. Ella was a 23-year-old Hungarian psychic whose client asked for her advice. She agreed to be hypnotized, to get answers about a medical issue.
After giving an in-depth description of the physical problem the client's brother was suffering from, she collapsed and died. She is believed to be the first person to die under hypnosis.
Girard Rosenblum's body was found by his mother in 1952. The 21-year-old's death had been self-inflicted. A month later, the coroner in his case found his death to be the result of a failed attempt at suspended animation.
A master's student, Philadelphia native Rosenblum had used self-hypnosis to try to learn how to levitate.
In 1894, a wealthy farmer in Kansas named Anderson Gray hypnotized his farmhand Thomas McDonald. He told McDonald to kill his neighbor Thomas Patton.
McDonald didn't have a good aim prior to hypnosis, but Gray's suggestibility worked and he killed Patton.
Both men were arrested, but McDonald was found not guilty due to being under Gray's trance.
In 1909, Robert Simpson attended a hypnotist show in Somerville, New Jersey. He was drunk and volunteered to be hypnotized.
When the time came to wake him up, he collapsed and was unresponsive on the floor. Doctors found a ruptured aorta, reasoning that he had probably been sick for some time. The hypnotist was acquitted of charges due to Simpson's preexisting condition.
In 1938, Marie Colombos was due to give birth to her first child. Nervous, she got in touch with Robert Gilbert, a famed vaudeville performer specializing in hypnotism. He came to her house in Glendale, California, to help her have a painless birth experience, using hypnosis.
When police arrived later, Colombos was found dead. Gilbert said she had collapsed. Following autopsy, burial, exhumation, and another autopsy, no cause of death was found. Gilbert was sentenced, but his conviction was overturned due to lack of evidence.
Jerome Ferreri brought a woman back to the home he shared with his wife in LA in October 1948. Later, Ferreri returned home and attacked his wife. A man renting a room in the house gave a gun to the handyman Allan Adron, telling him Ferreri was killing his wife.
Hearing her screams, Adron ran to the kitchen and shot Ferreri. At trial, defense lawyers argued Adron was under the power of suggestion when he was handed the gun. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Palle Wichmann Hardrup shot bank manager Hans Wisbom and teller Kaj Moller in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1951. When Hardrup was arrested, he claimed he had been hypnotized by an old cellmate.
Hardrup accused Bjørn Schouw Nielsen of hypnotizing him three times a week over a three-month period, which included the robbery planning. Hardrup was committed, and Nielsen received life imprisonment for the deaths.
North Point, Florida, was the location of three separate deaths in spring 2011. Marcus Freeman died in a car accident, while Wesley McKinley and Brittany Palumbo were found to have suffered self-inflicted deaths at home.
Sharon Tabarn took part in a hypnosis show at a pub in Lancashire, England, in 1993. To end her trance, the hypnotist said she would feel a 10,000-volt electric shock in her seat.
Afterwards, it emerged that the trio were part of a group of 75 students who were taught to hypnotize themselves. George Kenney, the school's principal, had shown the group how to use hypnosis. Kenney took leave and was given probation for practicing hypnosis without a license.
Afterwards, she complained about feeling dizzy. She passed away in her sleep and her death was ruled an accident. Her lawyer argued the hypnosis had somehow relaxed her reflexes, which led to her death, as she hadn't drank enough to become ill.
In 1995, the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis published a section on stage hypnosis and the complications that can arise from it.
The journal advises against stage hypnosis, as many complications occur when hypnosis is used in the context of entertainment.
In 1978, the British Medical Journal warned about the dangers of untrained hypnotists acting in unregulated ways such as using stage hypnosis.
The altered, trance-like state caused by hypnosis can cause bodily changes. A person’s subjective perceptions can cause real physical reactions.
In a clinical setting, a trained hypnotist will ask their client about any phobias they have. This is so they can avoid any suggestions that could cause a phobic reaction while the client is in a deep trance state.
Prior to commencing a session, a trained hypnotist carries out a detailed investigation of the person’s background and psychological state, making them aware of potential dangers.
These cases of deadly hypnosis show suggestion is powerful. Hypnosis induces a deeply altered state of consciousness, that should be entered with a trained professional.
Sources: (Listverse) (Time)
See also: Is astral travel real?
Unexpected consequences of hypnosis
The dark side of suggestion
LIFESTYLE Curiosities
Indeed, hypnosis has been used in different forms for centuries. Today, it's a hugely popular therapy for complaints ranging from quitting smoking to stopping panic attacks. During hypnosis, a person enters an altered state of consciousness where they become more suggestible. For people who struggle to make healthy choices, it can open the door to a different way of life. But what about the cases where hypnosis has taken a dark turn?
There have actually been several mysterious and fatal events involving hypnosis. Intrigued? Check out this gallery to discover what happened when suggestibility turned deadly.