Hysteria has traditionally been seen as a female disorder but in this study of its cultural implications, the author argues that it is a universal illness and that far from dying out with the end of the Victorian sexual repression it is becoming more widespread and manifest. Showalter identifies Gulf War syndrome, recovered memory, chronic fatigue syndrome, even claims of ritual satanic abuse, as the contemporary forms of the illness and by recognizing its universality releases women from the limiting association with hysteria.