SUMMARY :
The hypotesis of a therapeutical and etiological relationship between hysteria
and sexual disorders was formed many centuries ago. Ancient Egiptians first,
then Hippocrates, Claudius Galenus and Freud described this evidence: nevertheless
a few studies better clarify this relationship. The aim of our study was to
point out the relationship between hysteric dimension and sexual disorders.
Material and Method: This work was based on the review of clinical papers of
175 consecutive male and female patients referred to a clinic of sexual disorders
for outpatients. They were subdivided in diagnostic groups by sexual symptoms.
The population was secondary subdivided according to the clinical presence or
the absence of hysteria symptoms: neurological-like symptoms (NL), pain (P),
functional somatic symptoms (FS), gastroenteric symptoms (GE), clastic episodes
(C), theatricality (T), high interpersonal sensitivity (HI) and dissociative
symptoms (D). It was previously evaluated with SCID (Structured Clinical Interview
for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders) for Axis I psychiatric disorders and a modified-SCID
for sexual disorders.
Results: Males represented 85.1% of the population, while females were 14.9%.
Hysteria symptoms were represented by FS in the 59.8%, GE 36.2%, P 29.1%, HI
26.3%, T 17.1%. Significative correlations were pointed out between the presence
of T and Hypoactive sexual disorders (p=0.04) and Gender Identity Disorder,
(p=0.000); and between HI and female orgasmic disorder (p=0.05).
Conclusions: hysteria was historically female confined, we found hysteria symptoms
in males affected by sexual disorders.
The relationship between hysteria symptoms and sexual disorders seems to be
focused on the nuclear symptoms of the hysteric personality (theatricality and
high interpersonal sensitivity) and the hedonistic dimensions of sexuality (desire
and orgasm).