Hysteria 2

A detailed Summary of Hysteria 2

"In the beginning was Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, who freed the emerging science from the chains of superstition, introduced empirical observation and the bedside manner, and both identified and named 'hysteria'" (Gilman 1993, 3). Hippocrates, lived in ancient Greece from 460 BCE to 377 BCE, the first [known] person to study hysterical actions believed (as did the proceding Greeks and Romans) that hysteria was strictly a female problem, and in many cases almost any problem a female had was considered 'hysteria' (Gilman 1993, 4). This view was believed for an extensive period of time but as Appignanesi asserts many other things that were once believed to be true are proven false later, i.e., the earth is the center of the universe [Copernicus, 1473-1543], God did not create man, instead we evolved from apes [Darwin, 1809-1882] (100). This holds true for the concept of hysteria being strictly a female problem.

Hysteria (as we know it today at least) is where specific memories, feelings, perceptions are taken from the conscious to the un/sub-conscious and are 'unable' to be recalled voluntarily. Furthermore they are able to affect the persons behavior in a variety of ways, from phobias to paralysis. Almost any organ

Freud, Sigmund. DORA: An Analysis Case Of Hysteria. New York Simon &

Psychology. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1985.

This was under severe scrutiny by Freud. She stated that the dream was a recurring one which, Freud discovered later, happened first after they (Dora and her father,) went to a lake house, on the way up Dora's father "...openly said he was afraid of fire." (Freud, 57) The statement of Dora's father standing over her bed waking her up actually happened. Accept that it was Herr K. that woke her up. In this dream most things are reversed. For example, Dora's father woke her up not Herr K. Where in reality her oedipal lust for her father has been transferred to Herr K. So her father has been replaced instead of Herr K. As for the jewel-case, Dora's father had given Dora's mother a bracelet that she [Dora's mother] openly rejected. She told him to give it to someone else. Dora repressed the thoughts of wanting the bracelet into her un/sub-conscious and it showed up in the dream, but reversed. Where her mother wanted to save the jewelry. (Freud, 61). "In the incident of the bracelet, you [Dora] would have been glad to accept what your mother rejected. Now let us just put 'give' instead of 'accept' and 'withhold' instead of 'reject'. Then it means that you were ready to give your father what your mother withheld from him..." (Freud, 62) As in the rest of the dream everything is the opposite so she was ready to 'give' to Herr K., not her father.

Appignanesi, Richard. Freud For Beginners. New York: Pantheon Books,

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1692
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History