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Egyptian medical papyri of the 19th century B.C. provide the first description of hysteria, including accounts of morbid symptoms thought to be caused by displacement of the uterus. Veith (1965, 1977) has presented an extensive history of hysteria, beginning with the Egyptians, and has described in considerable detail its various symptoms.
The Egyptian concept of hysteria comprised pains in the body, particularly the head and the extremities; and displacement of the uterus to other organs or bodily parts, causing painful pressure on them.
Hippocrates, some 400 years B.C., described hysteria similarly. His humane account included paroxysmal symptoms, including attacks of choking (globus hystericus) and such other episodic somatic or physiological symptoms as palpitations, convulsions, vomiting, drowsiness, lethargy and pain in the head and eyes; and displacement of the uterus, with ensuing pressure on the affected organs: “If the uterus rises to the hypochondrium it can impede the flow of breath and cause convulsions. If it attaches itself to the heart, it can cause pain in the head, eyes and nose and cause drowsiness” (Littré, 1851). Hippocrates made the further observation that the symptoms more often occurred among unmarried women.
During the mediaeval period, between the fifth and 13th centuries, Hippocrates' approach was largely forgotten. Although the