In Studies on Hysteria, Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer examined and treated patients with unexplainable symptoms. Their work resulted in the recovery of Anna O. and Elisabeth Von R., and constituted a starting point for psychoanalysis. Freud and Breuer looked at them at an individual level, believing specific events triggered debilitating illnesses in their patients. However, their analysis focused on a personal inspection on the patient’s unconscious that ignored the larger social context around them. With the ideas Simone de Beauvoir expressed in The Second Sex, the case studies implied a society that condemned the women to such a state. De Beauvoir would consider societal constraints binding women as a major factor in the observed illnesses.
…show more content…
and Elisabeth Von R. Furthermore, these case studies exhibit De Beauvoir’s ideas about immanence and transcendence. Social expectations of Anna O. and Elisabeth Von R. trapped them to a role of immanence, denied the transcendence they desperately desire, and ultimately caused a psychical imbalance manifested in hysteria.
Breuer’s treatment of Anna O. reveals how his method for her illness concentrated on a close assessment of the individual. Whenever Anna was capable of speaking, Breuer would ask her to tell stories and talk about her experiences. Anna “aptly described this procedure, speaking seriously, as a ‘talking cure’, while she referred to it jokingly as ‘chimney sweeping’. She knew that after she had given utterance to her hallucinations she would lose all her obstinacy and what she described as her ‘energy’” (Breuer 30). Breuer found an effective treatment known as the “talking cure” that relieved Anna and made her more open. While Breuer continued listening to her personal accounts, Anna’s condition improved. In the last stages of Breuer’s treatment, Anna’s symptoms disappeared when she talked about what event caused them. As a result, Breuer believed the cure existed in a close, personal interaction with the patient that changes on a case-by-case basis. In one
and Elisabeth Von R. Furthermore, these case studies exhibit De Beauvoir’s ideas about immanence and transcendence. Social expectations of Anna O. and Elisabeth Von R. trapped them to a role of immanence, denied the transcendence they desperately desire, and ultimately caused a psychical imbalance manifested in hysteria.
Breuer’s treatment of Anna O. reveals how his method for her illness concentrated on a close assessment of the individual. Whenever Anna was capable of speaking, Breuer would ask her to tell stories and talk about her experiences. Anna “aptly described this procedure, speaking seriously, as a ‘talking cure’, while she referred to it jokingly as ‘chimney sweeping’. She knew that after she had given utterance to her hallucinations she would lose all her obstinacy and what she described as her ‘energy’” (Breuer 30). Breuer found an effective treatment known as the “talking cure” that relieved Anna and made her more open. While Breuer continued listening to her personal accounts, Anna’s condition improved. In the last stages of Breuer’s treatment, Anna’s symptoms disappeared when she talked about what event caused them. As a result, Breuer believed the cure existed in a close, personal interaction with the patient that changes on a case-by-case basis. In one