ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses Jean-Martin Charcot's influence on the study of hysteria and hypnosis. It then explores Sigmund Freud's first theory proceeding from what ideas or theories were active in the French and German neurological and psychiatric circles, on the look-out for specific articulations of hysteria and madness. The chapter also reviews his initial steps in the field of psychopathology. In 1895, Freud and Josef Breuer jointly published their Studies on Hysteria. Breuer's new treatment of a case of severe hysteria concerns the patient who is to go down in history under the pseudonym of Anna O. and who later, under her real name of Bertha Pappenheim, will make important contributions in both the literary as well as in the social domain. Her case study was included as the first of six in the Studies. The others are Emmy von N., Frau Cäcilie, Elisabeth von R., Lucy R. and Katharina, the last three treated exclusively by Freud.
