Historical Treatments for Hysteria: A Look Back at 19th-Century Practices

Pelvic massage or manual manipulation

This therapy involved a male doctor directly stimulating a woman's genitals until orgasm was achieved which supposedly resulted in a "paroxysm" that released emotional tension

Purgatives, emetics, laxative or enemas

The idea was to clear and cleanse any toxic buildup which was seen as contributing to the underlying problem of hysteria

Electrical and vibration appliances

Electrical stimulation on or near pelvic regions and sometimes directly stimulating external reproductive parts. There were even vibrators made specifically for medical reasons

Hydrotherapy treatment

These involved hot baths, hot and cold showers and packs at alternating temperature in addition to steam rooms and whirlpools to try to "shock" hysteria out of patient's

Surgery- Oopherectomy or salpingectomy

A common approach of removing any malfunctioning parts in female organs responsible for reproduction, as these parts were associated with being overly fertile which linked back to being highly charged with sexual energies which lead to hysteria

Psychological or talk therapy

An innovative method that began developing at the time which attempted to explore women's thoughts that contributed to these unexplained outbursts

While many of these practices seemed effective at the time in controlling or suppressing these hysterical symptoms most women still continued presenting symptoms and there remained this pervasive sense of dissatisfaction as women did not fee cured or understood which made them prone to relapses or new forms of these hysterical tendencies that persisted into next 50+ years