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Cropped shot of a handsome young businessman experiencing stress during late night at work
“Hysteria” is no longer a widely used term in psychology, thankfully. Previously, it referred to the display of “exaggerated or uncontrollable emotions or psychosomatic reactions,” both in individuals and groups (“mass hysteria”). People suffering this condition converted psychological distress into physical symptoms, selective amnesia and over-the-top emotional responses, often viewed as attention-seeking in nature. The sexist stereotype of the “drama queen” was a central part of this symptom complex.
Speaking of sexism, before World War II, hysteria was considered a disorder specific only to women, giving rise to the “hysterical female” cliche. However, when some combat soldiers exhibited the same symptoms (hysterical blindness or paralysis, uncontrollable emotional outbursts, etc.), this sexist myth began eroding. However, it’s far from dead.
The current term for this condition is “conversion disorder.” At times, many of us experience at least a mild form of this malady. We convert anxiety, stress or depression into physiological symptoms that we mistakenly believe arise from a medical problem. In a more dramatic fashion, otherwise healthy folks suffering high anxiety may report physical symptoms consistent with a heart attack and rush to the emergency room.
High Anxiety
In most of us, these instances are mild and respond to reassurance (“You’re having an anxiety attack, not a heart attack”). However, if someone has a conversion disorder, putting that individual’s mind at ease requires far more than “there, there now” patronizing. To them, their symptoms are proof positive that something medical is terribly amiss.
I once counseled a man who suffered something traditionally called “hysterical blindness.” Although medical tests showed his eyes were functioning normally, he simply could not see. He failed to recognize a cause-and-effect connection between his high anxiety and his loss of sight, instead assuming he was anxious about having gone blind. Through psychotherapy, he came to realize his blindness emerged because he was overwrought about reuniting with his estranged father, who abandoned him at a young age. His psyche made it so he couldn't see his father, literally.
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Individuals don’t have a monopoly on this condition. So-called mass hysteria, a group phenomenon, demonstrates the powerful influence of social contagion. This involves a collection of people, usually in a closed community or cult, taking on the symptoms of an individual with conversion disorder or simply responding to the suggestion that a contagion or neurological dysfunction is spreading among them.
For example, in a well-publicized incident, many students in a Georgia elementary school developed symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic gas, this after several parents became convinced an unknown odor was sickening their children. The CDC found no hazardous gas and the teachers and other adults in the school were unaffected.
Social Media
Increasingly, social media appears to contribute to or even instigate outbreaks of so-called mass hysteria. This emerged in an episode in New York when one girl's tic-like mannerisms rapidly spread through her peer group and then beyond, in part due to alarming Facebook postings by students and worried parents. Many believed that some invisible contagion was spreading across the population.
The subconscious mind’s capacity for transforming psychological distress into physical symptoms that are often metaphors for an underlying mental affliction is truly remarkable. However, the suggestion that this tendency is gender-based (“hysterical female”), while still a common bias in our culture, has no basis in behavioral science.
As author Emily Henry said, “That’s the thing about women. There’s no good way to be one. Wear your emotions on your sleeve and you’re hysterical. Keep them tucked away and you’re a heartless bitch.”
For more, visit philipchard.com.
