Hysteria is a graphic novel account of the first steps, errors, and
frustrations of Sigmund Freud's career, which would lead to the
foundation of a revolutionary new clinical therapy: psychoanalysis. The
book traces Freud's early training in neurological research and
medicine; the crucial turning-point of his studies with Jean-Martin
Charcot at La Salpêtrière; and his establishment of a therapeutic
practice in Vienna.
Perfectly matching text and illustrations, Hysteria recounts Freud's
interest in his colleague Josef Breuer's "Anna O" case study, as well as
giving an account of his own case histories of hysteria, particularly
the treatment of Fräulein Elisabeth von R. The studies brought to life
in this authoritative, beautifully illustrated graphic novel are
collected in Freud and Breuer's co-authored Studies in Hysteria, which
marked the birth of psychoanalysis.