Biomedical Model Hysteria

The medical model dismissed psychological explanations of mental illness, suggesting that such explanations were no better than demonology. In the mid-19th century, the prevailing belief was that all illness was caused by disordered physiology or brain chemistry. The search for psychological causes for mental illness, such as conflict, frustration, and emotional disturbance, was held back by the dominance of the medical model. This belief persists—explanations for alcoholism range from inheritance and other biological factors to life circumstances and a need to escape, exemplifying the contrast between the medical and psychological models (p. 502-03).

Among those interested in learning more we can find Sigmund Freud, Pierre Janet, and William James. For Sigmund Freud, hysteria became an enigma mostly because it was frequently identified as a disorder suffered by women. Through his conversations with women who suffered panic symptoms, he identified past traumatic experiences as the main cause of this syndrome. Freud findings helped to gain a better understanding of the symptoms of hysteria. Freud’s research put him in the middle of a personal disagreement, influenced by a political and social controversy that removed him from further study of this

Firstly, let me explain to you what a hysteria is, it is uncontrollable emotion or excitement. You’re probably wondering why would this be exciting, well I am about to tell you. When nine and eleven-year-old girls sought to know their destiny they found the unfortunate answer by engaging with a West Indian woman named Tituba. To see their future the woman used an egg white in a glass of water and looked for telltale shapes. One of the girls thought she

Mental disorders have long been the Achilles heel of the medical world. With each case having some degree of uniqueness, physicians are often unable to fully treat these types of conditions with just a generalized medication or textbook treatment option. There are many competing theories as to how one falls ill to a mental disorder. Some claim that it occurs solely through chemical imbalances within a person’s brain, while others see it as a more wholistic problem that is the result of an endless possibility of differing factors. Through the characterization found within “Superstar” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” and the data shown in studies done by the Medical University of Lublin, it becomes evident that seemingly internal disorders, such as anorexia and hysteria, are caused, in reality, by the need for social control that develops in response to purely external factors such as daunting expectations or stressful lifestyle.

According to Freud hysteria is a nervous disorder that causes violent fits of laughter, crying, and imagination. It is a lack of

In this article, Small is saying that Mass Hysteria is a real event and needs to be taken seriously for what it truly is. There are many reasons behind why it happens like stress and how it spreads from fear. Ultimately Small states that the idea of Mass Hysteria is overlooked because “people are more likely to endorse a far-fetched or outlandish cause for their illness” (Small 1) than to think that “their real physical experiences” (Small 1) could be caused by their mind. Mass Hysteria happens when people, particularly teenage girls, are under “psychological and physical stress” (Small 1). The idea that our minds may be causing one to be sick further worries them ultimately leading to more mind over matter symptoms. When people are in unusual states of

When people think of an “illness” they typically don’t automatically think of mental illness. They think about HIV, cancer, or even a cold or flu. However when it comes to mental illness it is a whole different idea. But is mental illness even real? Addressed in the book, The Myth of Mental Illness (1961), a psychiatrist Thomas Szasz argues that the idea of classifying psychological and emotional difficulties as “illnesses” takes away sense of control. Instead of holding people personally and morally responsible for their actions, he states, doctors attempt to “treat” the person, often with medications. Diagnosing mental illness, on the other hand, argue that mental disorders are as real as physical diseases and diagnosing them allows people

The biological model draws on traditional medicine and attempts to identify the presence of a ‘stable’ phenomenon called mental illness through scientific objectivity. One of the consequences of viewing

Until the medical breakthroughs that we have made in the modern day, psychology as a science was not fully understood. Modern technology has given us a clearer idea of psychology, but in the past there was less known about the science. This alongside a predominantly male medical discourse led to a medical diagnosis in many women called hysteria. Female hysteria was a medical diagnosis given to specifically women as far back as the ancient Greek civilization. Hysteria started as a supernatural phenomena, but as medicine evolved it would be described as a mental disorder, (Tasca). Hysteria. in actuality, is an absurd and fabricated diagnosis that institutionalized and discriminated countless women. The way it makes a women feel, and the fact that it strips a woman of any sort of free will is a sickening display of blatant misogyny. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman perfectly displays not only the misogyny, but the torture a woman must face trapped under a hysteria diagnosis. Hysteria as a diagnoses fails to effectively treat many women, instead leading to the mistreatment and wrongful institutionalization of women.

The medical model focuses on the molecular structure of drugs and indicators of mental or emotional disorders. However, the medical model is not effective treating mental and emotional disorders. The medical model indicts the notion that abnormal behavior is the product of physical problems and be treated medically. The medical model depends upon independent tests to demonstrate or contradict if a patient is ill. The psychological model uses tests to demonstrate or contradict whether a patient is ill. It is at this point of agreement that the two models separate. A restriction to the psychological model is if a patient that is unconscious, or their communication ability is compromised to the degree that they are

In her book Women's Madness, Misogyny or Mental Illness, Ussher notes that in the Victorian era, hysteria was diagnosed primarily in strong, outspoken women: in other words: women who transgressed the ideal of true womanhood and thus challenged patriarchy. This is

In this world there have been causes of mass hysteria even back in the old days. In 1939 Mysterious girls were having cases of strange twitching making parents of the students curious. A big cause of hysteria was found in a case of a girl suffering in lack of attention. She was having sorts of insecurity and paranoia. For common people, twitching is a sign of nerve problem. But one case in Louisiana in 1939 involved numerous students suffering from twitching and all inflicted students were female. It began when one female student show sign of twitching in her right. It happened during an annual homecoming ball. Unfortunately, the twitching did not end up on that particular day, in fact, the twitching became worse as weeks went by. Following the incident, some of her fellow

Nicholson, T.R., Aybek, S., Craig, T., Harris, T., Wojcik, W., David, S., Kanaan, R.A. King's College London. (2016, July 5). New study examines Freud's theory of hysteria. ScienceDaily. from

In the novel the author uses hysteria ever since the beginning when the afflicted girls are being integrated by parris, he show that he understands the hysteria that it will damage his reputation “In my house? In my house,

The reason behind the expression of hysteric symptoms in a mental patient, such as Anna O., is from the affect of an unpleasant memory that is not brought to the conscious mind. The conflict of repression is the explanation for physical symptoms seen in hysteria. Storr wrote, “In many instances, the physical symptom expressed the patient’s feelings in symbolic fashion. Thus, constriction in the throat might express an inability to swallow an insult; or a pain in the region of the heart might signify that the patient’s heart has been metaphorically broken or damaged” (1989, p. 13). This explains the multiple symptoms that Anna O. expressed in her case.