hysteria definition - Dictionary

Dictionary

hys·ter·i·a [ hi stree ə ]

noun

Definition:

1. emotional instability caused by trauma: an emotionally unstable state brought about by a traumatic experience

2. state of extreme emotion: a state of extreme or exaggerated emotion such as excitement or panic, especially among large numbers of people

media hysteria about the latest scandals

3. laughing or crying: uncontrollable laughter or crying

4. psychiatry ( dated )
Same as conversion disorder

[Early 19th century. < Latin hystericus (see hysteric)]

Cultural Note


	Studies in Hysteria, a book (1895) by Austrian psychologists Joseph Bauer and Sigmund Freud. A pioneering work in the field of psychoanalysis, it suggests that hysterical symptoms are the result of the memory's suppression of earlier traumatic events. The authors recommend that patients recall and confront these experiences in the hope of achieving catharsis.