What is "hysteria"

Hysteria \Hys*te"ri*a\, n. [NL.: cf. F. hyst['e]rie. See Hysteric.] (Med.) A nervous affection, occurring almost exclusively in women, in which the emotional and reflex excitability is exaggerated, and the will power correspondingly diminished, so that the patient loses control over the emotions, becomes the victim of imaginary sensations, and often falls into paroxism or fits.

Note: The chief symptoms are convulsive, tossing movements of the limbs and head, uncontrollable crying and laughing, and a choking sensation as if a ball were lodged in the throat. The affection presents the most varied symptoms, often simulating those of the gravest diseases, but generally curable by mental treatment alone.

1801, coined in medical Latin as an abstract noun from hysteric (see hysterical) + abstract noun ending -ia.

n. 1 behavior exhibiting excessive or uncontrollable emotion, such as fear or panic. 2 (context medicine English) A mental disorder characterized by emotional excitability etc. without an organic cause.

1. n. state of violent mental agitation [syn: craze, delirium, frenzy, fury]

2. excessive or uncontrollable fear

3. neurotic disorder characterized by violent emotional outbreaks and disturbances of sensory and motor functions [syn: hysterical neurosis]

Hysteria, in the colloquial use of the term, means ungovernable emotional excess. Generally, modern medical professionals have abandoned using the term "hysteria" to denote a diagnostic category, replacing it with more precisely defined categories, such as somatization disorder. In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association officially changed the diagnosis of "hysterical neurosis, conversion type" (the most extreme and effective type) to " conversion disorder".

Hysteria is the fourth studio album by English hard rock band Def Leppard, released on 3 August 1987 through Mercury Records and reissued on 1 January 2000. It is the band's best-selling album to date, selling over 25 million copies worldwide, including 12 million in the US, and spawning seven hit singles. The album charted at #1 on both the Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart.

Hysteria was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The title of the album was thought up by drummer Rick Allen, referring to his 1984 auto accident and the ensuing worldwide media coverage surrounding it. It is also the last album to feature guitarist Steve Clark before his death, although songs co-written by him would appear in the band's next album, Adrenalize.

The album is the follow-up to the band's 1983 breakthrough Pyromania. Hysteria's creation took over three years and was plagued by delays, including the aftermath of the 31 December 1984 car accident that cost drummer Rick Allen his left arm. Subsequent to the album's release, Def Leppard published a book entitled Animal Instinct: The Def Leppard Story, written by Rolling Stone magazine Senior Editor David Fricke, on the three-year recording process of Hysteria and the tough times the band endured through the mid-1980s.

Hysteria has earned critical acclaim from a number of sources. In 1988 Q magazine readers voted it as the 98th Greatest Album of All Time, while in 2004, the album was ranked at #464 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Lasting 62 and a half minutes, the album was, at the time, one of the longest albums ever issued on a single vinyl record.

Hysteria, in its colloquial use, describes a state of mind, one of unmanageable fear or emotional excesses.

Hysteria may also refer to:

Hysteria is a 1965 British murder mystery film directed by Freddie Francis, produced by Hammer Films and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film stars Robert Webber and Anthony Newlands.

Hysteria is a 2011 British period romantic comedy film directed by Tanya Wexler. It stars Hugh Dancy and Maggie Gyllenhaal, with Felicity Jones, Jonathan Pryce, and Rupert Everett appearing in key supporting roles. The film, set in the Victorian era, shows how the medical management of hysteria led to the invention of the vibrator. The film's title refers to the once-common medical diagnosis of female hysteria.

"Hysteria" (also known as "Hysteria (I Want It Now)" in the United States) is a song by English alternative rock band Muse and is featured on their third studio album, Absolution. It was also released as a single from that album on 1 December 2003 in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 17 in the UK Singles Chart (see 2003 in British music). The song is also well known for its intricate bass line, which was voted the sixth best bass line of all time on MusicRadar. It reached number 9 in the US on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

The artwork for the 7" cover was chosen by competition, and the winner was Adam Falkus. The runner-up images are included in the DVD version of the single. The song was performed regularly during the tour in support of Absolution and remains a staple of the band's live show. The song also appears on the Absolution Tour DVD and on both the CD and DVD of HAARP.

"Hysteria" is a love song by the English hard rock band Def Leppard. It is the tenth track on their 1987 album of the same name and was released as the fourth single from that album in November 1987. On VH1 Storytellers: Def Leppard, lead singer Joe Elliott revealed that the song title came from drummer Rick Allen.

The mellow ballad features a clean guitar melody that is very reminiscent of " Goodbye Blue Sky" by Pink Floyd, and heavily multi-tracked vocals in its chorus. The "extreme" nature of producer Mutt Lange's recording methods is also exampled in the chorus, where the clean guitar chords were recorded one note at a time as opposed to the traditional method of strumming them, in effect "building" a chord by recording the notes that make them up as one would build a wall by stacking bricks upon each other one-by-one as confirmed by recording engineer Mike Shipley. An acoustic rendition of the song was performed by Elliott and guitarist Phil Collen on the Hysteria edition of VH1's Classic Albums.

Hysteria: Or Fragments of an Analysis of an Obsessional Neurosis is a two-hour comedy play, by British dramatist Terry Johnson, fictionalising a real-life 1938 meeting between Salvador Dalí and Sigmund Freud a year before the latter's death. It is named after the Freudian psychological term " hysteria".

Freud and Dali meet for tea at Freud's house in Hampstead one summer's afternoon in 1938. The play combines that meeting with the arrival of the mysterious Jessica, who brings serious charges against Freud relating to his treatment of her mother and his theory of presexual shock. In the last months of his illness, the exhausted Freud, trying to put his affairs in order, soon finds himself up to his neck explaining both his life's work and the female undergarments in his garden.

"Hysteria" is a song by Finnish singer Anna Abreu from her fourth studio album, Rush (2011). Patric Sarin, who had previously worked with Abreu on her former two albums, wrote the song. It was produced by Jukka Immonen, the hitmaker responsible for producing all three of Finnish singer Jenni Vartiainen's albums, including Seili, which was certified 7xPlatinum and went on to become one of the highest-selling albums of all time in Finland. "Hysteria" is a Pop song that continues the Dance infusion Abreu started using during the Now era. It also contains elements of Synthpop. The song was released on 10 January 2011 in Finland, as the album's lead single.

Hysteria is a feminist publication, a non-profit periodical and platform for feminist activism.

Hysteria, the fourth studio album by Katharine McPhee, was released via eOne on Friday, September 18, 2015. The album features collaborations with Ryan Tedder, Sia, Isabella Summers, and more.