Female hysteria

Complete Satisfaction
Originally uploaded by abneypark

I was watching Casualty 1907 last night for a while, I don't usually watch this as I can't shout at the TV telling the team what they should or shouldn't be doing as I have no idea about the disorders and illnesses they had to cope with in those days Thank Goodness! But I did learn about one condition and it's treatment. Female hysteria It's not a recognised diagnosis these days but in Victorian times it was thought that this condition caused many ills. Last nights show had a woman presenting at the hospital with various problems her doctor told her that he knew what was wrong with her and what the treatment was a massage he then produced a rather crude looking device the scene discreetly changed some while later the woman emerged from the consulting room with a smile on her face! I was it fits of giggles by this time! I must be very naive or I missed out on my education somewhere but I had never heard of this cure. As you will see from the links the supposedly repressed Victorians invented some very "interesting" devices .