He wanted to get married and was already engaged to a charming girl. It was soon elicited that he had indulged frequently in self-abuse and felt that he was not worthy of such a girl. He was told under hypnosis that if he persisted in such a habit he was not worthy of the girl but that, as he wanted her, he would find it easy to give up this unnatural practice. Further that, as he stopped upsetting the balance of his nervous system, nature would repair any damage which had been done, and that his feelings would become natural. As the result of several sessions, he found it easy to give up the habit which was ruining his life, and looked forward to a happy future.
Impotence is another problem.
One man complained of inability to have normal intercourse with his wife, whom he loved very dearly. A psychiatrist had told him that this was because he was really, at heart, a homosexual, and secretly desired men rather than women. The patient was greatly distressed at this, and thought he must be going mad to have such thoughts. He had never noticed them himself, but took the psychiatrist s word for it that they must be there. Enquiry revealed that he had been quite normal when first married.