Hysteria

Classic articles of French psychoanalysis

Abstract

According to Jacqueline Schaeffer, hysteria cannot be understood and interpreted without taking into account the theory of libido. In addition, it is impossible to speak of a conversion symptom or hysteria without recourse to the theory of psychopathology, which makes it possible to comprehend the material of observation. Nor can one be satisfied with a mere clinical description. Starting with Freud, madame Schaffer develops her personal theory of libido to explain hysteria and construction of the feminine. According to Jacqueline Schaeffer, that’s just the conversion hysteria "underlies the discovery of psychoanalysis as a method of psychopathological understanding and treatment".