Hystories

Rating:
Summary: Hysteria over Hystories
Review: From dramatic testimonies by veterans on Gulf War syndrome, to popular Hollywood productions featuring alien abduction, the media has presented us with a panoply of reasons to become distressed. Yet the public, let alone the scientific community, is far from reaching a consensus on an explanation for these phenomena.

One brave soul has tackled these contentious issues and the media's related role in fanning the flame. As an academic nestled behind the ivy walls of Princeton, Professor Showalter was probably well situated for intellectual duels. She was, however, probably less prepared for the violent reactions to her new book. In addition to a number of threats, Showalter has braved physical assaults for her provocative thesis: Modern forms of hysteria, including chronic fatigue syndrome, Gulf War syndrome, recovered memory, multiple personality disorder, satanic ritual abuse, and alien abduction, are disorders that are primarily psychological, rather than physical, in nature.

Professor Showalter's training in literary criticism and her status as a leading feminist historian of psychiatry provides an interesting perspective on the mass resistance to her conclusion. According to Showalter, hysterical patients believe psychosomatic disorders are illegitimate. But in their very real distress, they "search for physical evidence that firmly places cause and cure outside the self," thereby expressing their pain and conflict in the form of culturally acceptable language of body illness.

STATS was drawn by her explanation for how modern media contribute to this hysterical epidemic. From newspapers, magazines, self-help books, and the Internet, to radio and TV talk shows, Showalter argues that modern media, in all its forms, accounts for the unprecedented spread of culturally fashionable narratives, which she terms "hystories." In a Freudian analysis of this phenomenon, she further shows how patients learn about diseases from the media and unconsciously develop symptoms. These common "plot lines" in our culture (e.g. what an alien looks like) explain how hysteric patients can independently tell the same story.

In a recent appearance on C-SPAN's About Books (6/21/97), Showalter discussed how we can apply the techniques of literary deconstruction to a more critical reading of news. Dissecting a New York Times article on Gulf War illness, she cautioned against imprecise use of words, particularly when reporting on scientific matters. Showalter pointed out that phrases such as "substantial evidence" and "the evidence is clear" are really unclear and in need of elaboration.

If hysteria is indeed a communicable disease, and media the primary vector, the point of intervention is clear. Showalter is hopeful that we can "use the media to fight rumors as well as to spread them." For example, there are already signs of a backlash against the "X-filing" of America. Serious investigators of UFOs disavow any scientific validity to claims of alien abduction (see Skeptical Inquirer, July/Aug 1997). Women's groups have organized to fight back against junk science regarding their special health concerns. And counter-literatures, most recently James Q. Wilson's Moral Judgement: Does the Abuse Excuse Threaten Our Legal System? (1997) and Kenneth Foster and Peter Huber's Judging Science (1997), are being generated.

In recent years, medical advances, new techniques, and heroic interventions have unintentionally increased certain forms of infection. Similarly, our health conscious self-help culture may have inadvertently spawned an infectious form of hysteria. But in an effort to lend further credence to these ailments -- earning an official diagnosis from the medical establishment and in turn making health insurance coverage easier to obtain -- we may be exacerbating the health problems of psychosomatic patients. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the challenges faced by HMOs in dealing with patients who persistently cry "wolf", when in fact there is nothing physicallywrong with them ("HMOs Seek Cures for Costly Psychosomatic Ills," July 9, 1997). As we all know, if you call "wolf" long enough, no one believes that there is a wolf. But as the WSJ article indicates, every once in a while, the wolf does come, and a patient can be neglected or given inappropriate treatment.

Professor Showalter's efforts toward improving psychological literacy merges well with our aim of improving the public's statistical literacy, as both lend themselves to our ultimate goal of achieving precision and accuracy in the news. At the least, she presents us with a cogent explanation for the weariness among STATS staff after years of concentrated exposure to the media.

Rating:
Summary: Elegant Treatment of a Controversial Subject
Review: Hystories, by Elaine Showalter, is elegantly written and enthralling. Showalter presents a clear and engaging history of hysteria as social phenomenom and medical curiousity. Showalter covers key players including French physician Jean-Martin Charcot and the father of modern psychiatry Sigmund Freud. She reveals how males have used traditional views of hysteria to deride women. As well, she reports early feminists' scathing critique of this treatment and how early female psychiatrists denied or pleaded ignorance of hysteria. "Nineteenth century women, who lacked a public voice to articulate their repression" occasionally expressed through excepted modes of hysteria. Also this is a social commentary on modern hysteria and its diverse probable manifestations such as alien abduction, anorexia nervosa, chronic fatigue syndrome, gulf war syndrome, satanic ritual abuse, multiple personality disorder and recovered memory. Showalter states early on that "Redefining hysteria as a universal human response to emotional conflict is a better course than evading, denying or projecting its realities." She goes on to explore hysteria in a manner that accords it's manifestations the same respect as traditionally "physical" diseases. Controversial and passionately maligned by the special interests groups studied, Showalter's Hystories stands out as an intellectual and compassionate treatise on historical and modern hysteria. Showalter handles a difficult and touchy subject with poise and backs her work up with meticulous research, amply footnoted in the bibliography. Her compassion shows in passages such as this: "The conficts that produce hysterical symptoms are genuine and universal." In some passages, her wit and humor show: "I want to emphasize my belief that hysteria is a part of everyday life. Whenever I lecture about hysteria, I cough." Clarity and insight predominate throughout: "Psychiatrists who worked with shell-shock patients recognized that the most courageous, intelligent and virile soldiers could break down under pressure." Showalter equates manifestations of modern hysteria with the "shell shock" victims of war. Hysteria represents one "language" the stressed modern mind may use to express through the body when other modes of expression are short circuited or unavailable to an individual. Her premise is basic: modern conditions ranging from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to Gulf War Syndrome develop from the unbearable pressures of living with the stresses of our modern society. The extreme reactions this book receives from sufferers of modern iatrogenic disorders are understandable from an emotional standpoint, but unfounded in logic or fact. Modern science has proven the link between mind and body. Emotions and attitudes effect body chemistry, the development of physical illnesses, and the level of potential healing in the individual. Showalter's equation that these syndromes and other hysterical phenomena develop from a mind-body imbalance should not even raise eyebrows. Yet Showalter's thoughtful scholarship has evoked ironically hysterical reactions from her critics, including death treats, harassment and scathing reviews that ignor scientific research. Some detractors have tried to impeach Showalter's qualifications to even discuss the subject. Elaine Showalter is a medical historian and professor of The Humanities, as well as a professor of English. Those ample qualifications shine in this logical, crisp, compelling book. Although narrowly focused on hysteria, Hystories qualifies as a book of interest to students and practitioners of mind-body medicine, mainstream medicine and alternative healing. Hystories is also an intriguing read for those interested in psychology, social science, history, or popular culture. If you wish to explore mind-body medicine indepth, I also recommend: The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions by Esther M. Steinberg M.D., Molecules of Emotion by Candace B. Pert, Ph.D., Who Gets Sick by Blair Justice Ph.D., Head First: The Biology of Hope and The Healing Power of the Human Spirit by Norman Cousins, From Paralysis To Fatigue: A History of Psychosomatic Illness in the Modern Era by Edward Shorter, The Creation of Health by Caroline Myss Ph.D. and C. Norman Shealy, M.D. by Larry Dossey M.D., The Mind Body Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain by: John E. Sarno M.D., Why People Don't Heal and How They Can by Caroline Myss Ph.D., Alternative Medicine Guide to Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Environmental Illness
by Burton Goldberg, Editors of Alternative Medicine Digest and
The MindBody Workbook by David Schechter M.D., The Human Side of Cancer: Living with Hope, Coping with Uncertainty
by Jimmie C., M.D. Holland, Sheldon Lewis,
Transpersonal Medicine: The New Approach to Healing Body-Mind-Spirit by G. Frank Lawlis, Larry Dossey M.D. and
Healing Beyond the Body: Medicine and the Infinite Reach of the Mind by Larry Dossey M.D.

Rating:
Summary: Elegant Treatment of a Controversial Subject
Review: Hystories, by Elaine Showalter, is elegantly written and enthralling. Showalter presents a clear and engaging history of hysteria as social phenomenom and medical curiousity. Showalter covers key players including French physician Jean-Martin Charcot and the father of modern psychiatry Sigmund Freud. She reveals how males have used traditional views of hysteria to deride women. As well, she reports early feminists' scathing critique of this treatment and how early female psychiatrists denied or pleaded ignorance of hysteria. "Nineteenth century women, who lacked a public voice to articulate their repression" occasionally expressed through excepted modes of hysteria. Also this is a social commentary on modern hysteria and its diverse probable manifestations such as alien abduction, anorexia nervosa, chronic fatigue syndrome, gulf war syndrome, satanic ritual abuse, multiple personality disorder and recovered memory. Showalter states early on that "Redefining hysteria as a universal human response to emotional conflict is a better course than evading, denying or projecting its realities." She goes on to explore hysteria in a manner that accords it's manifestations the same respect as traditionally "physical" diseases. Controversial and passionately maligned by the special interests groups studied, Showalter's Hystories stands out as an intellectual and compassionate treatise on historical and modern hysteria. Showalter handles a difficult and touchy subject with poise and backs her work up with meticulous research, amply footnoted in the bibliography. Her compassion shows in passages such as this: "The conficts that produce hysterical symptoms are genuine and universal." In some passages, her wit and humor show: "I want to emphasize my belief that hysteria is a part of everyday life. Whenever I lecture about hysteria, I cough." Clarity and insight predominate throughout: "Psychiatrists who worked with shell-shock patients recognized that the most courageous, intelligent and virile soldiers could break down under pressure." Showalter equates manifestations of modern hysteria with the "shell shock" victims of war. Hysteria represents one "language" the stressed modern mind may use to express through the body when other modes of expression are short circuited or unavailable to an individual. Her premise is basic: modern conditions ranging from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome to Gulf War Syndrome develop from the unbearable pressures of living with the stresses of our modern society. The extreme reactions this book receives from sufferers of modern iatrogenic disorders are understandable from an emotional standpoint, but unfounded in logic or fact. Modern science has proven the link between mind and body. Emotions and attitudes effect body chemistry, the development of physical illnesses, and the level of potential healing in the individual. Showalter's equation that these syndromes and other hysterical phenomena develop from a mind-body imbalance should not even raise eyebrows. Yet Showalter's thoughtful scholarship has evoked ironically hysterical reactions from her critics, including death treats, harassment and scathing reviews that ignor scientific research. Some detractors have tried to impeach Showalter's qualifications to even discuss the subject. Elaine Showalter is a medical historian and professor of The Humanities, as well as a professor of English. Those ample qualifications shine in this logical, crisp, compelling book. Although narrowly focused on hysteria, Hystories qualifies as a book of interest to students and practitioners of mind-body medicine, mainstream medicine and alternative healing. Hystories is also an intriguing read for those interested in psychology, social science, history, or popular culture. If you wish to explore mind-body medicine indepth, I also recommend: The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions by Esther M. Steinberg M.D., Molecules of Emotion by Candace B. Pert, Ph.D., Who Gets Sick by Blair Justice Ph.D., Head First: The Biology of Hope and The Healing Power of the Human Spirit by Norman Cousins, From Paralysis To Fatigue: A History of Psychosomatic Illness in the Modern Era by Edward Shorter, The Creation of Health by Caroline Myss Ph.D. and C. Norman Shealy, M.D. by Larry Dossey M.D., The Mind Body Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain by: John E. Sarno M.D., Why People Don't Heal and How They Can by Caroline Myss Ph.D., Alternative Medicine Guide to Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia and Environmental Illness
by Burton Goldberg, Editors of Alternative Medicine Digest and
The MindBody Workbook by David Schechter M.D., The Human Side of Cancer: Living with Hope, Coping with Uncertainty
by Jimmie C., M.D. Holland, Sheldon Lewis,
Transpersonal Medicine: The New Approach to Healing Body-Mind-Spirit by G. Frank Lawlis, Larry Dossey M.D. and
Healing Beyond the Body: Medicine and the Infinite Reach of the Mind by Larry Dossey M.D.

Rating:
Summary: A Wandering Focus
Review: I really had high expectations for this book - the author worked for the Wellcome Institute of the study of the History of Medicine affiliated with Cambridge University - and I felt a historical look at how women's experience of illness (since men are rarities in the hysterical world) ties into modern conceptions of chronic illness would be particularly insightful. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the level of scholarship in this volume. Her earlier chapters centering on the development of the clinical concept of "hysteria" through the 19th and early 20th century are her strongest and best researched and the insights she makes regarding connections between influential thinkers are excellent.

Showalter ties the psychological basis of vaguely explained or ephemeral illness to more modern diseases like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome with its numerous psychological and physical symptoms and pinpoints the difficulty of many chronic illness sufferers. Namely that we "live in a culture that still looks down on psychogenic illness, that does not recognize or respect its reality. The self-esteem of the patient depends on having the physiological nature of the illness accepted. The culture forces people to deny the psychological, circumstantial, or emotional sources of their symptoms and to insist that they must be biological and beyond their control in order for them to view themselves as legitimately ill..." While this insight is excellent and, I believe, very true, what the author misses out on is the profound personal nature of the experience of chronic illness with its various ramifications.

Her final conclusion - that feminism and the feminist interpretation of the "hysteria" phenomenon has raised women's expectations of themselves without the inherent power to fulfill those expectations and that the way we should deal with this outcome is simply to study the various aspects of hysteria further - falls flat and does not seem to be well-grounded in the previous context of the book. Unless you are really interested in 19th century medical/women relationships (the one strong point of the book), I think you can miss this one.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Book
Review: I think I picked up this book for two of the least likely reasons. The first reason is that I regularly browse through McKay's book "Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds". Mckay's book, written well before the nineteenth century rise in popular psychology, has chapters of amusing and interesting anecdotes about crowd behaviour - and how it perpetuates itself. For some reason I expected Showalter's book to be the modern equivalent - it isn't, although let me state right here that this is by no means a bad thing. The second reason I read this was because I have been interested in vague way by all the Ritual Satanic Abuse media reports (and crowd frenzies) which have sprung up over the last couple of decades. We had our own incident of it in New Zealand recently you see - which has resulted in very unsatisfactory result for many people - the alleged-perpetrators and supposed-victims. I hoped that this book would shed insight on why these events happen and illustrate it with other cases. Hystories did, well sort of .

I guess mostly what I expected was a sort of true-crime kind of book, with lots of incidents linked to one another. What instead I found was a very thoughtful historical and literature review of the development of pschological illness and the way in which they rise and are perpetuated. This does brush on Mckay's area - but Showalter's approach is more thoughtful and intellectual examining the complex reasons, psychological ones among them, for these events developing. I have to say this for Showalter, her research and footnoting seem impeccable. Were I actually more interested in the psychological development of disease then it would be no hard thing to check all of her sources and the developments of her arguments. It is certainly controversial in its topic, but it seems to me she never denies that people don't have some kind of disease - only that it isn't physical and it might not be what they think. I found it very thought-provoking indeed, almost the psychology of modern psychology.

So while I it wasn't at all what I expected - it was certainly worth reading. Perhaps it is the modern descendent of Mckay's work after all.

Rating:
Summary: A valuable and well stated hypothesis
Review: In "Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Media" author Elaine Showalter argues that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Gulf War Syndrome, Recovered Memory, Multiple Personality Disorder, Satanic Ritual Abuse, and claims of alien abduction are psychosomatic conditions raised to hysterical proportions by a confluence of ambitious doctors, desperate patients, and a supportive culture. She does not discount in the slightest the physical reality of the often disabling symptoms experience by sufferers of these conditions. In the case of CFS, she says that there can be little doubt that the afflicted feel the pain, fatigue, and other symptoms they claim to feel. What is in dispute is the cause. Showalter agues that there is so little respect for psychosomatic illness in the Western world, that patients are forced to insist upon a medical cause in order to get the respect they feel they are due. Modern culture doesn't regard psychosomatic illness as a 'proper' illness, but sees it as a moral weakness. She regards hysteria not as a weakness, or act of deceitfulness or irresponsibility, but rather as a cultural symptom of anxiety and stress. The symptoms of hysterical diseases are the culturally acceptable responses to the real and imagined demands of daily living Much has been made of the fact that Elaine Showalter is a professor of English. "What's her expertise in medicine?" critics ask. The answer is that Showalter is a feminist and approaches the topic at hand as an exercise in feminist criticism. Hysteria, she notes, is inevitably a feminist issue, because for centuries doctors regarded it as a female reproductive disease. The name itself derives from hystera, the Greek word for uterus. Classical healers believed the uterus traveled hungrily around the body, producing a myriad of medical symptoms in its wake. She notes that hysterical phenomena have a large female component. A recent study at Harvard Medical School found that 80 percent of those afflicted with CFS are women. Similar data are cited for the other syndromes she discusses. Regrettably, the book is a little short on effective treatment. She notes that the reaction of authorities to incidents and rumors is critical. If scare headlines ensue and if a search for causes takes precedence over calming fears, the situation can get rapidly out of control. Things go wrong when the actual nature of the outbreak is not recognized and a fruitless search for biological bases begins. Anxiety, far from being reduced, increases. It is only then that long-term psychological problems may develop. I suspect that she wouldn't disagree that the most effective treatment is to deal with the emotional causes - the stresses and unrealistic demands of daily living. In the end, the book is a well-stated hypothesis, one no more or less true than any other hypothesis. Such hypotheses become valuable only when they promote validating research. Showalter would probably argue that this research should be pursued as vigorously as current research into the biological causes of the afflictions she discusses.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Book
Review: Interesting read, although a little bit fuzzy in focus.

Ms. Showalter treats these subjects with compassion and intelligence, and it is not suprising to see the hysterical responses others have posted.

I find it rather amusing and sad that one person posted three separate reviews pretending to be three separate people. Did you think that your mistake of using Ctrl-M for LF's wouldn't get noticed -- in all three posts?

Unfortunately, many people have much invested (emotionally and/or financially) in keeping many of these "phantom" ailments alive and kicking

Rating:
Summary: One more positive review
Review: This is NOT a medical book; nor does Showalter set out to "disprove" the syndromes she discusses. Showalter discusses why these syndromes are occurring in epidemic proportions here (the west) and now. If you are looking for studies showing that this or that syndrome really does or doesn't "exist", or if you are looking for a prescription or diagnosis, this is not the book for you. This is a cultural analysis.

The book is actually written in two parts. The first is about the history of hysteria, dwelling almost entirely in France in the last decades of the 19th century and also in Freud's office. The second half is full of chapters each dedicated to one modern day hysteria. As a reader, I am more interested in the second half. I would have preferred the author focusing on these syndromes, and showing the history of hysteria incidentally, as she went along.

My other complaint is that the book is clearly written by a media critic rather than a sociologist. These syndromes don't exist in print so much as in peoples' minds. There are lots of direct quotes from sufferers and interviews with them, but there is also a heavy reliance on tracking the syndromes through news stories. The media are an important part of the propagation of these symptoms, but a brief discussion of the Billy Crystal movie "City Slickers" and an excerpt from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical "Sunset Boulevard" were unnecessary.

Overall, the book is an interesting read for anyone interested in all the new modern ways our society has invented for being unhappy, and a good introduction to other literature on the subject.

Rating:
Summary: An Interesting Book, Ripe for Critics and Plain Enjoyment
Review: While obviously more of an anecdotal examination than a scientific study, Elaine Showalter's presentation about various (in her estimation) hysterical manifestations is enjoyable, entertaining and, to a good degree, informative. My favorites are the recovered memories, satanic ritual abuse and alien abductions, all of which appear to result from someone wanting a little ordinary, good old attention. Oh man, I have deceased relatives from rural Central Texas who would have THRIVED on these sorts of things, if only they'd every known or thought about them. I was surprised, though, that the author did not mention the radiation hysteria of the late 1940s and 1950s, the early days of the atomic age when everyone was hunting everywhere for uranium -- like that incident wherein an entire film factory was torn down because the owners were CONVINCED that radioactivity was clouding one particular type of their film (and not a light leak).

I can see where some folks, such as Gulf War vets and chronically tired workers, would take umbrage at the suggestion their maladies are not genuine -- but that's for the reader to decide. I sincerely hope that the rest of my 14 separate personalities (the ones old enough to read, that is) find as much entertainment in this book as I did.