ABSTRACT
Hysteria is currently not a very popular concept as a psychological diagnosis or behavioural category. The only circumstances under which it seems to be usually considered appropriate to describe someone as hysterical is when they are reacting to something which is unbearably painful or traumatic. This is probably because, in the current "victim" culture, the idea of hysteria implies too obviously the image of someone creating a fuss or a drama, as opposed to being the hapless victim of someone else's maltreatment. This chapter presents a case study of a patient named Emma, who is affected with martyred-mother syndrome, which makes it very easy to see how hysteria and sadomasochism tend to go hand in hand. As the essence of hysteria is the replacement of real emotional experience and expression by performance and simulation, there are two aspects of this which need closer examination: exhibitionism and voyeurism.
