Though the headline is totally misleading, the article itself is informative. The article should have been titled "Is Conversion Disorder Real? Brain Images Often (But Not Always) Say Yes." Of course the term "hysteria" will always capture the reader's attention before "conversion disorder" will, hence the sensational headline. It's simply bad journalism if you ask me, which is probably why I'll never get a job at a major newspaper.

“Hysteria, to me, has always been a pejorative term, because of its association with women...�

that line made me gag. maybe what he meant to say was that hysteria was used to invalidate strong emotion in women for too long. (due to incautious wording?) what he actually said was that because hysteria is associated with women, it's an insult.

That is great! Amazing to see it under the Science section yet again. I was just reading about Charcot and that painting for a class on the history of psychology. What they have cropped from the image is the painting of a woman bent over with her hysterical symptoms, prefiguring her attack and its performance for the waiting group of gentleman scientists. Plus, there are nurses waiting to catch her. Rumor is that it hung in Freud's office also.

Anyway, great post, as always!