Page "Hypnotherapy" Paragraph 7

Franz Anton Mesmer held that trance and healing were the result of the channelling of a mysterious " occult " force called " animal magnetism ".

In the mid-18th Century, this became the basis of a very large and popular school of thought termed " Mesmerism ".

However, in 1843, the Scottish surgeon James Braid proposed the theory of hypnotism as a radical alternative, in opposition to Mesmerism.

Braid argued that the occult qualities of Mesmerism were illusory and that its effects were due to a combination of " nervous fatigue " and verbal suggestion.

A bitter war of words developed between Braid and the leading exponents of Mesmerism.