“Just Relax”: Still Hysterical After All These Years
Psychology Today | 30.04.2026 00:17
Nearly two hundred years and different diagnoses separate these two cases: One patient was advised to rest; the other patient was advised to relax. One’s symptoms were attributed to heightened sensitivity to stimuli and failure to regulate emotion; the other’s symptoms are often dismissed as signs of stress, anxiety, and heightened bodily awareness. One’s treatment focused on limiting what might provoke an emotional response; the other’s clinical experience shifts attention from symptoms toward the patient’s responses to them.
