A History Of Hysteria:

An examination of gender bias in the medical profession

Project Proposal

The inspiration for this project began many years ago, long before I had ever considered myself a photojournalist. In 2017 on a visit to a medical professional I was told to ‘cheer up’. At the time I was already taking antidepressants and was suffering from anxiety, depressive episodes and suicidal ideation. Within the next few months, I was diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder. Simply ‘cheering up’ was not an option; if it wasn’t for this diagnosis and the help I eventually got, things may have turned out very differently. 

In the following years, I reflected on the words from this medical professional and began discussing my experience. The more I talked about it, the more I found that other women often had similar stories of being dismissed, ignored and ridiculed when seeking help for both mental and physical health problems. On beginning to officially research this, I discovered shocking statistics backing up my anecdotal evidence; gender bias is well and truly deeply ingrained in the medical profession with all too often tragic consequences. Women are 50% more likely to be misdiagnosed with cardiovascular disease than men, resulting in a far higher mortality rate. (1) Women on average wait 44 minutes longer than men to be seen in A&E departments. One quarter of young women seeking help for their mental health are told their problems are likely hormonal, whilst one fifth were dismissed as ‘dramatic’. Despite suffering from more chronic pain conditions than men, evidence shows women are frequently diagnosed with psychological disorders to explain this, rather than physical ones.

I started to wonder why this was happening.

In my research, one word came up again and again when referring to women seeking medical help: ‘hysteria’. Derived from the Greek word for ‘wandering womb’, this stereotyping and subjugation dates back thousands of years. A History Of Hysteria is a short film that attempts to give a platform for individuals to share experiences of gender bias and examine the reasoning behind it.

With origins dating back as far as Ancient Egypt, we can officially trace this back to 5th Century B.C. when ‘Hippocrates [...] is the first to use the term hysteria. Indeed he also believes that the cause of this disease lies in the movement of the uterus (“hysteron”)’. It wasn’t until 1980 that ‘“hysterical neurosis” was finally officially removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.’ Throughout this time we can trace historical events which have led to an unconscious bias, resulting in women’s health not being taken as seriously as men’s. From records from physicians in the 11th Century, to images taken in asylums by photographer Albert Londe; from the extermination of 500,000 women during the European witch trials, to notebooks from The Medical Register, this troubling rhetoric has peppered history and created a turbulent and dangerous present day reality.

This alarming situation is summarised through testimonials, archival images and collated findings from the latest medical research and media reporting. A History Of Hysteria examines the troubling trajectory of gender bias and its often devastating consequences for women today.

Works Cited

1.  Dutta, Dr.S.S. (2022) Gender bias in cardiovascular science, News. Available at: https://www.news-medical.net/health/Gender-Bias-in-Cardiovascular-Science.aspx (Accessed: 08 July 2023). 
2. Lasica, S. (2023) Longer A&E waits disadvantage women, figures show, The Ferret. Available at: https://theferret.scot/longer-ae-waits-disadvantage-women-figures-show/ (Accessed: 29 November 2023).
3. Hussen, D.A. (2023) Young women seeking mental health help called ‘dramatic’, UK survey finds, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/17/young-women-seeking-mental-health-help-called-dramatic-uk-survey-finds (Accessed: 16 July 2023).
4. Biggers, A. (2021) Gender bias in medical diagnosis: Facts, causes, and impact, Medical News Today. Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/gender-bias-in-medical-diagnosis#how-does-it-affect-diagnosis (Accessed: 16 July 2023).
5. Tasca, C. et al. (2012) ‘Women and hysteria in the history of Mental Health’, Clinical Practice & Epidemiology in Mental Health, 8(1), pp. 110–119. doi:10.2174/1745017901208010110. (p. 112)
6. Tasca, C, (p. 112)
7. Laderer, A. (2023) The history of hysteria and its link to mental health, Charlie Health. Available at: https://www.charliehealth.com/post/the-history-of-hysteria-and-its-link-to-mental-health (Accessed: 05 December 2023).
8. Tasca, C, (p. 114)
9. Londe, A. (19th Century) Albert Londe, Europeana. Available at: https://www.europeana.eu/en/collections/person/9630-albert-londe (Accessed: 05 December 2023).
10. Ben-Yehuda, N. (1980) ‘The European witch craze of the 14th to 17th Centuries: A sociologist’s perspective’, American Journal of Sociology, 86(1), pp. 1–31. doi:10.1086/227200.
11. SAINT LUKE'S HOSPITAL {WOODSIDE HOSPITAL} (1907), The Medical Register of 1906: Females. H64/B/11. London: The Wellcome Collection.

Visit here to see a full reference of images cited in the film.

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