Contents Part I. History and concepts
Some traditional concepts
Early neurological analyses
The turn of the century
The contribution of Freud
Combat hysteria
Ernst Kretschmer
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Part II. Motives and extremes
Malingering, self-damage and anorexia nervosa
Amnesia, pseudodementia and the Ganser syndrome: denial of illness
Compensation issues
Part III. Varied causes and symptoms
Organic brain disease
Pain
Somatisation disorder and somatisation
Hypochondriasis
The diversity of hysterical complaints
Epidemic or communicable hysteria
Chronic fatigue syndromes
Children
Suggestion and hypnotic phenomena
'Multiple personality disorder'
Dissociation repression and false memories
Part IV. Individual dynamics and clinical subgroups
Personality traits
Psychoses
Psychoanalytic concepts
Part V. A perspective
The survival of hysteria
