Difference between revisions of "Hysteria"

From No Subject - Encyclopedia of Psychoanalysis
Jump to: navigation, search
(minor, fixed 'necessary')
(12 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
The symptomatic return of repressed childhood sexual trauma. The two main forms of hysteria are 1) conversion hysteria, in which the symptoms are manifested on the body (eg. psychosomatic illness); and 2) anxiety hysteria, in which one feels excessive anxiety because of an external object (eg. phobias).
+
{{Top}}hystérie{{Bottom}}
  
Hysteria is a diagnostic label applied to a state of mind, one of unmanageable fear or emotional excesses. The fear is often centered on a body part, most often on an imagined problem with that body part (disease is a common complaint). People who are "hysterical" often lose self-control due to the overwhelming fear.
+
==Definition==
[edit]
+
The nosographical category of [[hysteria]] dates back to ancient Greek medicine, which conceived of it as a female disease caused by the womb wandering throughout the body (in Greek ''hysteron'' means womb).
  
History
+
The term acquired an important place in [[psychiatry]] in the nineteenth century, especially in the work of Jean-Martin Charcot, under whom [[Freud]] studied in 1885-6.
  
The term originates with the Greek medical term, hysterikos. This referred to a supposed medical condition, peculiar to women, caused by disturbances of the uterus, hystera in Greek. The term hysteria was coined by Hippocrates, who thought that the cause of hysteria was irregular movement of blood from the uterus to the brain.
+
==Sigmund Freud==
 +
It was in the course of treating [[hysterical]] [[patient]]s in the 1890s that [[Freud]] developed the psychoanalytical method of [[treatment]] ([[free association]], etc.) and began to form the major concepts of [[psychoanalytic theory]].
  
The same general definition, or under the name female hysteria, came into widespread use in the middle and late 19th century to describe what is today generally considered to be sexual dissatisfaction.[1] Typical "treatment" was massage of the patient's genitalia by the physician and later vibrators or water sprays to cause orgasm.[1] By the early 1900s the practice, and usage of the term, had fallen from use, until it was again popularised when the writings of Sigmund Freud became known and influential in Britain and the USA in the 1920s. The Freudian psychoanalytic school of psychology uses its own, somewhat controversial, ways to treat hysteria.
+
[[Freud]]'s first properly psychoanalytic case history concerns the treatment of a hysterical woman known as "[[Dora]]."<ref>[[Freud|Freud, Sigmund]]. "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria]]", 1905e. [1901]. [[SE]] VII, 3.</ref>
  
The knowledge of hysterical processes was advanced by the work of Jean-Martin Charcot, a French neurologist. However, many now consider hysteria to be a 'legacy diagnosis' (i.e.: a catch-all junk diagnosis),[2] particularly due to its long list of possible manifestations: one Victorian physician catalogued 75 pages of possible symptoms of hysteria and called the list incomplete.[3]
+
==Symptomatology==
 +
The classic [[symptom]]atology of [[hysteria]] involves physical [[symptoms]] such as local paralyses, pains and anaesthesias, for which no organic cause can be found, and which are articulated around an "imaginary autonomy" which bears no relation to the real [[structure]] of the nervous system<ref>{{L}} 1951b. "[[Works of Jacques Lacan|Some Reflections on the Ego]]," ''Int. J. Psycho-Anal.'', vol. 34, 1953. p. 13</ref>.
  
A form of [[neurosis]] for which no physical diagnosis can be found and in which the symptoms presented are expressive of an unconscious conflict. 
+
However, although [[Lacan]] does discuss the [[symptom]]atology of [[hysteria]], linking it to the [[imago]] of the [[fragmented body]],<ref>{{E}} p. 5</ref> he comes to define [[hysteria]] not as a set of [[symptom]]s but as a [[structure]].
In conversion hysteria, the symptoms usually take a somatic form (hysterical paralysis, irritation of the throat, coughs); in anxiety hysteria or phobia, the cause of the anxiety is a particular external object.  Hysteria has been explained in many different ways over the centuries; the most influential aetiology or causal explanation to have been put forward in the twentieth century is that supplied by [[Freud]]'s [[psychoanalysis]].
 
  
Freud's initial thesis (1896) was the so-called [[seduction theory]] which held that hysteria and other neuroses originate in an experience of actual sexual abuse that has been repressed, but which can be recovered.  Freud initially used hypnosis to recover these memories, but abandoned it in favor of what Anna O. so felicitously termed the [[talking cure]].  Freud subsequently revised his original seduction theory in the course of a long correspondence with his collaborator Fliess and argued that hysteria stemmed from unconscious fantasies about incest that were bound up with [[oedipus complex]], though he never denied either the existence or the pathogenic effects of real abuse.
+
This means that a [[subject]] may well exhibit none of the typical bodily [[symptom]]s of [[hysteria]] and yet still be diagnosed as a [[hysteric]] by a [[Lacan]]ian [[analyst]].
  
 +
==Neurosis==
 +
Like [[Freud]], [[Lacan]] regards [[hysteria]] as one of the two main forms of [[neurosis]], the other being [[obsessional neurosis]].
 +
 +
In the [[seminar]] of 1955-6 [[Lacan]] develops the idea that the [[structure]] of [[neurosis]] is that of a question, and that what differentiates [[hysteria]] from [[obsessional neurosis]] is the nature of this question.
 +
 +
Whereas [[obsessional neurosis]] concerns the question of the [[subject]]'s [[existence]], [[hysteria]] concerns the question of the [[subject]]'s [[sexual position]].
 +
 +
This question may be phrased "Am I a [[man]] or a [[woman]]?" or, more precisely, "What is a [[woman]]?"<ref>{{S3}} p.170-5</ref>
 +
 +
This is true for both [[male]] and [[female]] [[hysterics]].<ref>{{S3}} p.178</ref>
 +
 +
==Femininity==
 +
[[Lacan]] thus reaffirms the ancient view that there is an intimate connection between [[hysteria]] and [[femininity]].
 +
 +
Indeed, most [[hysterics]] are [[women]], just as most [[obsessional neurotics]] are [[men]].
 +
 +
==Structure==
 +
The [[structure]] of [[desire]], as [[desire]] of the [[Other]], is shown more clearly in [[hysteria]] than in any other [[clinical structure]]; the [[hysteric]] is precisely someone who appropriates another's [[desire]] by [[identifying]] with them.
 +
 +
==Dora Case==
 +
For example, [[Dora]] identifies with Herr K, taking as her own the [[desire]] which she perceives him to have for Frau K.<ref>{{S4}} p. 138</ref>
 +
 +
However, as the case of [[Dora]] also shows, the [[hysteric]] only sustains the [[desire]] of the [[Other]] on condition that she is not the [[object]] of that [[desire]].<ref>{{Ec}} p.222</ref>
 +
 +
She cannot bear to be taken as the [[object]] of [[desire]] because that would revive the wound of [[privation]].<ref>{{S17}} p. 84</ref>
 +
 +
==Treatment==
 +
It is this privileged relation between the [[structure]] of [[desire]] and the [[structure]] of [[hysteria]] which explains why [[Lacan]] devotes so much attention to this [[clinic]]al [[structure]], and why he develops the idea in the 1970s that it is necessary, in [[psychoanalytic treatment]], to "[[hysteria|hystericize]]" the [[analysand]].
 +
 +
==Discourse of the Hysteric==
 +
[[Hysteria]], as a [[clinic]]al [[structure]], must be distinguished from [[Lacan]]s concept of the [[discourse]] of the [[hysteric]], which designates a particular form of [[discourse|social bond]].
 +
 +
==See Also==
 +
{{See}}
 +
* [[Analyst]]
 +
* [[Desire]]
 +
||
 +
* [[Discourse]]
 +
* [[Neurosis]]
 +
||
 +
* [[Obsessional neurosis]]
 +
* [[Other]]
 +
||
 +
* [[Structure]]
 +
* [[Symptom]]
 +
||
 +
* [[Treatment]]
 +
* [[Woman]]
 +
{{Also}}
  
 
== References ==
 
== References ==
 +
<div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small">
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
 +
</div>
  
[[Category:Sigmund Freud]]
+
[[Category:Dictionary]]
 
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
 
[[Category:Psychoanalysis]]
[[Category:Neurosis]]
+
[[Category:Sexuality]]
[[Category:Freudian Psychology]]
+
[[Category:Practice]]
 +
[[Category:Treatment]]
 +
{{OK}}
 +
 
 +
__NOTOC__

Revision as of 18:33, 18 March 2009

French: hystérie

Definition

The nosographical category of hysteria dates back to ancient Greek medicine, which conceived of it as a female disease caused by the womb wandering throughout the body (in Greek hysteron means womb).

The term acquired an important place in psychiatry in the nineteenth century, especially in the work of Jean-Martin Charcot, under whom Freud studied in 1885-6.

Sigmund Freud

It was in the course of treating hysterical patients in the 1890s that Freud developed the psychoanalytical method of treatment (free association, etc.) and began to form the major concepts of psychoanalytic theory.

Freud's first properly psychoanalytic case history concerns the treatment of a hysterical woman known as "Dora."[1]

Symptomatology

The classic symptomatology of hysteria involves physical symptoms such as local paralyses, pains and anaesthesias, for which no organic cause can be found, and which are articulated around an "imaginary autonomy" which bears no relation to the real structure of the nervous system[2].

However, although Lacan does discuss the symptomatology of hysteria, linking it to the imago of the fragmented body,[3] he comes to define hysteria not as a set of symptoms but as a structure.

This means that a subject may well exhibit none of the typical bodily symptoms of hysteria and yet still be diagnosed as a hysteric by a Lacanian analyst.

Neurosis

Like Freud, Lacan regards hysteria as one of the two main forms of neurosis, the other being obsessional neurosis.

In the seminar of 1955-6 Lacan develops the idea that the structure of neurosis is that of a question, and that what differentiates hysteria from obsessional neurosis is the nature of this question.

Whereas obsessional neurosis concerns the question of the subject's existence, hysteria concerns the question of the subject's sexual position.

This question may be phrased "Am I a man or a woman?" or, more precisely, "What is a woman?"[4]

This is true for both male and female hysterics.[5]

Femininity

Lacan thus reaffirms the ancient view that there is an intimate connection between hysteria and femininity.

Indeed, most hysterics are women, just as most obsessional neurotics are men.

Structure

The structure of desire, as desire of the Other, is shown more clearly in hysteria than in any other clinical structure; the hysteric is precisely someone who appropriates another's desire by identifying with them.

Dora Case

For example, Dora identifies with Herr K, taking as her own the desire which she perceives him to have for Frau K.[6]

However, as the case of Dora also shows, the hysteric only sustains the desire of the Other on condition that she is not the object of that desire.[7]

She cannot bear to be taken as the object of desire because that would revive the wound of privation.[8]

Treatment

It is this privileged relation between the structure of desire and the structure of hysteria which explains why Lacan devotes so much attention to this clinical structure, and why he develops the idea in the 1970s that it is necessary, in psychoanalytic treatment, to "hystericize" the analysand.

Discourse of the Hysteric

Hysteria, as a clinical structure, must be distinguished from Lacans concept of the discourse of the hysteric, which designates a particular form of social bond.

See Also

References

  1. Freud, Sigmund. "Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria", 1905e. [1901]. SE VII, 3.
  2. Lacan, Jacques. 1951b. "Some Reflections on the Ego," Int. J. Psycho-Anal., vol. 34, 1953. p. 13
  3. Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p. 5
  4. Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book III. The Psychoses, 1955-56. Trans. Russell Grigg. London: Routledge, 1993. p.170-5
  5. Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book III. The Psychoses, 1955-56. Trans. Russell Grigg. London: Routledge, 1993. p.178
  6. Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre IV. La relation d'objet, 19566-57. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1991. p. 138
  7. Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. Paris: Seuil, 1966. p.222
  8. Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre XVII. L'envers de la psychanalyse, 19669-70. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1991. p. 84