charcot

In 1895 Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer published one of medicine’s greatest milestone books; it’s called “Studies In Hysteria”. In it they showed that disease can be induced by mental states and by reversing these mental patterns, cures took place. It was a very shocking book because it stated plainly that men could suffer from hysterical illness and, as everyone knows, hysteria is really only caused by a floating uterus (that’s what hysteria means; that’s why it sounds like hysterectomy). OK, I’m  joking—but they weren’t back then; that’s what Freud and Breuer faced at the time. Eventually Breuer publicly disavowed his colleague. But Freud stayed the ground and became one of the greatest and most compassionate figures in medicine (even if a lot of his stuff is just plain wrong). He’s a household name; Breuer is virtually forgotten. As a result of the historic Freud/Breuer collaboration, the concept of psychosomatic disease was born. It exists, unquestionably. But it’s also a great curse. Because when doctors are incompetent and can’t diagnose or treat successfully, they blame the patient and say “It’s all in your head”.

In 1895 Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer published one of medicine’s greatest milestone books; it’s called “Studies In Hysteria”. In it they showed that disease can be induced by mental states and by reversing these mental patterns, cures took place. It was a very shocking book because it stated plainly that men could suffer from hysterical illness and, as everyone knows, hysteria is really only caused by a floating uterus (that’s what hysteria means; that’s why it sounds like hysterectomy). OK, I’m  joking—but they weren’t back then; that’s what Freud and Breuer faced at the time. Eventually Breuer publicly disavowed his colleague. But Freud stayed the ground and became one of the greatest and most compassionate figures in medicine (even if a lot of his stuff is just plain wrong). He’s a household name; Breuer is virtually forgotten. As a result of the historic Freud/Breuer collaboration, the concept of psychosomatic disease was born. It exists, unquestionably. But it’s also a great curse. Because when doctors are incompetent and can’t diagnose or treat successfully, they blame the patient and say “It’s all in your head”.