Hysteria

A licensed therapist wrote:

• Freud discovered that the "hysteria" from which many of his female patients suffered was induced by molestation and incest during childhood. However, he began seeing so much of it he could not believe it. He also felt the wrath of accused fathers. As a result, Freud eventually recanted his belief that hysteria was a reaction to sexual abuse and stated he believed it to be a "fantasy" that the father would seduce the daughter rather than an actualilty. This position remained until the rise of the feminist movement in the 1970s and the reawakening in awareness of childhood sexual abuse. [1]