Hysteria
What happens when grief is mistaken for illness?
This comic examines the diagnosis and treatment of hysteria in the Victorian era, using the ‘rest cure’ to expose how women’s mental and physical distress was routinely dismissed, misunderstood, and controlled. Rather than offering genuine care, these medical practices reinforced gender norms and social obedience, framing women’s emotions and autonomy as pathological. The story reflects on how medicine can lead to silence.
Sources
Vanvuren, C. (2017) The History of Hysteria: Sexism in Diagnosis. Talkspace. Available at: https://www.talkspace.com/blog/history-hysteria-sexism-diagnosis/ (accessed: 08.02.26)
COVE Collective (n.d.) The Rest Cure and Hysteria. COVE. Available at: https://editions.covecollective.org/content/rest-cure-and-hysteria accessed: 08.02.26)
Boyle, K. (n.d.) Hysterical Victorian Women. Historic UK. Available at: https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Hysterical-Victorian-Women/ accessed: 08.02.26)
Hanna Petrovszki
"I chose this topic because hysteria represents how women’s emotions and suffering were historically misunderstood, controlled, and silenced under the authority of medicine. By revisiting this diagnosis through illustrations, I wanted to question how easily pain can be misinterpreted when power and bias shape the narrative."