‘Under the influence’ in British India: James Esdaile's Mesmeric Hospital in Calcutta, and its critics

Mesmerism was for a period very popular in Victorian Britain. The special clinical approach developed by Dr J. Esdaile while on duty in British India is elaborated in detail. The controversy surrounding Esdaile's treatment of surgical, medical and psychiatric cases at the ‘mesmeric hospital’ at...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological medicine 1995-11, Vol.25 (6), p.1113-1123
Main Author: Ernst, Waltraud
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Calcutta
Colonial period
Esdaile
General aspects
History of medicine
History, 19th Century
Hospitals
Hospitals, Psychiatric - history
Humans
Hypnosis - history
India
Medical sciences
Mental Disorders - history
Mental Disorders - rehabilitation
Mesmerism
Original Articles
Patients
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Treatment
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Summary:Mesmerism was for a period very popular in Victorian Britain. The special clinical approach developed by Dr J. Esdaile while on duty in British India is elaborated in detail. The controversy surrounding Esdaile's treatment of surgical, medical and psychiatric cases at the ‘mesmeric hospital’ at Calcutta is discussed, and the main arguments are set within their contemporary socio-cultural context. Some of the arguments advanced for and against mesmerism contain concerns similar to those that have been raised during later decades in regard to hypnotism and hypnotherapy.
ISSN:0033-2917
1469-8978
DOI:10.1017/S0033291700033092