From the author: As you know, psychoanalysis began its history with an attempt to understand hysteria (for example, the cases of Anna O. and Dora, analyzed by S. Freud). Let's try to figure out together who the “hysterics” are and why they are like that. The connection between female hysteria and sexuality has been known for a long time. Hidden or overt coquetry of gait, gaze, speech reveals, first of all, in women, a hysterical type of character. The basis of the hysterical character in women is rivalry with the mother. At the same time, men are perceived as strong and admirable, and women are perceived as weak and insignificant. In relation to men, fear, hatred and envy are unconsciously manifested, and women are perceived as rivals. Paradoxically, the external manifestation of sexuality is used as a defense against true sexuality. The hysterical personality is afraid of satisfying his desire. If a hysterical woman presents herself as very sexual, this is not true sexual readiness at all. Although this personality type is most often observed in women, hysterically organized men are no exception. Men with a hysterical type of character may exhibit softness and excessive politeness, as well as feminine facial features and feminine manners. The reasons for the formation of a hysterical character in men are early seduction and frustrated sexuality. Subsequently, the sexual sphere becomes dominant, where a man strives to realize himself and win (in the struggle for the phallus, since the main fear here is the fear of “castration”, failure). The main fear inherent in hysterical individuals of both sexes is the fear of necessity, finality and the limitations of the desire for freedom. It becomes a motivating impulse for centrifugal tendencies and the desire for change in hysterical individuals. They strive for change and freedom, crave everything new and risky, are afraid of restrictions, traditions, patterns and order, do not like attachments, responsibilities and any kind of planning. They live from moment to moment, without clear plans and goals, waiting for something new. People of this type often seem unpredictable and incomprehensible to others. Typically, hysterical individuals are not aware of their fear of necessity and finality. It is replaced by a fear of open streets and squares (agoraphobia) and a fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia) or fear of animals. People with a hysterical personality structure are characterized by high levels of anxiety, tension and reactivity - especially interpersonally. They are emotional, warm-hearted, energetic and intuitive people who often find themselves in situations involving personal drama and risk. But for those around them, the emotionality of hysterical personalities seems superficial, artificial and exaggerated. Hysterical personalities do not draw conclusions for themselves from their failures and do not gain experience if their behavior does not meet the requirements and expectations of others. Their tendency to temptation is explained by a general dissatisfaction with themselves and their lives, accompanied by a thirst for bright impressions and pleasures. The main feeling of oneself during hysteria is the feeling of a small, fearful and defective child in a world dominated by strong and alien others. Despite the fact that people with a hysterical personality often act as controlling and manipulative, their subjective psychological state is completely opposite. The core behavioral trait is attracting the attention of others to themselves. Most often, sociability, a specific ostentatious manner of behavior, exaggeration of emotional reactions and the importance of one’s own thoughts and actions, and manipulation of others are used for this. At the same time, attempts to attract attention to oneself are always accompanied by a denial of interest in this and a reaction of indignation to such an assumption. The most intolerable thing for hysterics is indifference on the part of others. Both sexes tend to emphasize their