Hystero-epilepsy

Hystero-epilepsy

Hystero-epilepsy is an alleged disease "discovered" by 19th-century French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. [cite web|url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=2221928&blobtype=pdf |title=An Account of a Demonstration on the Phenomena of Hystero-Epilepsy Given by Professor Charcot |author=Arthur Gamgee |publisher=Br Med J. 1878 October 12; 2(928): 545–548.] It is considered a famous example of iatrogenic artifact, or a disease created by doctors.

The disease was considered a combination of hysteria and epilepsy. Charcot housed his "hystero-epilepsy" patients in the same ward as patients with epilepsy, because both were considered "episodic" diseases. At the time, both hysteria and epilepsy were believed to be neuroses; and diseases caused by the conversion of psychological distress into physical distress. Symptoms included "convulsions, contortions, fainting, and transient impairment of consciousness."

Joseph Babinski convinced Charcot that he was inducing the symptoms in his patients because of his treatment regimen. Spanos, Nicholas P. Multiple Identities and False Memories: A Sociocognitive Perspective (Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1996).]

ee also

*Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures

References


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  • hystero-epilepsy — hys·tero epilepsy …   English syllables

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  • hystero-epileptic — adjective see hystero epilepsy …   Useful english dictionary

  • Hysteria —    In 1802, Paris psychiatrist Jean Baptiste Louyer Villermay (1775–1837), in an essay differentiating hypochondria from hysteria, described a young female patient, uncertain about romance, who, at the sight of her loved one fainted, uttering… …   Historical dictionary of Psychiatry

  • Hysteria-Psychosomatic-Somatization —    In 1802, Paris psychiatrist Jean Baptiste Louyer Villermay (1775–1837), in an essay differentiating hypochondria from hysteria, described a young female patient, uncertain about romance, who, at the sight of her loved one fainted, uttering… …   Historical dictionary of Psychiatry

  • Iatrogenesis — The terms iatrogenesis and iatrogenic artifact refer to adverse effects or complications caused by or resulting from medical treatment or advice. In addition to harmful consequences of actions by physicians, iatrogenesis can also refer to actions …   Wikipedia

  • clownism — clown·ism klau̇ .niz əm n an abnormal emotional display accompanied by grotesque actions (as in hystero epilepsy) …   Medical dictionary

  • Tourette's syndrome — or Tourette syndrome n a familial neuropsychiatric disorder of variable expression that is characterized by multiple recurrent involuntary tics involving body movements (as eye blinks, grimaces, or knee bends) and vocalizations (as grunts, snorts …   Medical dictionary

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