Chapter XI - Hypnotism and Other CuresChapter XI - Hypnotism and Other Cures
Psychology of Alcoholism, The by George Barton Cutten (1874 - 1962)
This chapter examines what a "cure" for alcoholism was thought to be in the early 1900s, focusing on hypnotism, physical care, and moral approaches. It presents detailed case studies and arguments about the drink impulse, relapse, and the conditions needed for lasting change.
1:02:07•1 Apr 2026
Hypnotism, Cures, and the Battle to Break the Drink Impulse
Episode Overview
- The author argues that the core of alcoholism is the drink impulse, and that removing this impulse means the disease itself is cured, even if damage remains.
- Physical treatments such as rest, medical care, surgery, and good nutrition are seen as vital to repair the body after heavy drinking.
- Hypnotism is presented as helpful, but only if the person actively wants to stop drinking and is susceptible to hypnotic suggestion.
- Case reports show hypnotic suggestions can create nausea toward alcohol or remove cravings, though relapse still occurs when motivation is weak or triggers remain.
- The writer supports using any honest method—moral, physical, or hypnotic—that genuinely reduces drinking and helps the person move towards abstinence.
“If anyone is determined to drink, he will do so regardless of the means used to prevent him.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? This chapter from *The Psychology of Alcoholism* takes a cool-headed, early 20th-century look at that question, focusing on what a "cure" for alcoholism actually means and how hypnotism and other methods were used to tackle drinking.
Rather than promising magic fixes, the author carefully compares physical and mental treatments, arguing that the core of alcoholism is the "drink impulse" and that when this is removed, "the disease as such is cured", even though the damage to body and mind may linger. You’ll hear how rest, nutrition, medical care, surgery, and changes in environment were seen as crucial in rebuilding a life damaged by long-term drinking.
The episode spends most of its time on hypnotism and suggestion as a treatment. The writer notes that alcoholics are often very responsive to hypnosis and that success hinges on two conditions: the person must really want to be helped and must be hypnotisable.
As he bluntly puts it, "If anyone is determined to drink, he will do so regardless of the means used to prevent him." Case studies of chronic drinkers show how suggestions like feeling sick at the taste of alcohol or losing the desire for drink can help break entrenched habits, at least for some.
You’ll also hear about controversial cures such as the Keeley treatment, the use of nausea-inducing drugs, and early examples of what we’d now call substitution or placebo-based methods. The tone stays measured and clinical, but under the surface is a real sense of urgency: alcohol is wrecking lives, and the author argues that any honest, effective method — moral, physical, or hypnotic — deserves a chance.
If you’re curious about how people once tried to treat alcoholism, or you like to compare historical thinking with modern recovery approaches, this chapter gives plenty to chew on.
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