Hysteria: this was the "women's disorder"

Under the term hysteria is a disorder difficult to define, whose symptoms appear without the need for the person to suffer any type of organic condition 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, hence it is also known as conversion disorder.

However, this diagnosis did not always work the same way. Since ancient times, hysteria was considered a disease of women, which could manifest itself through any type of symptom and that it was caused by a great repression sexual.

• Related article: "Conversion Disorder: Symptoms, Treatments, and Possible Causes"

What is hysteria?

The diagnosis of hysteria is what is now 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, who

were treated through an intervention known as “pelvic massage”. This treatment consisted of manual stimulation of the woman's intimate area, by the clinical professional, until she reached orgasm.

The science of the time theorized that women fell ill with hysteria due to a repressed sexual desire, and that upon arrival In this orgasmic state, which they called "hysterical paroxysm", the symptoms of hysteria subsided little by little.

These hysteria-related symptoms 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 he understood that there was something beyond consciousness itself. As a result of the study of hysteria, Freud determined the existence of the unconscious, theorizing that the cause of said disorder was the repression of a traumatic event, which manifested itself through crises that appeared without any kind of explanation.

• Related article: "History of Psychology: authors and main theories"

First diagnoses of hysteria

Although the diagnosis and study of hysteria had its heyday in the Victorian era, records of hysteria diagnoses exist from much earlier times.

Hysteria can be found described in ancient Egyptian archives, and both Plato as 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 capable of traveling through any part of the body, causing all kinds of diseases.

This myth is the one that gives rise to the term hysteria, since its root originates from the Greek word hystera, used in ancient times 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 lack in women with passionate tendencies; and vaginal massages were already recommended as a cure procedure.

The rise of hysteria in the Victorian era

Given the number of symptoms that the Victorian-era medical community attributed to hysteria, it was became the default diagnosis for virtually any condition, however mild, that felt a women.

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 hysteria diagnoses was the easy treatment of it. Vaginal massages were a safe treatment, since it was impossible for the patient to she worsened or died as a result of the intervention, which was very common in the health system at the time victorian.

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 he it could take him a long time to get the woman to reach the "hysterical paroxysm", with the consequent physical fatigue that this entailed for both him and the patient.

As a remedy to this drawback, the invention of a device created to facilitate this task occurred. This apparatus consisted of a kind of mechanical vibrator, which was placed on the intimate area of ​​the woman; thus giving rise, and without anyone in the scientific community suspecting it, to the current 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 spread of electricity, vibrators reached practically all homes, with the purpose that the women could perform the treatment themselves from the comfort and privacy of their home.

It is curious that, despite the fact that the cause of hysteria was determined as a lack of activity or sexual satisfaction, the medical community roundly rejected the idea of ​​the vibrator as an object with a sexual purpose. Purpose that, with the passage of time, is the one that has been granted.

The end of this type of diagnosis

However, the fame and advantages that the diagnosis of hysteria entailed were not enough for it to be maintained over time. The advancement of studies in psychology led to a greater understanding of the human mind, which is why the hysteria as a conversion disorder, which has much more specific symptoms and can occur in both men and women. women.

Therefore, during the first years of the 20th century, the diagnosis of hysteria decreased considerably. Also in part, because the medical community itself accepted that it was impossible to maintain a diagnosis that included any type of possible symptom.

Finally, although the term continues to be used today as another way of referring to the conversion disorder, its diagnosis according to Victorian-era guidelines is completely eradicated.