The Ancient Link Between Uterus and Hysteria First Described by Hippocrates

Ancient Greek doc Hippocrates introduced the word hysteria arsenic a upset of the womb. Painting by Carl Rahl and George E. Koronaios Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

The Ancient Greek doc Hippocrates was the archetypal to usage the connection hysteria, which derives from the Greek connection hysteron (uterus), for an ailment that affected lone women.

The Father of Medicine developed the mentation of the question of the uterus wrong the pistillate body—the alleged “wandering womb”—in the 5th period BCE.

Plato seemed to judge Hippocrates’ mentation erstwhile (in Timaeus) helium writes that if the uterus remains inactive it becomes angry. As it wanders astir the assemblage it whitethorn adjacent the passages of enactment and this obstruction whitethorn origin a assortment of diseases.

Galen of Pergamum (129-216 CE), an past Greek doc from Pergamon successful Asia Minor, did not judge Hippocrates’ “wandering womb” theory. Instead, helium thought women became hysterical, and could endure from “hysterical suffocation,” oregon apnea, erstwhile they stopped having intercourse. Their information would marque them endure spasms oregon consciousness suffocated.

Aretaeus of Cappadocia, a salient Greek doc successful the 2nd period CE believed the illness to beryllium constricted to women and that it was owed to the question of the uterus which compressed the intestines, giving a choking sensation and starring to a signifier of epilepsy.

So successful the 7 centuries betwixt Hippocrates and Galen, the mentation of the “wandering womb” had evolved into the content that hysteria was caused by the section suffocation of the uterus and not the wandering of it.

The Kahun and Eber papyri successful Egypt

In the survey Women And Hysteria In The History Of Mental Health (Cecilia Tasca, Mariangela Rapetti, Mauro Giovanni Carta, Bianca Fadda) it is mentioned that earlier the past Greek doc Hippocrates utilized the word hysteria, the Egyptians had recovered a intelligence upset lone attributed to women. The Kahun Papyrus from 1900 BCE describes a upset that is undoubtedly hysteria. It identifies the origin of hysterical disorders arsenic spontaneous movements of the uterus wrong the pistillate body.

In the Eber Papyrus (1600 BCE) the oldest aesculapian papers containing references to depressive syndromes, accepted symptoms of hysteria are described arsenic stiffening and twitching phases of musculus activities and the consciousness of suffocation and imminent death. This was aboriginal described by Sigmund Freud arsenic “globus histericus”.

In the Eber Papyrus it is indicated that the therapeutic measures taken were babelike connected the presumption of the uterus, truthful that it would instrumentality to its earthy position. If the uterus had moved upwards, the remedy was to placing foul-smelling and bitter substances adjacent the woman’s rima and nostrils, portion sweet-scented ones were placed adjacent her vagina. If the uterus had lowered, the papers recommends placing the acrid substances adjacent her vagina and the perfumed ones adjacent her rima and nostrils.

Melampus and the virgins of Argos

According to mythology, Melampus was an past Greek doc and seer, a Greek prototype of a shaman, who is expected to person lived astatine the dawn of the Mycenaean era, astir 1600 BCE. Herodotus credits him arsenic the introducer of the worship of Dionysus and the creator of an full schoolhouse of magic healers known arsenic the Melampodians.

Melampus became the ruler of Argos aft curing the daughters of Proetus, king of Tiryns, of insanity. At Argos, helium was held to beryllium the archetypal clergyman of Dionysus and the originator of mysterious customs astatine ecstatic festivals and ceremonies of atonement.

According to the myth, Lysippe, Iphinoe and Iphianassa, the daughters of Proetus, were seized with manic madness due to the fact that they hated the phallus. They fled to the mountains, but the madness was spreading to different women of Argos.

Melampus promised to cure the women, if the king would springiness him 2 thirds of the kingdom, 1 3rd for himself and the different for his member Bias. The king agreed and truthful Melampus chased the insane virgins done the woods and trapped them successful a cave heavy wrong the mountains of Arcadia. There helium healed them of their madness with ineffable baths and the usage of a herb called Helleborus niger (hellebore), which has sedative properties. He past urged them to person enactment with young and beardown men. The women were healed and recovered their sanity.

Hippocrates and the pistillate madness owed to deficiency of sex

This is however the thought of a pistillate madness related to the deficiency of a mean intersexual beingness originated. Plato, in Timaeus, argues that the uterus is bittersweet and unfortunate erstwhile it does not articulation with the antheral and does not springiness birth. Aristotle and Hippocrates were of the aforesaid opinion.

Hippocrates is the archetypal to usage the word hysteria. The past Greek doc provides a bully statement of hysteria, which is intelligibly distinguished from epilepsy. Hippocrates notes the quality betwixt the compulsive movements of epilepsy, caused by a encephalon disorder, and those of hysteria owed to the abnormal movements of the uterus successful the body.

Then helium explains the thought of a restless uterus that moves astir the assemblage and identifies the origin of the indisposition arsenic poisonous stagnant humors (juices) which, owed to an inadequate intersexual life, person ne'er been expelled. Hippocrates asserts that a woman’s assemblage is physiologically acold and bedewed and hence prone to putrefaction of the humors (as opposed to the adust and lukewarm antheral body). For this reason, the uterus is prone to get sick, particularly if it is deprived of the benefits of enactment and procreation, which, widening a woman’s canals, beforehand the cleansing of the body.

Hippocrates goes further to enactment that, particularly successful virgins, widows, azygous oregon sterile women, the unsatisfied wandering uterus produces toxic fumes and arsenic it wanders astir the assemblage causes assorted kinds of disorders specified arsenic anxiety, consciousness of suffocation, tremors, and sometimes adjacent convulsions and paralysis.

Hippocrates suggests that erstwhile hysteria is recognized, affected women should not only  partake successful intersexual activity, but besides effort to cure themselves with acrid oregon fragrant fumigation of the look and genitals, to propulsion the uterus backmost to its earthy spot wrong the body.

Galen and Soranus

Galen was a aboriginal past Greek physician whose theories connected hysteria are comparable to those of Hippocrates. Furthermore Galen says of hysteria that it has respective symptoms and hysterical events. In his enactment In Hippocratis librum de humoribus, Galen criticizes Hippocrates saying that  “Ancient Greek physicians and philosophers person called this illness hysteria from the sanction of the uterus, that organ fixed by quality to women truthful that they mightiness conceive. I person examined galore hysterical women, immoderate stuporous, others with anxiousness attacks […]: the illness manifests itself with antithetic symptoms, but ever refers to the uterus.”

Galen’s treatments for hysteria consisted of purges, administrations of hellebore, mint, laudanum, belladonna extract, valerian and different herbs, and besides getting joined oregon repressing stimuli that could excite a young woman.

Soranus of Ephesus, an past Greek doc (c. 1st fractional of 2nd period CE) who practiced successful Alexandria and Rome, revolutionized the cures for hysteria. He wrote a treatise connected women’s diseases and is considered the laminitis of technological gynecology and obstetrics.

Soranus argued that women’s disorders originate from the toils of procreation, truthful their betterment is achieved with intersexual abstinence. He further argued that perpetual virginity is the women’s perfect condition. Fumigations, cataplasms and compressions are ineffectual, helium believed. Instead, the hysterical assemblage should beryllium treated with care: blistery baths, massages and workout are the champion preventatives of specified women’s diseases.