Although not so unpleasant, there are other habits, such as stammering or stuttering, which can make a patient suffer agonies of mind, and develop a marked sense of inferiority.
In practically every case it is easy to pick out some emotional incident in early life which seems to have been the starting-point. This does not need any deep psychoanalysis as the cause is usually easily elicited by ordinary questioning.

Take for instance the case of a trained professional man. At an early age, in first attending school, he was forced to change from left to right hand for the purposes of writing. At about the same time he was taken on a roundabout, and, to use his own words, ‘screamed his head off with fright’. Ever after, he stammered badly.
The patient had tried all sorts of treatment, including hypnosis from a lay hypnotist who had been unable to ‘put him under’. He was a difficult subject at first owing to his analytical mind and expectations of failure. After several sessions, however he expressed himself delighted with the improvement. The patient had suffered agonies of mind for years, and the stammer had definitely handicapped him professionally.

Here again it is astonishing how people will suffer with such a distressing complaint when there is a simple remedy at hand.
Another patient was brought along by his wife because his stammer was ruining their social life. Whenever he had to meet friends, he would break down badly and become almost speechless. He remembered being very afraid as a boy when his father lost his voice after a big party. The thought crossed his mind that he might lose his voice too and, as a result, he began to stammer. The more he worried about it, the worse he got.
The patient was easily hypnotized, and it was pointed out that his early fear had caused nervous tension. He was told that nervous tension has to find an outlet some way, and that is why some people get nervous headaches, some get nervous palpitation and others develop nervous indigestion. In his case the tension had gone to his throat and caused muscular spasm with resultant stammer. He was shown that he could speak perfectly well while calm, peaceful and relaxed under hypnosis. 
This was emphasized by getting the patient to speak clearly and distinctly. Suggestions were then given that he would be able to relax easily in future for himself and so keep his nerves calm and peaceful under all circumstances.

As a result he would speak clearly and distinctly on all occasions in the way he had been able to do under hypnosis. Half a dozen sessions were sufficient to restore his confidence completely, dispel all fears of mixing in the social round, and produce a really remarkable improvement in his speech.

It is a strange thing, that practically all people who stammer or stutter can speak perfectly well to animals. They can read well to themselves usually and can often sing. Further, it is seldom that they cannot whisper perfectly.
When, however, they endeavour to speak to other people, the fear of possible failure or criticism causes worry and anxiety which generates nervous tension. This in turn produces spasm of the muscles concerned in speech, so that hesitation and difficulty result. Hypnotism, by teaching these people to relax perfectly and removing their fear, can usually cure the condition very quickly.

Sometimes the (exciting) cause of the stammer is of recent origin. Such a case was that of a young man who was forced to spend many years abroad under conditions which he disliked. He was forced by circumstances to live, work and speak with people whom he thought, rightly or wrongly, were inferior to him. He could not refuse to speak to them, but his mind sought the way out by making him stammer so badly that he was generally left out of the conversation. This suited him at the time, but on returning to normal life, he was horrified to find that the habit had become permanent. The more he worried, the worse he became. He was fairly easily hypnotized, and the cause of his condition clearly explained. After a few sessions he reported himself cured.

Blushing is another nervous habit which causes untold misery to those afflicted with it. The distress caused is out of all propor-tion to the actual complaint. Such people suffer agonies of mind in public and tend to avoid social life as much as possible.

Such a patient was a man who complained of excessive blushing. He could not mix in company, especially if there was a bright light, and was particularly upset if he had to face anybody. The very idea of facing a woman would cause him to blush scarlet. He easily became nervous and upset and suffered from an excess of saliva in the mouth under any of these conditions.
Questioning revealed that the trouble first started at the age of fourteen when he noticed that his mother blushed, and he suddenly thought it would be terrible if he blushed also. As a result of the anxiety, he generated nervous tension which discharged itself by dilating the blood vessels of his face, and so he promptly blushed. 

His mother remarked on it and so confused him more than ever. After this he was in constant fear of an attack and, as a result, blushed so often that he developed the habit of doing so on the slightest provocation.
The patient was lightly hypnotized and told that he could learn to control the blood vessels in his face.
It was pointed out that most people blushed when young, but that nearly all of them learnt to control the blood vessels naturally so that they soon lost the habit of blushing. Others, like himself, needed to be taught. General suggestions were given for relaxation and calming the nerves. After three sessions the patient reported himself cured, having had no attacks of blushing. His gratitude was almost pathetic, and it is difficult for an ordinary person to imagine the agony of mind which these sensitive people suffer from such a simple habit.

Another patient suffered in a similar way. He was terribly self-conscious and blushed at the slightest provocation. It was impossible for him to mix with girls as he was so painfully shy. His trouble first started when at the age of about fourteen he decided to change his employment. When he gave notice to his employer, he was nervous and blushed, and his employer laughed at him.
Ever after this, the habit of blushing was firmly established. Two sessions of hypnosis improved him to such an extent that he could get up and make a speech to a mixed audience in a youth club, a thing he would never have had the courage to do before being hypnotized.

Allied to these nervous habits is the well-known phenomena of Stage Fright. Ever since the story of Svengali and Trilby, actors and actresses have been fascinated by the possibilities of hypnotism. In common with the lay public, they often have the idea that hypnotism can change them from mediocre performers to a brilliant success overnight. This it can do if they have natural talent which is only held back by nervousness. It is well known that hypnotic subjects when instructed to act a part do so with more realism than they could in ordinary waking life. This is because for the time being they feel they are really living the part and not merely acting. The inhibiting influence and nervousness of waking life are removed, so that the subject can give out the best of which he is capable.

This does not mean that any ordinary person with no talent for acting can be simply hypnotized and turned into a wonderful actor. All that happens is that the natural abilities are given full play by removing the hindering forces of nervousness.
Unlike the fantastic situation in the Svengali -Trilby story, the actor does not give his performance while actually in the hypnotic trance. This could, of course, be done, but would not be satisfactory for many obvious reasons. Instead, suggestions are given which remove nervousness and inspire him to give of his best. These suggestions come into force post-hypnotically so that the actor is able to give the best possible performance of which he is capable. Using hypnotism in this way has the great advantage that nobody knows that their favourite actor or actress is being assisted by it.

Alhough there is no real reason why they should not know this, it is considered bad publicity in the profession. For this reason it is fortunate that the beneficial effects can be brought about by means of the post-hypnotic suggestion which makes the presence of the hypnotist unnecessary.
A well-known actor came along and explained that he wanted hypnotic treatment to increase his self-confidence. He had always done very well, and nobody had noticed anything wrong, but he constantly had a fear of possible failure, which caused him considerable anxiety. Certain situations and particular scenes affected him more than others, and enquiry revealed the fact that they reminded him of certain incidents which had upset him in childhood. For instance, he had made a fool of himself on one occasion, and other children had laughed at him. Ever since, he had been secretly afraid of making a mistake.

A few sessions of hypnosis were sufficient to restore completely his self-confidence and remove all feelings of fear. As a result the patient did better than ever and was able to play the leading part in several important films.

Singers and musicians often suffer from stage fright, and everybody is aware how nervousness shows itself in the voice. One actor came along and stated that he wanted to get more confidence in singing and acting, especially before the camera. He had a secret fear that he would forget his lines and also that he contorted his face unnecessarily when singing. Actually, he did neither of these things, but the fear of them caused anxiety and generated nervous tension. This showed itself by upsetting his breathing and causing palpitation, particularly before an important occasion.
Naturally, these disturbances interfered with his singing and prevented him giving of his best. A few sessions of hypnosis quickly restored his confidence, with consequent considerable improvement in his performance.

Another young actor applied for help because in certain situations, for example if playing opposite an elderly woman, he would often become confused, stumble and forget his lines. This threatened to interfere seriously with his career. Questioning revealed the fact that once he had made a mistake when playing opposite an elderly actress of uncertain temper. She had made a fool of him in front of other people; and ever since he had been afraid of situations which even faintly reminded him of this pain-ful episode. Hypnosis enabled him to regain his self-confidence, so that he was able to disregard incidents which had previously upset him.