Hypnotism emerged as a significant area of research in the twentieth century, particularly in relation to mind control programs and the manipulation of memory. George H. Estabrooks, a prominent figure in the evolving field of hypnotherapy, believed that hypnotism and emotional shock produced the same resultant state of dissociation. In 1959 he applied to the National Institute of Mental Health for funding of a proposed study titled Hypnotism in Juvenile Delinquency. This institute at the time functioned as a cutout used to fund MKUltra research into various prospective methods of mind control, some involving children.[^1] Estabrooks wrote in his study proposal of the especially high levels of susceptibility children had to hypnotic techniques. He noted that while one out of five adults were good hypnotic subjects, four out of five children fell into this category. This understanding made children particularly valuable as research subjects for programs seeking to induce dissociative states. In August 1961, Subproject 136 of the MKUltra program was approved for funding under the title Experimental Analysis of Extrasensory Perception, with the objective of inducing dissociative states in children through drugs and hypnosis to create multiple personalities.[^1] Estabrooks claimed in a 1971 article published in Science Digest to have successfully created multiple personalities through hypnotic techniques in officers of the US Army's intelligence division during World War II. While it remains unclear whether Estabrooks was directly involved with MKUltra, his research interests aligned closely with the program's objectives. The subproject's agenda included inducing dissociative states in children to create compartmentalized personalities that could be activated independently.[^1] The text notes that both dissociative identity disorder and false memory syndrome explanations converge on the point that hypnotism can be used to access repressed memories, or implant false ones, within splits of the human personality. This shared understanding placed hypnotism at the center of debates about memory reliability in abuse cases. The Belgian investigation into the Dutroux affair examined whether hypnotic techniques had been used to manipulate witness testimony, with some arguing that recovered memories required validation through real world evidence before being taken seriously.[^1] The practical application of hypnotism extended into criminal investigations and therapeutic contexts. In the Dutroux affair, witnesses reported recovered memories of abuse that emerged through hypnotic regression. These memories formed the basis of the X-dossier investigations, though they were later challenged by proponents of false memory syndrome who argued that the memories had been implanted through suggestion. The debate over hypnotism's role in memory recovery became central to the legal proceedings, with courts ultimately preventing X-witnesses from testifying at the trials of Marc Dutroux and Michel Nihoul.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar.