[Hysteria: history of a concept and its clinical reality]

Diane Brulin-Solignac1, Arnaud de Jésus2, Camila Defanti De Agostinho3

  • 1Institut psycho-judiciaire et de psychopathologie (IPJP), Institute of Forensic Psychology and Psychopathology, France; Unité pour malades difficiles, pôle de psychiatrie médico-légale, centre hospitalier de Cadillac, 10 avenue Joseph-Caussil, 33410 Cadillac, France.

Soins. Psychiatrie
|July 16, 2021
PubMed

Hysteria is one of the oldest and best known clinical terms. Its history reveals the extent to which pathological entities, some more than others, are the fruit of successive conceptions of experts, themselves undoubtedly influenced by the prevailing currents of thought of their time. From its uterine origin to its psychogenic etiology, here is the history of hysteria and its controversies. A history that belongs to that of medicine, neurology, psychiatry, psychology and psychoanalysis.

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