Article: Hypnotism under the knife; hypnotism has been called 'a believed-in fantasy,' and believers are using it as an anesthetic in surgery. It is, literally, all in the mind. (includes related article on use in case where conventional anesthesia was impossible)

Hypnotism Under the Knife

The young woman lies on an operating room table, alert and listening intently to Frank Marlowe, a Philadelphia plastic surgeon and otolaryngologist. Several weeks before the surgery, Marlowe had a 20-minute hypnosis session with the patient. He put her in a trance and gave her a posthypnotic suggestion -- that when he said "deep deep relax," she would completely relax and spread her fingers as a signal that the surgery could begin.

Now he softly tells the patient what will be going on during the operation and says the passwords. The patient, a nurse, has wanted a nose job for years but has avoided it because of fear of ...

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