Hysteria: this was the "disorder of women"
Under the term hysteria is a difficult to define disorder , whose symptoms appear without the need for the person to suffer any type of organic disease that justifies them. In these cases, it is conjectured that the disease finds its cause in a psychological conflict to be resolved, which converts the person's discomfort into physical symptoms, which is why it is also known as a conversion disorder.
But nevertheless, this diagnosis did not always work in the same way . Since ancient times, hysteria was considered a disease of women, which could manifest by any type of symptom and was caused by a great sexual repression.
- Related article: "Conversion disorder: symptoms, treatments and possible causes"
What is hysteria?
The diagnosis of hysteria is what is currently known as conversion disorder , which is located within the classification of neuroses and can be suffered by both women and men.
But this was not always so. Throughout the history of psychiatry, the diagnosis of hysteria was reserved for women, which were treated by an intervention known as "pelvic massage " This treatment consisted of the manual stimulation of the intimate area of the woman, on the part of the clinical professional, until it reached orgasm.
The science of the time theorized that women became ill with hysteria due to repressed sexual desire, and that upon reaching this orgasmic state, which they called "hysterical paroxysm," the symptoms of hysteria gradually subsided.
These symptoms related to hysteria included from physical symptoms such as headaches, muscle spasms or fluid retention , even psychological symptoms such as insomnia, irritability or, what they called "propensity to cause problems".
Another relevant fact in the history of hysteria is that, thanks to this kind of disorder, the well-known psychiatrist Sigmund Freud understood that there was something beyond the conscience itself. Following the study of hysteria, Freud determined the existence of the unconscious, Theorizing that the cause of this disorder was the repression of a traumatic event , which manifested itself through crises that appeared without any explanation.
- Related article: "History of Psychology: authors and main theories"
First diagnoses of hysteria
Although the diagnosis and study of hysteria lived its moment of greatest apogee in the Victorian era, there are records of hysteria diagnoses from much older times.
Hysteria can be found described in archives of ancient Egypt, and both Plato and Hippocrates already described it at the time. During ancient Greece, hypotheses about hysteria were based on a myth according to which the female uterus is able to travel any part of the body , causing all kinds of diseases.
This myth is what gives rise to hysteria, since the root of this has its origin in the Greek word hystera, formerly used to refer to the uterus.
If we go a little further in time, the famous doctor Galen described hysteria as a condition caused by sexual deprivation in women with passion tendencies; and vaginal massages were already recommended as a procedure for the cure.
The rise of hysteria in the Victorian era
Given the amount of symptoms that the medical community of the Victorian era attributed to hysteria, it became the default diagnosis for virtually any condition, however slight, felt by a woman.
During that time, one in four women was diagnosed with hysteria , and the list of symptoms exceeded 75 pages in some manuals. The majority belief was that the rhythm of life of the time acted as a precipitating factor for women to suffer from this disease.
Another element that facilitated the large number of diagnoses of hysteria was its easy treatment. The vaginal massages were a safe treatment, given that it was impossible for the patient to worsen or die because of the intervention, something very common in the health system of the Victorian era.
The main drawback of this treatment was that it had to be carried out periodically and constantly. In addition, the techniques used to stimulate the woman were tiring for the doctor, since this It could take a long time for the woman to reach the "hysterical paroxysm" , with the consequent physical fatigue that this implied for both him and the patient.
As a remedy to this drawback, the invention of an apparatus created to facilitate facilitating this task occurred. This apparatus it consisted of a kind of mechanical vibrator , which was placed on the intimate area of the woman; giving origin thus, and without that nobody of the scientific community suspected it, to the present sex toys.
Although in the beginning such devices could only be found in doctors 'and psychiatrists' offices, with the passage of time and thanks to the propagation of electricity, vibrators reached practically all homes, with the purpose that women they could perform the treatment themselves from the comfort and privacy of their home.
It is curious that, despite the fact that the cause of the hysteria was determined as a lack of sexual activity or satisfaction, the medical community flatly rejected the idea of the vibrator as an object with a sexual purpose. Purpose that, with the passage of time, is what has been granted.
The end of this type of diagnosis
Nevertheless, the fame and the advantages that suppose the diagnosis of the hysteria were not sufficient so that this one stayed in the time. The advance of studies in psychology led to a greater understanding of the human mind, so it was considered hysteria as a conversion disorder, which has much more specific symptoms and can occur in both men and women.
Therefore, during the first years of the twentieth century the diagnosis of hysteria fell considerably. Also in part, because the medical community itself accepted that it was impossible to maintain a diagnosis within which could be any possible symptom .
Finally, although the term continues to be used today as another way of referring to conversion disorder, its diagnosis according to the guidelines of the Victorian era is completely eradicated.
