Modificações no conceito de histeria: de Freud aos manuais de psiquiatria

Abstract

The concepts of disease and health change over time according to standards set for each period of time, taking into account the perspective of the historical moment. Structures that once had their meaning revealed and settled now have different designations, and are part of a different understanding of subject, such as Hysteria. In ancient times it was related to the uterus. Following, in the middle age, it was related to witchcraft and punished by the Inquisition. Further it was considered a simulated sickness, making it to be discredited. As a descriptive category it was used in various ways through different cultural contexts and historical periods. Charcot was the first researcher to perform systematic studies about Hysteria with the purpose of carefully describing its symptoms and limiting it as an autonomous entity. Inspired by Charcot, Freud directed his attention to Hysteria and stated the first main points that would later constitute the Psychoanalytical Theory. In his early writings, Freud gradually proves the psychogenic origin of the symptoms - apart from Charcot's beliefs that the main reason for the development of Hysteria was heredity - clarifying the factors that constitute the disease's etiology. Freud studied deeply Hysteria and its psychodynamic processes, providing extensive material on the subject. The ideas from Charcot and Freud focused on attempting to explain the symptoms in the Hysterical structure as well as possible treatment methods. As of 1980, with the publication of DSM-III, the concept of Hysterical disease changed greatly, developing a new nosology from a psychiatric point of view in which it lost its original meaning and formed different disorders. Although the word Hysteria remains popular, the official diagnostics with its specific symptoms disappeared along the 20th. Century. The disease may have disappeared, however the symptoms are still present, being described as part of dissociative and somatoform disorders until the fourth edition of DSM and tenth edition of CID. Currently, some authors argue that Hysteria may be related to different diagnostics and otherwise presented. The hysterical symptoms are considered as part of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures, Fibromyalgia, Anorexia, Bulimia and many others.