Female hysteria  

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 +'''Female hysteria''' was a once-common medical diagnosis, made exclusively in women, which is no longer recognized by modern medical authorities. It was a popular diagnosis in Western nations, during the [[Victorian era]], for women who exhibited a wide array of [[symptoms]] including faintness, nervousness, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in abdomen, muscle spasm, shortness of breath, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, and a "tendency to cause trouble".<ref name=Maines>{{cite book |id=ISBN 0-8018-6646-4 |title=The Technology of Orgasm: "Hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction |author=Rachel P. Maines |location=Baltimore |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1999
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 +Patients diagnosed with female [[hysteria]] would sometimes undergo "pelvic [[massage]]" &mdash; manual stimulation of the woman's genitals by the doctor to "hysterical paroxysm", which is now recognized as [[orgasm]].
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Female hysteria was a once-common medical diagnosis, made exclusively in women, which is no longer recognized by modern medical authorities. It was a popular diagnosis in Western nations, during the Victorian era, for women who exhibited a wide array of symptoms including faintness, nervousness, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in abdomen, muscle spasm, shortness of breath, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, and a "tendency to cause trouble".<ref name=Maines>Template:Cite book</ref>

Patients diagnosed with female hysteria would sometimes undergo "pelvic massage" — manual stimulation of the woman's genitals by the doctor to "hysterical paroxysm", which is now recognized as orgasm.



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