Hysteria and neurasthenia in pre-1914 British medical discourse and in histories of shell-shock

History of Psychiatry
Tracey Loughran

Abstract

Histories of shell-shock have argued that the diagnosis was subdivided into the categories hysteria and neurasthenia, and that the differential distribution and treatment of these diagnoses was shaped by class and gender expectations. These arguments depend on the presentation of hysteria and neurasthenia as opposed constructs in British medical discourse before 1914. An analysis of the framing of these diagnoses in British medical discourse c. 1910-1914 demonstrates that hysteria and neurasthenia, although undergoing redefinition in these years, were closely connected through the designation of both as functional diseases, and the role attributed to heredity in each. Before the war these diagnoses were perceived as indicators of national decline. Continuity, as well as change, is evident in medical responses to shell-shock.

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Citations

Jan 18, 2012·Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry·Richard A KanaanSimon C Wessely
Jun 24, 2016·The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History·Yolana Pringle
Sep 1, 2011·History of Psychiatry·Olga Villasante
Oct 15, 2008·Current Opinion in Psychiatry·Eric J Engstrom
Aug 1, 2009·Current Opinion in Psychiatry·Michael D Beer
Nov 2, 2012·Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health : CP & EMH·Cecilia TascaBianca Fadda
Feb 16, 2021·Physiotherapy Theory and Practice·David A Nicholls

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