Chapter 3. History of Dissociation (2) From Hysteria to Dissociation (2)

The fact that Galen's description of hysteria endured such a long time means that it reflected our core belief of what the hysteria is about. One of the characteristics of Galen’s notion is that it has to do with female sexuality that constitutes a major part of social taboo.
In under-developed societies where there are numerous social taboos, dissociative symptoms tend to taka a form of sociocultural phenomena. It is well known that in many types of so called “culture-bound syndrome” are observed in uncivilized societies. It seems that female sexuality is the strongest taboo that is omnipresent across stages of social development, forming a dissociative symptoms that has been called hysteria.
The most interesting part of the theory of hysteria is that sexual intercourse with men can alleviate the symptoms. Let us quote for the book “Technology of Orgasm” a similar description of Nilolaas Fonteyn.
Wives re more healthful then Widowes, or Virgins, because they are refreshed with the mans seed, and ejaculate their own, which being excluded, the cause of the evill is taken away. This is evident from the words of Hippocrates, who adviseth young Maids to marrrie, when they are thus troubled:…
It is very difficult to believe from our current standpoint, but the theory was commonly accepted even in the 17th century. Here, a fantasy held by men is quite obvious: women always want or need sexual interaction with men.