Again, confusion had been caused by
the ancient error of making the physical sexual organs responsible for
hysteria, first the womb, more recently the ovaries; the outcome of this
belief was the extirpation of the sexual organs for the cure of hysteria.
Charcot condemned absolutely all such operations as unscientific and
dangerous, declaring that there is no such thing as hysteria of menstrual
origin.[265] Subsequently, Angelucci and Pierracini carried out an
international inquiry into the results of the surgical treatment of
hysteria, and condemned it in the most unqualified manner.[266] It is
clearly demonstrated that the physical sexual organs are not the seat of
hysteria. It does not, however, follow that even physical sexual desire,
when repressed, is not a cause of hysteria. The opinion that it was so
formed an essential part of the early doctrine of hysteria, and was
embodied in the ancient maxim: "_Nubat illa et morbus effugiet_." The
womb, it seemed to the ancients, was crying out for satisfaction, and when
that was received the disease vanished.[267] But when it became clear that
sexual desire, though ultimately founded on the sexual apparatus, is a
nervous and psychic fact, to put the sexual organs out of count was not
sufficient; for the sexual emotions may exist before puberty, and persist
after complete removal of the sexual organs. Thus it has been the object
of many writers to repel the idea that unsatisfied sexual desire can be a
cause of hysteria.
Pages:
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396