Hysteria: characteristics and examples

The word hysteria generally referred to a mental illness or state of mind. Most often it refers to loss of self-control or a severe form of anxiety. In the course of the twentieth century it became a more general term and was no longer used for a specific clinical picture.

Hysteria was considered a neurosis, in which anxious impulses were transformed into bodily symptoms. It was strongly linked to sexuality, which women in the past were largely forced to suppress. But also other unsatisfied needs during development can arouse the same feelings of anxiety and lead to "hysterical outbursts".