The Major Symptoms of Hysteria
A pioneering psychological study of hysteria and dissociative disorders by one of psychology's founders. Janet's work laid the groundwork for modern understanding of trauma and the unconscious.
Listen on SWOO.About this book
The Major Symptoms of Hysteria (1907) presents Pierre Janet's groundbreaking lectures on hysteria, based on decades of clinical observation at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris. Janet was one of the first to systematically study what we now call dissociative disorders.
Pierre Janet (1859–1947) was a French psychologist and philosopher who developed influential theories about the unconscious mind, trauma, and psychological automatisms. His work predated and influenced Freud, though Janet emphasized dissociation rather than repression.
The book examines phenomena like amnesia, multiple personalities, somnambulism, and hysteric stigmata. Janet's careful case studies and theoretical framework helped establish clinical psychology as a scientific discipline and remain relevant to modern trauma therapy.
