> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.descentpress.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Hysteria - URL: https://www.descentpress.com/index/hysteria/ - Published: 2026-09-05T04:40:52.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-11T20:12:33.000Z - Description: Hysteria — Descent Press Index (entry forthcoming). - Author: Jae Botávn - Tags: #index, #Import 2026-09-04 23:45 ## 1\. Etymology **Hysteria** names a **state of mind marked by exaggerated rapport with persons in the immediate environment** and an adjustment to surrounding conditions that amounts to imitation. Related: [extraversion](https://www.descentpress.com/index/extraversion/); suggestibility; [complex](https://www.descentpress.com/index/complex/) possession of the body. --- ## 2\. Plain summary For Jung, hysteria is by far the most frequent neurosis of the [extraverted](https://www.descentpress.com/index/extraversion/) type: constant tendency to interest and impress, proverbial suggestibility, effusiveness into [fantasy](https://www.descentpress.com/index/fantasy/) (the “hysterical lie”). Compensatory [unconscious](https://www.descentpress.com/index/unconscious/) reactions counteract exaggerated extraversion by physical symptoms that force [libido](https://www.descentpress.com/index/libido/) to introvert—and by morbid intensification of fantasy. Samuels: Jung largely agreed with Freud on repressed memories returning as symbolic symptoms, excess psychic energy, personal aetiology—while muted on collective unconscious in early hysteria writing. Contributions: word-association secrecy; [complexes](https://www.descentpress.com/index/complex/) out of control invading the body; personality disintegration with somatic symbols. **Examples (exhaustive house list for this Index lemma — common hysteria motifs named across Jung’s essays and standard Jungian lexica; not a claim that Jung’s CW contains only these):** exaggerated rapport / imitation; most frequent extraverted neurosis; impress / suggestibility; effusiveness / “hysterical lie”; compensatory physical symptoms; force [libido](https://www.descentpress.com/index/libido/) introvert; morbid fantasy intensification; association secrecy; [complex](https://www.descentpress.com/index/complex/) possession of body; early psychiatric period; kinship with [dissociation](https://www.descentpress.com/index/dissociation/). --- ## 3\. Academic elucidation In analytical psychology hysteria is **extraverted neurosis with somatic compensation**—Types ¶566 territory plus early psychiatric corpus. Descent Press keeps Sharp and Samuels in §4\. §5 holds sample CW stamps at CW 6 ¶566\. Prefer CW 6. --- ## 4\. Lexicon **Sharp (1991)** > Hysteria. A state of mind marked by an exaggerated rapport with persons in the immediate environment and an adjustment to surrounding conditions that amounts to imitation. Hysteria is, in my view, by far the most frequent neurosis of the extraverted type… \[Unconscious reactions\] counteract the exaggerated extraversion by means of physical symptoms that force the libido to introvert… (Sharp, 1991) — cites CW 6 ¶566 in Sharp’s lemma. **Samuels, Shorter & Plaut (1986)** — *hysteria* p. **69** > hysteria Though Jung adds his usual comment about Freud’s over-estimation of the role of sexuality, he did not disagree with many of Freud’s views on hysteria… That hysterical symptoms are a return of repressed memories in a different form… complexes have invaded and possessed the body… (Samuels, Shorter, & Plaut, 1986, p. **69**) --- ## 5\. CW concordance — sample, not exhaustive > Hysteria is, in my view, by far the most frequent neurosis of the extraverted type. The hallmark of classic hysteria is an exaggerated rapport with persons in the immediate environment and an adjustment to surrounding conditions that amounts to imitation. … Another unmistakable sign of the extraverted hysteric is his effusiveness, which occasionally carries him into the realm of fantasy, so that he is accused of the “hysterical lie.” … compensatory reactions from the unconscious… counteract the exaggerated extraversion by means of physical symptoms that force the libido to introvert… one of the most typical being a morbid intensification of fantasy activity. > (Jung, 1921/1971, CW 6, pp. 474–475, ¶566) --- **See also:** [extraversion](https://www.descentpress.com/index/extraversion/); [complex](https://www.descentpress.com/index/complex/); [libido](https://www.descentpress.com/index/libido/); [fantasy](https://www.descentpress.com/index/fantasy/); [dissociation](https://www.descentpress.com/index/dissociation/); [affect](https://www.descentpress.com/index/affect/); [analysis-jungian](https://www.descentpress.com/index/analysis-jungian/); [introversion](https://www.descentpress.com/index/introversion/). ## References Jung, C. G. (1971). General description of the types. In H. Read, M. Fordham, G. Adler, & W. McGuire (Eds.), *The collected works of C. G. Jung* (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.) (Vol. 6, pp. 474–475, ¶566). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1921) Samuels, A., Shorter, B., & Plaut, F. (1986). *A critical dictionary of Jungian analysis*. Routledge. Sharp, D. (1991). *Jung lexicon: A primer of terms & concepts*. Inner City Books.