The History of Hysteria Essay -- Exploratory Essays

The History of HysteriaW. Somerset Maughams The Moon and Sixpence is essentially a novel about a mans struggle to free himself from the restrictions of society and to act out his most passionate desire--to paint. However, Maughams novel is also a story of its beat and therefore reflects popular theories and ideas that were prevalent at the time of its writing. Included in these ideas is Hysteria, mentioned clearly when the narrators describes the doctors view of Blanches attempt to kill herself as just a hysterical woman who had quarreled with her lover...it was constantly happening. (Maugham 123). The following will describe the development, symptoms and treatment of Hysteria.Hysteria, considered a neurotic illness (www.a2zpsychology.com/a2z%20guide/hysteria.htm) was considered a disorder in which a person, usually a woman, exhibited physical symptoms yet no physical ca utilization could be found. Coming from the Greek for uterus, or hysteria, Hysteria was thought to be related to the uterus or an altered menstrual cycle.Hysterias symptoms were many, but the most notable included inappropriate elation or lugubriousness (www.healthlibrary.com/ adaptation/ncure/chap94.htm), excessive laughing or crying followed by an abrupt return to a normal state, fainting, panic, paralysis, cramps in the body and a sense of tightness of the throat. (www.healthlibrary.com/reading/ncure/chap94.htm) The French doctor Jean-Martin Charcot, a pioneer in the field of psychiatry in the mid-nineteenth century, insisted that there were four stages to a full hysterical flame 1. Tonic Rigidity 2. Clonic spasms and grand movements 3. Attitudes passionelles, or vivid physical representations of one or more emotional states 4. Final delirium-... ...n appreciates (SOURCE) and Hearsts magazine urged husbands to get them as Christmas gifts to keep their wives young and pretty and free from Hysteria. However, as Freud initiated a new type of thinking in the psychiatric world, vibrators fel l out of use and were replaced by more modern cures such as psychoanalysis.While hysteria is no longer a medical condition, it is important to note its effect some(prenominal) on the medical world and the steps it took to cure it as well as the effect it had on women and their standing in society.SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATIONwww.healthlibrary.com/reading/ncure/chap94.htm This web site provides a very complete description of the history, causes, symptoms and cures for Hysteria.Also, for further reading, try Charlotte Perkins Gillmans The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Short Stories, available from Penguin Publishers.