Psychopathy Hysterical

Hysterical psychopathy (Psychasthenic catatonia or phrenic hysteria; Latin Hysteria - madness) is considered the most severe form among the manifestations of the hysterical range of disorders.

From here, affective motor reactions develop, which manifest themselves in the form of ritual movements, obsessive or, on the contrary, inhibited movements. At the same time, the affect during hysterical conversion and psychogenic symptoms is very limited and uniformly changeable. Moreover, it is characteristic that such symptoms are expressed in forms characteristic of a certain type of higher nervous activity of the patient. Ritual gestures are characteristic of emotionally labile individuals. Special forms are also noted, for example, pa effects that are not accompanied by muscle contraction, similar to ritual actions. In this case, the content of “psychic masks” can be expressed by a complex of ideas.

Conversion psychogenic symptoms are often accompanied by delusions of jealousy, special meaning, special invention, mental anesthesia or masturbation, or sex. It can be noted that usually patients suffering from hysterical disorders are women, while in men hysterical symptoms appear very rarely. Although there are also opposite examples. A distinctive feature of hysteria is the fact that patients are in some cases unable to correctly assess their painful state, and when their consciousness becomes clearer regarding the true causes of the symptoms, they themselves begin to show a negative attitude towards them. It is very typical that patients’ complaints increase in the evening and upon awakening after sleep, i.e. Over time, the manifestations of hysteria intensify. As a rule, criticism of one's mental and somatic disorders is very scarce, and the range of complaints gradually expands.