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Hysteria

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Sex Roles and Psychopathology

Abstract

In an often-quoted statement, hysteria has been defined as “a picture of women in the words of men, and ... what the description sounds like is a caricature of femininity” (Chodoff and Lyons, 1958, p. 739). Unfortunately, we cannot begin our exploration of sex roles and hysteria with a more objective definition of hysteria. No such definition exists. At best, we can search for an understanding of the ways in which the diagnosis “hysteria” has been used and of the relationship between its use and the gender of the person to whom the term has been applied.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, 23508, USA

    Barbara Ann Winstead

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  1. Barbara Ann Winstead
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University, 302 Sycamore Hall, Bloomington, Indiana, 47405, USA

    Cathy Spatz Widom (Chairperson and Associate Professor of Forensic Studies, Associate Professor of Psychology) (Chairperson and Associate Professor of Forensic Studies, Associate Professor of Psychology)

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© 1984 Plenum Press, New York

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Winstead, B.A. (1984). Hysteria. In: Widom, C.S. (eds) Sex Roles and Psychopathology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4562-6_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4562-6_4

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