Hysterical! Or, What We Get Wrong about Somatic Experiences
- Lara Lehman
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
My Journey Towards Healing the Bodymind
The term hysteria has earned a bad rap for good reasons. Coined as a diagnosis to refer to physical symptoms without an identifiable cause, it was originally considered as a female malady caused by a “wandering uterus”.
Although hysteria ultimately became a dismissive and misogynistic label used to pathologise women’s emotional experiences, the original diagnosis behind this popular term – now known as conversion disorder or functional neurological disorder - is far more complex and deserving of attention.
I am a former educator and freelance writer who has experienced physical symptoms without an apparent cause. As a writer, I initially turned to my journal for answers to those unruly symptoms; writing has always helped me connect what is happening in my body with what is happening in my mind. In trying to make sense of these experiences, I learnt about conversion disorder, which offered me deeper insight into my somatic symptoms and a greater sense of agency in managing them. Through this reflection, I hope to shed light on an often misunderstood condition and help others navigating a similar journey with their own healing.
Listening to My Body
Before the COVID pandemic started, I experienced inexplicable physical complaints. I vomited upon waking – after menopause. When I entered stressful environments, my body would often object…loudly. Sudden, blinding headaches would prevent participation in certain events. Sometimes, muscle tension would seize up so severely that a hot Epsom salt soak and an early bedtime were my only options.
When I sought answers from my primary care physician, I was met with alarm. She appeared visibly distressed as she offered a battery of in-patient tests, in case something terrible lurked in my system.
I knew my body was communicating, but I also knew I wasn’t sick in a strictly medical sense, and neither required nor desired invasive procedures. My doctor agreed. She just didn’t know what else to do.
Initially, I found relief through alternative means: myofascial massage, acupuncture, and saunas helped immensely. As I focused more on breath work, meditation and somatic yoga, my health steadily improved. However, when I accepted invitations to certain events or agreed to extra responsibilities at work, ailments returned.
Once I recognised the pattern, I began to suspect the root lay in unprocessed emotional and mental distress. This led me to research the relationship between chronic pain and trauma. What I found surprised, and ultimately, empowered me.
From Historical Roots to Modern Understanding of Conversion Disorder
Coined by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and his mentor (Josef Breuer, a physician), conversion disorder originally referred to the somatic expression of repressed experiences, such as trauma.
According to Freud and Breuer, what the mind cannot handle will eventually express itself physically.
While controversy swirls around this idea today, largely due to the historical misuse of the diagnosis to pathologise people’s emotional experiences, there is value in the concept. Conversion disorder assumes the close interrelationship of body and mind, which far better reflects my experiences than what I had encountered in mainstream medicine.
In modern medicine, conversion disorder (also known as functional neurological disorder) refers to neurological symptoms not explained by identifiable organic causes.
The brain and body present intact in exams, nevertheless patients experience acute and involuntary symptoms, including seizures, paralysis, fatigue, and/or chronic pain.
Somatoform disorders emerge from a complex interplay of factors, including nervous system regulation, personal history, and environmental causes, as such they may present differently in different people.
The Bodymind Concept
Advocates in the disability justice movement have pushed this idea further by suggesting the term bodymind to help us recognise our multifaceted experience of health and illness.
The merging of two words is intentional here. From the philosopher Rene Descartes, we have inherited a sense that the mind and body are separate, distinct entities. Yet, that duality does not necessarily reflect reality. Bodymind is meant to heal this Cartesian split.
According to medical anthropologist Emily Mendenhall in her 2026 study, Invisible Illness: A History from Hysteria to Long COVID, this term characterises human health as an “integrated whole” which sees as foundational the “intersectional interrelatedness of mind and body.”
Bodymind made good sense to me.
Why the Hysteria over Hysteria?
Further research into the bodymind led me to the acclaimed 2025 podcast Hysterical, in which host Dan Taberski investigated an unexplained outbreak at the LeRoy Middle/High School in 2013. Twenty girls experienced involuntary tics similar to Tourette’s Syndrome.
Families wanted answers. In the meantime, rumours about a toxic chemical spill from forty years earlier brought environmental advocate Erin Brockovich to the scene.
The more attention on the inexplicable symptoms and the more fervent the demand for someone to explain them, the worse the girls’ condition. Eventually, doctors there arrived at the conclusion that this instance of conversion disorder had developed into a mass psychogenic illness, or hysteria.
Not unlike the frenzy during the Salem witch trials, or in the famous dancing plague of 1518, individuals experienced real symptoms expressed collectively in the body of the community. Distinct lines between person and group, body and mind, heart and soul, simply collapsed.
One particular scene from the podcast stood out. A young girl during a town hall meeting shouted down her doctors, finger stabbing the air: “You are not doing your job. You are not doing your job at all.”
This young woman’s reaction highlighted for me how difficult it can be to accept the legitimacy of somatic experiences.
Your Body’s Innate Intelligence
Unexplained ill-health led me on this integrative journey in which I learned to honor my body’s intelligence, to observe symptoms and find root causes within the totality of my lived experience.
Somatic discomfort required me to seek answers beyond a purely physical framework, engaging in honest conversation with my mind and body, heart and soul all seated at the same table.
It also required me to ask for help along the way. I turned to new friends for deep conversation; I sought healers from traditions other than my own; I said yes to interventions others might dismiss. In the process, I discovered the healthiest version of myself… so far.
While I would never suggest ignoring sound medical advice, the more I trusted in my body’s signals and responded accordingly, the clearer my path toward vitality.
My physical symptoms were no less, and no more, real than someone suffering from a structural ailment. While my body taught me how to heal myself, it was my good fortune to find practitioners who facilitated this delicate conversation.
I wasn’t expecting to benefit immediately from any single treatment, no matter how nourishing it felt or grateful I was for it, but by showing up every day and investing in integrative, holistic care, over time I have learned what excellent health feels like from the inside out.
And it starts with self-trust.
Embracing Bodymind Doesn’t Erase Reality
While many people reject labels that suggest a psychological component to physical distress, I found wisdom in welcoming them. Accepting the mysterious relationship between internal experience and external embodiment does not negate reality.
It doesn’t mean your symptoms are “all in your head.” It does mean they are within you. For me, this is actually good news. It means that while not everything is within our control, we can support and care for our bodies from the inside out.
Exploring this unknown territory of bodymind with curiosity and discernment offered me an empowering route to wellness by way of self-trust, on my own terms.
This article has been sponsored by the Psychiatry Research Trust, who are dedicated to supporting young scientists in their groundbreaking research efforts within the field of mental health. If you wish to support their work, please consider donating.
