Refund and Reparation

Box 1796
Savannah, Ga.
April 13, 1949

The Gerontological Society
Baltimore City Hospital
Baltimore, Md.

Gentlemen;

Working in private research, I have apparently made certain discoveries which seem to indicate they would have a definite effect on longevity. As a society member I am communicating a brief outline.

I am accumulating additional information to safeguard this work from undue optimism and am preparing a paper a copy of which will be sent to you, entitled, Certain Discoveries and Researches Leading to the Removal of Early Traumatic Experiences Including Attempted Abortion, Birth Shock and Infant Illnesses and Accidents with an Examination of their Effects Physiological and Psychological and their Potential Influence on Longevity on the Adult Individual with an Account of the Techniques Evolved and Employed.

A very brief resume of this work follows: In an effort to evolve a better clinical approach to the treatment of certain neuroses and psychoses, to permanently relieve psycho-somatic ills and to investigate some of the longevity factors, an extensive investigation of the early work of Freud was undertaken and revealed certain premises. First amongst these was the belief that the unconscious mind recalled birth shock. Lack of technology made it impossible for Freud to pursue that work at that time. By making changes in the practices of narcosynthesis and combining it with certain techniques of hypnosis but employing no positive suggestion or other therapy peculiar to hypnosis, a trance state was induced in patients and, with these evolved techniques, they were induced to recall the birth trauma. A series of twenty cases was examined. Eight of the first ten recalled birth. New significance was found in traumatic experience and a method was evolved to remove early traumas completely. During therapy on the next ten cases, in four subjects earlier traumatic experience was found to precede birth such as accident to the mother and attempted abortion and these traumas were removed in order to reach and relieve the birth shock. In each case treated the removal of the early traumas brought about a marked improvement in the psychological and physiological health of the adult, a removal of psychoses and psycho-somatic illnesses such as arthritis, sinusitis, allergies, asthma, peptic ulcers and chronic headaches including one migraine, the only patient so suffering.

One decided aspect, present in sixteen of the cases out of twenty, was the reduction of the physiological age of the adult, clinically measurable by exercise tests. Another aspect was the apparent new effectiveness of hormones which, in hormone-therapy prior to this treatment, had not been effective and which, after the removal of the early traumas and a subsequent removal of other serious traumatic experiences, were not found to be as vital to the individual if more effective. A third longevity aspect was the improvement of four of these cases suffering from heart trouble which would now seem to have been psycho-somatic although other causes had been assigned: the lunge of the heart at the cutting of the umbilical cord had been restimulated steadily by present environment until the heart was in poor condition.

In one case of arrested sexual development, a girl and the only one present in this series of twenty, the glands renewed activity without hormone-therapy and she underwent a physiological change toward normal.

This letter may be considered only as a report of work-in-progress as an additional twenty cases are to be studied before any final conclusion is drawn and then, of course, it can only be tentative, awaiting the experience of other investigators advised by my discoveries. A paper as mentioned above will be released at the end of the next series. You have permission, however, to publish this letter providing this injunction is added: there is no particular danger involved in working in this field except when the early traumas are approached and restimulated but not removed by therapy. In such an untoward event one sees the history of physiological and psychological deterioration markedly accelerated since it seems possible from these studies that such deterioration is caused by present environment gradually causing the unconscious integration of the early traumas with their force and psychotic or neurotic significance: once the environment restimulates the early traumatic experience that experience apparently remains restimulated. Hence restimulation of an early trauma by therapy but not its removal occasions deterioration of the individual to greater or lesser degree. However my final conclusions are reserved until, at least, the end of the next series.

Sincerely,

L. Ron Hubbard

Scientology site: http://www.traditionalhubbard.org/page07.htm