Från kropp till psyke : Förändringar i synen på hysteri i tidskriften Eira 1880–1897

Sammanfattning

Abstract This essay explores how hysteria was described and understood in the Swedish medical journal Eira between 1880 and 1897. By analyzing articles written by doctors during this period, the study examines how hysteria was defined, what symptoms were associated with it and how patients, especially women, were portrayed. The findings show that ideas about hysteria changed significantly over time. In the early articles, hysteria was mainly linked to the female body and reproductive organs and symptoms were often explained through physical causes. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, however, doctors increasingly viewed hysteria as a psychological condition connected to the mind and nervous system rather than the body alone. The study also shows that hysteria was a difficult diagnosis to define. Symptoms varied widely and could include both physical problems such as seizures, pain and paralysis and psychological symptoms such as anxiety, emotional distress and altered perception. Because these symptoms often resembled those of other illnesses, especially epilepsy, doctors frequently expressed uncertainty about diagnosis and treatment. Women were the patients most commonly associated with hysteria and descriptions of them often reflected contemporary ideas about femininity, sensitivity and emotional instability. Overall, the essay demonstrates how medical understandings of hysteria shifted from a mainly physical explanation to a more psychological one while remaining a complex and uncertain diagnosis throughout the period.