ENGLISH

Hysteria: The Biography (Biographies of Diseases)

By Andrew Scull

Book information

Year
2009
ISBN
019956096X, 9780199560967
LCC
RC532 .S38 2009
Open Library ID
OL23614273M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
2 MB (2218289 bytes)
Edition
1
Pages
256\232
Topic
Biology Biophysics
Scanned
yes
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

The nineteenth century seems to have been full of hysterical women--or so they were diagnosed. Where are they now? The very disease no longer exists. In this fascinating account, Andrew Scull tells the story of hysteria--an illness that disappeared not through medical endeavor, but through growing understanding and cultural change. The lurid history of hysteria makes fascinating reading. Charcot's clinics showed off flamboyantly "hysterical" patients taking on sexualized poses, and among the visiting professionals was one Sigmund Freud. Scull discusses the origins of the idea of hysteria, the development of a neurological approach by John Sydenham and others, hysteria as a fashionable condition, and its growth from the 17th century. Subsequently, the "disease" declined and eventually disappeared.

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