hysteria
n. the historical name for the condition now largely classified as conversion disorder but with symptoms dispersed across other formal diagnoses as well (e.g., histrionic personality disorder). Although technically outdated, it is often used as a lay term for any psychogenic disorder characterized by symptoms such as paralysis, blindness, loss of sensation, and hallucinations and often accompanied by suggestibility, emotional outbursts, and histrionic behavior. Sigmund Freud interpreted hysterical symptoms as defenses against guilty sexual impulses (e.g., a paralyzed hand cannot masturbate), but other conflicts are now recognized. Freud also included dissociative conditions in his concept of hysteria, but these are now regarded as separate disorders. The name derives ultimately from the Greek husteros, “uterus,” based on the early and erroneous belief that such disorders were unique to women and originated in
uterine disorders. —hysterical
adj.