The five patients of the Studies do not form a homogeneous nosological group. The conversion symptoms of Anna O. and Emmy von N. dealt with hostile impulses and were pregenital in nature. There was little evidence of genitality and these patients were in fact schizophrenics. The symptoms of the other three expressed oedipal wishes towards the father. There were true hysterics and the prognosis differed accordingly.

Hysteria should not be used as a diagnostic term for patients with conversions who have regressed from the genital level. However, it is impracticable to define an illness in terms of a conflict in the unconscious because of the time necessary to elicit the evidence for the diagnosis. It is therefore suggested that such patients should be described in terms of the nature of their symptoms and the degree and type of ego-defect.