Study: Hysteria a real neurological condition

darthkommandant · Post by **darthkommandant** » 2006-12-11 06:49pm

No really?

[quote=MSN said]MONDAY, Dec. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Hysteria, where patients complain of an ailment with no discernable cause, is not an imaginary disorder, say Canadian researchers.

The team used brain imaging scans to detect evidence of cerebral dysfunction in three women with the condition, more formally known as "sensory conversion disorder."

The findings, published in the Dec. 12 issue of the journal Neurology, improve understanding of conversion disorder, a neurological disorder in which a patient complains of symptoms, but doctors are unable to find anything medically wrong with the patient.

The three women in this study complained of numbness in their left hand or foot. The researchers used MRI to observe how the women's brains responded to stimulation of the numb body parts.

In all three women, stimulation of the numb body part failed to activate the part of the brain that responds to touch. But that brain area did respond when the researchers stimulated both the numb hand or foot and another hand or foot with normal sensation.

"The principal finding is that stimulation of the numb body part did not activate the somatosensory region of the brain, while stimulating both limbs did," study author Dr. Omar Ghaffar, of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto, said in a prepared statement.

Stimulating both the numb and normal-sensing limbs may act as distraction, shifting the patient's attention, and thereby overcoming the inhibition.

"Future studies plan to build on these findings by scanning more subjects and health controls," Ghaffar said. "In addition, a study examining the role of distraction in conversion disorder is under way."[/quote]

darthkommandant · Post by **darthkommandant** » 2006-12-11 06:50pm

Ahh could a mod fix the quote please

Wyrm · Post by **Wyrm** » 2006-12-11 07:18pm

We have definitely made much progress from the time of the "Wandering Uterus" theory of hysteria.

That said, the specific conclusion, that people with hysteria have a real neurological problem, has the "duh" nature.

kheegster · Post by **kheegster** » 2006-12-11 07:56pm

I thought hysteria involved women screaming for no reason, and was tied to a repressed sexuality? It was very common in the Victorian era IIRC, but has generally died now these days.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2006-12-11 08:53pm

kheegan wrote:I thought hysteria involved women screaming for no reason, and was tied to a repressed sexuality? It was very common in the Victorian era IIRC, but has generally died now these days.

Hell no, most religious experiences, especially in lively Evangelical-style shamanism are down to hysteria, not to mention at concerts and the like.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2006-12-12 03:57am

For crap's sake, this has been a reality since Freud observed it (and before Freud, although never nobody studied it in the same depth).

Freud may have been wrong about the mechanisms that may lead to its development, (although he was right about childhood trauma and hysteria) but his observations were very accurate.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2006-12-12 04:25am

Rye wrote:
kheegan wrote:I thought hysteria involved women screaming for no reason, and was tied to a repressed sexuality? It was very common in the Victorian era IIRC, but has generally died now these days.
Hell no, most religious experiences, especially in lively Evangelical-style shamanism are down to hysteria, not to mention at concerts and the like.

Right.

The DSM IV uses somatization disorder, conversion disorder and histrionic personality disorder. They have been renamed and recategorized slightly, but they are what would have been called hysteria.

Darth Raptor · Post by **Darth Raptor** » 2006-12-12 10:34am

Rye wrote:
kheegan wrote:I thought hysteria involved women screaming for no reason, and was tied to a repressed sexuality? It was very common in the Victorian era IIRC, but has generally died now these days.
Hell no, most religious experiences, especially in lively Evangelical-style shamanism are down to hysteria, not to mention at concerts and the like.

The word "hysteria" has gone through a total of three definitions throughout the evolution of language. The first was used by the ancient Greeks to describe a female-specific malady they believed to originate in the uterus; hence the name. What kheegan is referring to is the 19th Century classification of feminine horniness as a medical disorder, and treating it with clinical masturbation. Both of these terms are obsolete, but technically speaking, "hysteria" can refer to any of the three.

Eris · Post by **Eris** » 2006-12-13 05:33am

I find all this incredibly disappointing to be frank. I admit I had the older and obsolete definitions in mind when I read the thread title, and was rather hoping that I now had a rationally supported reason to not take responsibility for my random bursts of, for lack of a better word, hysterical behaviour. Hell, I could start fabricating episodes whenever I was in a boring or uncomfortable encounters; it'd be like a get out of dealing with idiots free card! But noooo, this has to be real research on an actual condition. Life is not fair.

Out of curiosity, does anyone know if this is still a female-specific disorder? All three of the test-subjects were, but the article does make it explicit whether it's linked to sex or not, and the symptoms sound like they could appear as easily in men as women.