Studies on Hysteria was published in 1895 by Freud and his early mentor, Joseph Breuer. It consists of several early case studies in the treatment of hysteria, a disorder in which patients (usually women) presented physical and neurological symptoms which had no identifiable physical cause. The key case in this book was the case of "Anna O.", a patient of Breuer's, which Gay calls the "founding case of psychoanalysis".
"Anna O." was Breuer's pseudonym for Bertha Pappenheim, a friend of Freud's wife Martha, and later to become a prominent social worker. The case describes the course and treatment of "Anna's" serious hysterical disorder which began in 1880 when she was 21 years old. This case (written by Breuer, not Freud) is a classic for several reasons: Anna's description of Breuer's peculiar treatment; Breuer's discovery that hysterical symptoms were meaningful responses to real-life traumas, and Freud's bold extension of Breuer's insight into what he saw as the fundamental cause of neurotic symptoms. To appreciate the true drama of Anna's story, one must listen to it with pre-Freudian ears; here one has the by-now cliched discoveries of psychoanalysis in the raw, still moist with the perspiration of their creators.
Read the excerpt from "the case of Anna O." (FR pp. 60-78; make sure to also read Peter Gay's brief introductory comment, and all footnotes), along with Freud's comments on this episode in his Autobiographical Study (FR pp. 10-17). Come to class prepared to discuss the following questions.
The Case of Anna O. (pp. 60-78)
1. Describe Anna and her family life just before her illness.
2. Summarize the basic symptoms, history and course of Anna's illness.
3. Describe Breuer's treatment (use the symptom of not understanding speech as an example) and explain Anna's names for it.
4. What did Breuer finally discover to be the origin ("pathogenesis") of Anna's hysterical symptoms? After reflecting on footnote #7 on p.76, what deeper interpretation to you think Freud would make of Anna's original waking dream of the black snakes?
5. After reading Breuer's description of the final outcome of Anna's treatment, and footnote #8 on p.78, why do you think Breuer might have exaggerated Anna's initial recovery?
An Autobiographical Study (pp. 10-17)
6. Explain Freud's somewhat startling comment that "The development
of psycho-analysis afterwards cost me" the intimate friendship of his trusted
mentor and friend.
7. Describe the theory of hysteria Freud & Breuer developed from
the case study of Anna O. and other patients. (see p. 13).