What was the "hysteria" described by Freud? I've heard it interpreted variously as "somatic disorders", a sexist society's medicalization of independent women, or a self-indulgence of rich women who liked playing the invalid. I think these theories are all wrong.
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What is now called "psychogenic noneptileptic seizure" (PNES) is very much like Charcot's "hysterical fits". But there isn't a crisp distinction between PNES and neurological disorders; many PNES sufferers are also epileptic, and some epilepsy looks like PNES.
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Modern neurologists, like Charcot, observe that people with PNES often have a history of head injury and/or epilepsy, as well as history of trauma and diagnosis of PTSD. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.1011.9802&rep=rep1&type=pdf …
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So: "hysteria" as described in the late 19th century was *not* a fake illness. It was either something PTSD-like or a neurological disorder (or a grab bag of both.)
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Freud's famous "hysterical" patient Anna O (Bertha Pappenheim) suffered from limb and facial, paralysis, disturbances in vision, hearing, and speech, severe headaches, brief lapses in consciousness, and convulsions. http://sci-hub.tw/http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/1093-4510.6.3.239 …
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Freud & Breuer's "Studies on Hysteria" painted her case as psychological in origin, but this was written 13 years after the treatment ended. Breuer's initial report diagnosed Pappenheim with trigeminal neuralgia, an extremely severe pain condition.
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Freud & Breuer lied in their "Studies on Hysteria", falsely claiming that "Anna O" had been cured of her symptoms by psychoanalysis when she had not, and falsely denying that they had prescribed her morphine to treat her pain. In fact, she was addicted.
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There's still debate about what Pappenheim's "real" diagnosis was, but she was clearly physically ill, and Freud and Breuer were clearly lying. Also, if you read the study, Freud is notably cruel and berates her for her symptoms as though she were malingering.
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I am inclined to suspect a neurological origin for at least some "hysteria". Post-traumatic movement disorders are a thing, including dystonias, dyskinesias, choreas, tics, seizures: http://sci-hub.tw/https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-63521-1.00030-3 …
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