Victorian attitudes to Hysteria, supernatural and Phrenology

Victorian attitudes...
Matthew Hamman…read more

Who were the Victorians?
The Victorian age in British history is named after
Queen Victoria, who was Britain's queen from 1837
until 1901.
Queen victoria lost her husband Albert on December
14th 1861.
Britain managed to build a huge empire during the
Victorian period. It was also a time of tremendous
change in the lives of British people. In 1837 most
people lived in villages and worked on the land; by
1901, most lived in towns and worked in offices, shops
and factories.…read more

Who were the Victorians?
The Victorians were obsessed with all things
paranormal and supernatural.
During Queen Victoria's reign the confidence of the
British people was increasing more and more each day.…read more

What is Hysteria?
Hysteria describes an unthinkable excess of emotion.
When someone is described as being "Hysterical" they
are seen to be out of control.
During the 1800s hysteria was used as a diagnosis of
certain types of irrational behaviour in women, however
this is not the case today.
In this day and age medical professionals use the term
`Somatization disorder'. Somatization disorder is very
unique.…read more

Somatization Disorder...
Somatization disorder is characterized by recurring
multiple complaints regarding pain or most commonly
gastrointestinal pain.
For a patient to have somatization disorder they must
have been complaining about these kinds of things
before they turn 30.
The usual behaviour of an individual with somatization
disorder is to go to extensive measures to get
treatment for something that may not be as severe as
they think it is.…read more

Hysteria/Somatization
disorder...
One of the main treatments for such a disorder is CBT.
CBT stands for cognitive behavioral therapy, this
means that a doctor or GP will try and help the patient
realise that their symptoms are not that serious and
that returning back to everyday life will not make things
worse.
During the Victorian era hysteria was thought to be only
found in women because it was believed that is was
caused by the womb, however this is not true. From
this I think that the Victorians still saw women as being
weak, when in real life men would also get them self
into hysterics.…read more