Pour une réévaluation de la grande hystérie de Charcot et Richer

Abstract

Although the “Great Hysteria” ( grande hystérie) of Charcot and Richer is classically considered to be a fabrication, it deserves to be reconsidered. The unsuspected importance of Pseudo-Epileptic Convulsions and the introduction of Dissociative Trance Disorder in DSM-IV, have brought the descriptions of the École de la Salpêtrière up to date. The “delusion of memory” ( délire de mémoire) of the final phase holds an important part in these texts; their content evokes traumatic actions, mostly sexual, with no possibility of specifying whether these are memories or fantasies.