A follow up study of hysteria.

The present study undertook to examine the outcome of a group of cases who were diagnosed as hysteria, six or more years ago in a general hospital psychiatric unit and correlate various clinical factors with good or bad outcome. Of the 81 cases selected for the study, 57 (67%) could be located and followed up after a gap of 6-8 years. Majority of the cases (74%) had either no symptoms or symptoms less than before at the time of the follow up. In only 3 cases, there was evidence of an underlying organic illness which seemed to have been missed at the initial assessment. A new sub-classification of hysteria with glossary of terms used for this study is presented for future research work.