Physicians thought that the stresses associated with modern life caused civilized women to be both more susceptible to nervous disorders and to develop faulty reproductive tracts. 1860.Ī physician in 1859 claimed that a quarter of all women suffered from hysteria, which is reasonable considering that one physician cataloged 75 pages of possible symptoms of hysteria and called the list incomplete almost any ailment could fit the diagnosis. Water massages as a treatment for hysteria, ca. High frequency electric currents in medicine, 1910. In fact, the introduction of the speculum was far more controversial than that of the vibrator.įemale patient with sleep hysteria wearing a straight jacket. While physicians of the period acknowledged that the disorder stemmed from sexual dissatisfaction, they seemed unaware of or unwilling to admit the sexual purposes of the devices used to treat it. In 1873, the first electromechanical vibrator was used at an asylum in France for the treatment of hysteria. By 1870, a clockwork-driven vibrator was available for physicians. Already at the turn of the century, hydrotherapy devices were available at Bath, and by the mid-19th century, they were popular at many high-profile bathing resorts across Europe and in America. Victorian advertisement showing a doctor treating woman’s hysteria by “pelvic massage”.Ī solution was the invention of massage devices, which shortened treatment from hours to minutes, removing the need for midwives and increasing a physician’s treatment capacity. Since ancient times women considered to be suffering from hysteria would sometimes undergo “pelvic massage” - manual stimulation of the anterior wall of the vagina by the doctor until the patient experienced “hysterical paroxysm”. Women with hysteria under the effects of hypnosis, ca. Women considered to be suffering from it exhibited a wide array of symptoms including faintness, nervousness, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in abdomen, muscle spasm, shortness of breath, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, and “a tendency to cause trouble”. Hysteria was widely discussed in the medical literature of the Victorian era. Its diagnosis and treatment was routine for many hundreds of years in Western Europe. The Fainting Couch or Chaise Lounge became popular for the ladies’ comfort during this “treatment”.įemale hysteria was a once-common medical diagnosis, made exclusively in women, which is today no longer recognized by modern medical authorities as a medical disorder. Yes, the doctor could treat the women in their home. Instead it was much easier to call for the doctor when a woman exhibited symptoms of hysteria. But what about the husbands? What did they have to say about this? Well, proper gentlemen of the time were not trained to see to their wives needs – it was not even understood that women had needs.
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