Daily AncestorHysteria
Hysteria was a 1800s diagnosis, given mostly to women, for fits, fainting, choking feelings and uncontrolled emotion; doctors no longer use it.
Webster's 1913 describes hysteria as a nervous affection occurring almost exclusively in women, with exaggerated emotion and fits. The name comes from the Greek word for uterus, and Wikipedia notes that most physicians today do not accept it as a diagnosis.
IPUMS puts hysteria in one code with neuralgia, sciatica and neuritis, and the 1911 Census Bureau manual indexes it under neuralgia and neuritis.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Miss Delia Fernaux, 23, F, W, Sept., Hysteria
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Hysteria." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/hysteria. Last checked 2026-10-12.