This book revisits the fascinating historical journey initiated in What the heck is hysteria?, to confront one of the most persistent and popular myths about hysteria. With firm determination, it dismantles the belief that doctors of the past treated this ailment through the masturbation of their patients. According to this myth, doctors supposedly ignored or denied the possibility that women could experience sexual pleasure outside of coitus, which would have perpetuated a reductionist and erroneous view of female sexuality.

Through a thorough analysis of the medical texts of the time, this book provides a solid and compelling refutation of such ideas, precisely dismantling each of the pillars of this myth. For example, it debunks the false equivalence between the term paroxysm and orgasm, and disproves the simplification that all treatments for hysteria were based exclusively on inducing orgasms. The work sheds light on the rich variety of methods that were employed to treat hysteria, presenting a much broader and nuanced view of what medicine was like at the time.

As these myths are dismantled, the book challenges the erroneous perception that doctors of the past were ignorant about sexuality and even health. It convincingly refutes the notion that their knowledge was scant and deficient, and that their practices lacked value compared to modern medicine. This work shows how the myth is an insult to their memory and the efforts of those who, with the limited resources of their time, gained knowledge and offered treatments that we can now appreciate in a more informed perspective. In short, these doctors laid the foundations for what we enjoy today in terms of health.

Although this work is a continuation of What the heck is hysteria?, its focus on a specific myth, along with the exploration of new areas and in-depth analysis of others, gives it particular and unique value. Like its predecessor, this book stands as an indispensable reference for anyone wishing to fully understand what was called hysteria.