Veith, Ilza. Hysteria: The History of a Disease. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1965.

Grinnell library catalog page

In this book, Veith presents the titular subject “as the various authors, and other people of the periods in which they lived, understood it, with little or no intent to reconcile their concepts with those of today” (vii). Structured temporally, the book moves through eleven sections containing a total of 45 brief sub-sections. The time covered is comprehensive, beginning with ancient Egypt and concluding with Veith’s contemporary 1960s and psychoanalysis.

In researching the 1790s, the end of Chapter VII ("Hysteria in England") and the entirety of Chapter VIII (The Controversial Century) are most beneficial. According to Veith, "if any century deserves to be treated as a cohesive unit ... particularly from the medico-historical point of view, it is the eighteenth. In its course were laid the foundations for what we call modern or scientific medicine" (155). Several streams of thought concerning hysteria were amalgated during the 1700s, and "the neurological phase became dominant" (156). Veith discusses the most important of the rising collection of hysteria literature, organizing the chapter into sections such as "The Advent of Nervous Disorders," "The Uterine Theory Returns," and "The Invidous Patient." The following chapter on the Victorian Era also helps to contextualize and nest the last decade of the eighteenth century.

Entered by Elisa on 03 August 2004 at 2:00 PM.