Eventually, hysteria came fully to be thought of as a mental illness and not necessarily to be associated with the sexual and reproductive well-being of a woman. The term itself, however,didn’t disappear from doctors’ lexicons until the 1950swhen the American Psychiatric Association removed it from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the bible of modern psychiatry.
The most common condition currently associated with classical “hysteria” isBorderline Personality Disorder(BPD). Even now there is a prevailingstigma against people who suffer from BPD. Not only is BPD hard to diagnose due to overlapping symptoms that can be associated with other mental illnesses, butmany therapists find it hard to treatbecause the symptoms of BPD include emotional volatility and instability. The manifestation of symptoms can arise, change, or disappear as fast as they are diagnosed.
Women diagnosed with BPD are often said to be “hysterical.” According to anarticle from Mad in America, women are diagnosed with BPD 75% more often than men and many of the common symptoms resemble those of hysteria throughout history. Is it sexism that perpetuates this gender disparity? Possibly. While women are more likely to get a diagnosis of mental illness overall, doctors are still less likely to take their symptoms — physical or mental — as seriously.
In her book “Women and Borderline Personality Disorder: Symptoms and Stories,” author Janet Wirth-Cauchon wrote, “the label ‘borderline’ may function in the same way that ‘hysteria’ did in the late 19th and early 20th century as a label for women.” While the discussion of women and mental illness may have become less blatantly sexist in recent years, it is clear that there is still an unfortunate yet commonly held belief that women are more prone to mental illness and to “abnormal” behavior (“normal behavior” often being a proxy for male behavior).
When it comes to other women’s health issues likeendometriosis(the presence and growth of functioning endometrial tissue in places other than the uterus), women are often discredited or their symptoms are thought to be exaggerated. This can lead to a period of up to 10 years before a diagnosis is made and treatment received.One study, originally published in the Journal of Fertility and Sterility, claims that, “this centuries-old notion linking chronic pelvic pain to mental illness exerted tremendous influence on attitudes about women with endometriosis in modern times, contributing to diagnostic delays and chronic indifference to their pain for most of the 20th century.” Again, we see how the “catch-all” diagnosis of hysteria, and discrediting women’s mental stability, has crept into other health issues women face.
The history of hysteria shows just how deeply sexism can affect science and psychology. Because of this, women are put into a unique position of needing to advocate strongly for their own health. Women must continuously insist that their health concerns be taken seriously to get not only a diagnosis, but an accurate one. Women advocating for themselves will help alter the landscape of medicine and mental health and, hopefully, create a safer place for women to receive treatment.
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