Controversial diseases that didn’t really exist

Proven content

In the history of medicine, we can find many diseases that no one can diagnose anymore. Why? Because they never really existed. In some cases, the medics had good intentions but lacked the appropriate knowledge and technology. Some of them, however, hit various social groups, especially women and people with skin color other than white.

1. Female hysteria was first described by Hippocrates in 500 BC. He suggested that the disease manifested by explosiveness, nervousness and high sex drive was related to the wandering uterus of the woman’s body. “Hysteria” in Greek is precisely “womb”.
2. At the end of the XNUMXth century, doctors believed that the best cure for hysteria was an orgasm, and women were advised to … use vibrators
3. It was not until 1950 that the American Psychological Association removed the term “female hysteria” from the textbook of mental disorders
4. You can read more about the coronavirus epidemic on the TvoiLokony home page

A bicycle face that is dangerous for women

Some doctors in the late 1897s warned young women about a condition such as “bicycle face”. According to doctors, the use of bicycles by women could have fatal consequences for their physiognomy. We supposedly owe the term “bicycle face” to Dr. A. Shadwell, who used it in an article published in XNUMX in the National Review.

According to this doctor, the overexertion women have to make while cycling adversely affects the appearance of their faces. What was it showing? A blush or pale cheek, tight lips, dark circles under the eyes, and an expression of tiredness on the face. Sometimes there were also bulging eyes.

Some doctors suggested that the “bicycle face” stayed with a man forever, others that it was a temporary state that disappears when the woman spends enough time away from the bicycle. Why did doctors try to diagnose women with the disease that would disfigure them?

1. See also: Walking and cycling can relieve fatigue in cancer patients

In the 90s, the bicycle was seen in Europe and America as a tool of feminism. Women gained greater mobility and independence. A clothing revolution was also seen in bicycles. The costumes and uncomfortable underwear that restrict movement were not suitable for cycling.

According to doctors who tried to discourage women from cycling, this activity, in addition to the “cycling face”, was also responsible for heart palpitations, headaches, depression, exhaustion and insomnia.

The revelation that cycling was harmful to health and appearance was ended by Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson, who wrote in the Phrenological Journal magazine that cycling does not harm anatomy, and even improves overall health. riding a bike, and the cyclists’ strange facial expressions result from their initial inability to ride. After gaining experience, it disappears.

Female hysteria treated with a vibrator

Another disease that does not really exist and that has been diagnosed for a long time was the hysteria of women. It was a mental disorder attributed only to the female gender. Its main symptoms were nervousness, hallucinations, outbursts of anger, and excessive sexual drive. For the first time, female hysteria was described by Hippocrates. In 500 BC, in his notes, he suggested that various ailments that only affect women could be attributed to the uterus. It was supposed to be a wandering organ in a woman’s body. When it moved to an unexpected place or was too close to another organ, it caused various strange symptoms. The word “hysteria” comes from Greek and means “uterus” (hystera).

1. See also: What is hysteria?

Women’s hysteria returned to wallpaper in the nineteenth century thanks to the neuropsychiatrist Dr. Pierre Janet, who described hysteria as a nervous disease characterized by dissociation of consciousness that causes a person to behave in an extreme way. The hysteria of women was manifested by extreme nervousness or anxiety, shortness of breath, fainting, anxiety, as well as sexual desire, irritability, loss of appetite and desire to be close (paradox) and a tendency to cause trouble to others. In 1878, vibrators became the cure for hysteria. According to the doctors, bringing the woman to orgasm was supposed to alleviate the symptoms of hysteria.

It was not until 1950 that the American Psychological Association removed the term “female hysteria” from the textbook of mental disorders.

The disease of lazy black slaves

It wasn’t just women who fell victim to imaginary diseases. In the XNUMXth century, when slavery and racism were doing quite well, Dr. Samuel Adolphus Catwright invented a new disease entity which he called “dysaesthesia aethiopica”. This fictional mental illness was to make slaves lazy. It revealed that the enslaved people (only black people) were less inclined to obey orders and gave the impression of sleepers. Moreover, Catwrigt believed that free blacks were also more or less affected by this disease because they were not dealing with a white man to guide and care for them.

The doctor also believed that the disease was easily cured. He gave a way of doing this, of course, but we will not cite him because of his cruelty. “Dysaesthesia aethiopica” is a prime example of pseudoscience and scientific racism.

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