Hysteria is a state of mind, one of unmanageable fear or emotional excesses. The fear is often centered on a body part, most often on an imagined problem with that body part (disease is a common complaint). People who are "hysterical" often lose self-control due to the overwhelming fear.

The term originates with a Greek medical term, hysterikos. This referred to a supposed medical condition peculiar to women caused by disturbances of the uterus. The same general definition came into widespread use in the late 1800s to describe what is today generally considered to be sexual dissatisfaction. "Treatment" typically consisted of the use of vibrators or water sprays to cause orgasm. By the early 1900s the practice, and term, had fallen from use.

Today the term is most often used in the phrase mass hysteria to describe mass public reactions. It is commonly applied to the waves of popular medical problems that "everyone gets" in response to news articles. The yuppy flu of the late 1980s and other ailments dating back to the advent of the press.

A similar usage refers to any sort of "public wave" phenomenon, and has been used to describe the periodic widespread reappearance and public interest in UFO reports, crop circles, and similar examples. Also, when information, real or fake, becomes misinterpreted.

Hysteria is often associated with movements like the Salem Witch Trials, the Red Scare, McCarthyism, and Terrorism.

See also: conversion hysteria , moral panic

External links

• Medical Definition of Hysteria
• A Cultural History of Hysteria in 19th-Century British Prose
• Anti-sex hysteria in Wisconsin