Hysteria

Many common day mysteries are questions that have been around for many years but have simply been unable to be answered. Part of our nature, as humans, is to question not only our existence but also everything around us; the unknown is more intriguing than what we already know. Part of questioning and learning about ourselves involves learning about others. Once we begin to understand why we do the things that we do, we gain an understanding of how humans work. The entire medical field is dedicated to the inner and outer workings of humans and how we can better heal what commonly ails us. This process is made easier when you can see a clear link between what causes each problem. There are many physical and mental ailments that are a complete mystery to even the brightest minds. Among those, hysteria is a disease that has been around for centuries, and one that has been a mystery. As times has gone on there have been more and more versions of what this is and how to treat it. In fact, there are some doctors that claim that the information on hysteria is inconsistent and therefore is not sufficient enough data to pin down an exact definition for hysteria. (Showalter, 1997)

Charles Dana (1907) describes hysteria as, “a morbid mental condition in which emotional states control the body.” Throughout history, hysteria has been understood in many different ways. It was long ago thought that hysteria was a physical problem that takes its toll on the mind. Over centuries, just the opposite was believed to be true, that the ailments of the mind were taken out on the body. Elaine Showalter describes that, “Now hysteria � has come to imply behavior that produces the appearance of disease’ although the patient is unconscious of the motives for feeling sick.” As time has passed hysteria seems to have gone from pointing out exactly which problem causes the other, to becoming more of an anomaly. It is easy to see then that just as hysteria was a mystery years ago and still remains a mystery today. Some people have gone as far as to say that hysteria does not have a cause rather that it is a made up disorder, one in which is utilized to gain attention. While that may be logical to assume due to the lack of any real scientific understanding of the disease, one must question that if numerous people have the same type of symptoms this disease is not one that be explained as a made up disorder, it would only make sense that there is a common disorder rather than an attention-seeking scheme. Elaine Showalter and many others over time have discussed that hysteria is how a person’s feelings and emotions are manifested in different ways whether being released as anxiety or behaviorally.

Erika Kinetz wrote an article that discusses the idea of hysteria being �real’ stating that brain images point to an answer to this question. She states, “although the brain mechanisms behind hysterical illness are still not fully understood, new studies have started to bring the mind back into the body, by identifying the physical evidence of one of the most elusive, controversial and enduring illnesses.” This statement suggests not only that the mind (a relatively intangible notion) can be connected to the body, but also that we can assume that if we could see a connection between the two that the inner workings of the mind and brain would lead to a correct answer rather than an idea of the problem. That is the problem with not only science but also psychology specifically, that even when the brightest minds of our times believe that they have found the answer, they have usually only found some evidence to support their theory rather than an 100% accurate answer. Studies are done to try and connect brain activity with