A Case of Hysteria : (Dora)

I very soon had an opportunity to interpret Dora`s nervous coughing as the outcome of a fantasized sexual situation.` A Case of Hysteria, popularly known as the Dora Case, affords a rare insight into how Freud dealt with patients and interpreted what they told him. The 18-year-old `Dora` was sent for psychoanalysis by her father after threatening suicide; as Freud`s enquiries deepened, he uncovered a remarkably unhappy and conflict-ridden family, with several competing versions of their story. The narrative became a crucial text in the evolution of his theories, combining his studies on hysteria and his new theory of dream-interpretation with early insights into the development of sexuality. The unwitting preconceptions and prejudices with which Freud approached his patient reveal his blindness and the broader attitudes of turn-of-the-century Viennese society, while his account of `Dora`s` emotional travails is as gripping as a modern novel.