Hysteria and antisocial personality. A single disorder?

Antisocial personality and hysteria have been thought to represent a single condition. Different clinical presentations for the disorders have been attributed to cultural stereotyping and diagnostic bias. The present study carefully examines detailed psychiatric histories taken from 560 nonpatient university students. Diagnoses of antisocial personality and hysteria are based on the diagnostic criteria for psychiatric research of Feighner et al. Interviewer bias is avoided. Both disorders were present in both sexes. Hysteria was more common for women, whereas antisocial personality occurred more frequently in men. The two disorders presented with nearly equal frequency in men. Hysteria was more frequent and antisocial personality was less frequent in women than in men. The two disorders were associated for women but not for men. Specific symptoms of antisocial personality were associated with hysteria and were identified. Specific symptoms of hysteria were associated with antisocial personality, differed in some respects between men and women, and demonstrated more symptoms of depressive illness for female sociopaths. Antisocial personality, hysteria, and their combinations considered together as a possible single entity occurred with equal frequency for both sexes.