Hysteria has generated the most heated debates among physicians, from antiquity to the present day. It has been long confused with
neuroses and neurological pathologies such as
Parkinson's disease and
epilepsy, principally associated with women and sexual disorders. The clinical manifestations must first be seen in their historical context, as interpretation varies according to the time period. Recently, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders by the American Psychiatric Association marked a break in the consensus that previously seemed to apply to the concept of
hysteria and approach to the clinical manifestations. The clinical manifestations of
hysteria are numerous and multifaceted, comprising 3 main classifications: paroxysms, attacks, and acute manifestations; long-lasting functional syndromes, and visceral events. Each main classification can be subdivided into several subgroups. The first main group of paroxysms, attacks, and acute manifestations includes major hysterical attacks, such as prodrome, trance and epileptic states, minor hysterical attacks such as
syncope and
tetany, twilight states, paroxysmal
amnesia, and
cataleptic attacks. The second group includes focal hysterical symptoms,
paralyses,
contractures and
spasms,
anesthesia, and
sensory disorders. Visceral manifestations can be subdivided into
spasms,
pain, and general and trophic disorders. The diversity of the symptoms of
hysteria and its changing clinical presentation calls into question the same hysterical attacks and the same symptoms, which have had only a few differences for over 2,000 years. A new definition of
hysteria should be proposed, in that it is a phenomenon that is not pathological, but physiological and expressional.