Reflecting on misdiagnosis and patent medicine through ‘Hysteria’s Shadow’
A new virtual exhibition using the Science Museum’s online collection provokes viewers to address the link between historical patent medicines and problematic attitudes regarding women’s health.
Curated by a group of MA Students from the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, HERitage: Hysteria’s Shadow displays the treatments available to women diagnosed with ‘hysteria’.
This online exhibition showcases how the legacies of these 18th century attitudes towards women’s health is a thread which has run from then to our modern day.
The objects used within the exhibition have been selected from the Science Museum collections, and originate from the UK and Europe, as well as the Middle East. Curators have been also allowed to loan an object from the National Library of China’s collection to emphasise that hysteria was an international misdiagnosis.
Six students from the MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies and MA Arts Heritage and Management courses at the University of Leeds have worked together to curate the exhibition as part of one of their course modules, Interpretations. Through exploring the Science Museum online collection, they have discovered how women’s health is still under-researched today.
In HERitage: Hysteria’s Shadow, the students connect herbal ‘treatments’ to patent medicines of the past such as ‘Anti Hysteria Water’ from 1850-1920, or ‘Female Pills’ from 1743, none of which contained actual medicine.
Box for Dr John Hooper's Female Pills, United Kingdom, 1900-1950. Object no: 1986-1641/1, Science Museum Group Collection Online.
The exhibition invites the audience to imagine they are a woman in the 1800s, seeking treatment for a mental health issue, or suffering from such perceived ‘disorders’ as irritability or ‘over excitement’. Visitors can browse through ‘treatments’ that would have been sold as a cure and can examine the ingredients. The progress (or lack of) is presented to the visitor who is then invited to imagine they are a woman in 2023 seeking treatment for hormonal issues or the menopause.
Leah Sarah Coxon and Madeleine Minall, both students on the MA Art Gallery and Museum Studies course, said:
“Our background research for the exhibition has highlighted that symptoms of hysteria ranged from experiencing anxiety and depression to being widowed, having a physical disability, or choosing to be single.
"As a gendered diagnosis, it was used as a quick solution to women’s health problems that often derived from puberty, premenstrual syndrome or the menopause. It was also used to ‘diagnose’ and medicate women who simply deviated from the strict social norms of the period.
“While hysteria was removed from the official Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1980, its legacy lives on in a myriad of ways: the misdiagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome, the mistreatment of women of colour in hospitals and the lack of research surrounding the pill to name a few.
“The shadow of hysteria is still affecting attitudes towards women’s health today, demonstrated by the gender health gap. In 2022, the Women’s Health Strategy for England reported that four in five women have felt that healthcare professionals are not listening to them. In the same year, the Women's Health Wales Coalition reported that girls as young as 11 will present symptoms of endometriosis and haemorrhaging and are often told that this pain is a normal symptom of the ‘female experience’.
One bottle of Boots Women’s Health Evening Primrose Oil. Object no: 2020-17, Science Museum Group Collection Online.
“This attitude mirrors the ‘Female Pills’ on display in our exhibition which were patented in 1743 and sold to women as a treatment for hysteria. The shadow of hysteria, cast in 1743, can still be seen today through the trivialisation and misdiagnosis of women’s experiences.
“Now, as in the past, patent medicines are still profiting from this. When experiencing hormonal problems, women are often told to take Evening Primrose Oil, cannabidiol (CBD) oil and St John's Wort; or they are prescribed the contraceptive pill which comes with an abundance of side effects
HERitage: Hysteria’s Shadow runs from 1 December to March 2024. It is one of ten online exhibitions curated by MA students from the University of Leeds. Find out more and visit the exhibition.
More information
HERitage: Hysteria’s Shadow runs from 11 December 2023 to 11 March 2024. Visit the exhibition online.
It is one of a series of ten online exhibitions curated by Art Gallery and Museum Studies and Arts Management and Heritage MA students from the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds.
Feature image
Glass bottle, containing 'anti-hysteria water', Florence, Italy, 1850-1920. Glass, stopper, cork and tin, h 139mm x w 24mm. Object A69425, Science Museum Collection Online.
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