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To be mesmerized is to be totally fascinated by something or someone to the extent that you're not really aware of anything else. It may also mean a state of confusion where the brain "shuts down" and someone just stares blankly not sure what to do or say.

The word derives from the activities of Dr Anton Mesmer, an C18th Viennese physician, who used elaborate rituals (involving use of magnetized rods) to put people into trances believed to have healing value. In truth, the only value in these rituals derived from the elaborate physician/ patient interaction, the placebo effect, power of suggestion etc, and had nothing to do with the "magnetic forces" used. Mesmer was, nevertheless, an early practitioner of what today would be called "hypnotherapy", and the term "mesmerized" is now simply a synonym for hypnosis/ hypnotism; an archaic usage rarely employed by serious hypnosis practitioners.

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12y ago

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