ABSTRACT
Hysterical psychosis signifies hysteria as a mental disorder. The company to which hysteria belongs has also changed into that of theoretically neutral psychosis categories, i.e., psychogenic or reactive psychosis vs. the bouffee delirante. Hysterical psychosis in America is often used as a synonym for reactive psychosis, which is indeed a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-notion. This substitution speaks for itself, in view of the reactive typification of hysterical psychosis. With this, the American status of hysterical psychosis is on the same level as the French status, notably that of the bouffee delirante. This neutralizing movement does not prevent certain psychiatrists from "reinventing" hysteria in a posterior movement. In this way, S. Steingard and F. Frankel proclaim that the hysterical or brief reactive psychosis is a repository for various disorders and psychopathologies. The psychogenic, constitutional or reactive psychoses are considered as a separate clinical entity, which is detached from manic-depressive psychosis and schizophrenia.
