Perverse “Therapy”: How Were Nuns Really Treated for Hysteria?

Perverse “Therapy”: How Were Nuns Really Treated for Hysteria?

June 7, 1758 , a small monastery near Munich. 27-year-old Sister Elizabeth kneels before the altar and prays fervently for salvation.  Not from her sins, for she has few of them, but from the tormenting condition that has been plaguing her body and spirit for weeks .  shortness of breath, insomnia, sudden crying spells, irritability and a strange feeling of pressure in the lower abdomen.

The Mother Superior watches her with concern from the shadow of the church walls. Elizabeth is the third novice this spring to be plagued by these strange symptoms.  The summoned doctor, Dr. Friedrich Müller, makes a diagnosis after only a few minutes.  Hysteria is a disease that in the 10th century was considered a typically female disease and was particularly common among nuns and unmarried women.

His treatment recommendation causes Mother Superior to freeze.  The sister must receive manual stimulation of the female genital organs to the point of hysterical paroxysm. What we know today as orgasm was then considered a medical necessity. Imagine that you have dedicated your life to God.  You took a vow of chastity.

You withdrew from the world to live in innocence.  And then a man comes to your monastery and declares that he must touch your most intimate parts in order to heal you.  This was a shocking reality for thousands of German nuns in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Today I will tell you about one of the most scandalous medical practices in German history.

  Treating hysterical nuns with doctor-induced orgasms . It is a story of male control, religious oppression, and the desperate loneliness of women caught between divine law and human needs. If this incredible story shocks you as much as it does me, leave a like and subscribe to the channel. Leave a comment telling us what you think about this medical practice and whether you can imagine how these women must have felt .

  Today you will learn the shocking truth about the perverse medical theories behind hysteria, the degrading research in German monasteries, the secret records doctors kept about their procedures, and the tragic fate of the nuns who tried to defend themselves. It’s a story that shows how religion and medicine worked together to control women.

  To understand how this bizarre practice came about, we need to look at the medical imagination of the 10th century.  Hysteria, derived from the Greek word for uterus, was considered an exclusively female disease.  Since ancient times, doctors have believed that the uterus could wander around the body and cause various ailments.

  if not soothed by regular pregnancy and sexual activity. This theory had disastrous consequences for celibate women , nuns, widows, and unmarried women, who were considered particularly at risk.  The renowned Munich physician Dr. Josef von Heidenfeld wrote in 1751: “The abstinence of convent women inevitably leads to a disturbance of the natural balance of female juices.

 The accumulated fluids poison the body and lead to hysterical attacks. The list of symptoms attributed to hysteria was impressively long. Nervousness, insomnia, headaches, fits of crying, but also religious ecstasy and erotic fantasies. With such a wide range of symptoms, practically any uncomfortable behavior of a woman could be diagnosed as hysteria.

 And this is precisely what happened in German convents with frightening regularity. Convent chronicles from that period report regular epidemics of hysteria. The Convent of St. Mary in Wyrzburg recorded   no fewer than 37 cases of hysteria among its 52 nuns between 1750 and 1760. The Mother Superior was so concerned that she employed a permanent physician who was to treat only hysterical sisters.

 This physician, Dr. Wilhelm  Brenner left detailed notes about his treatment methods. On April 2, 1755, he described the case of 24-year-old Sister Bernadette. The patient complained of severe headaches, loss of appetite, and an unpleasant feeling of pressure in her lower abdomen. She often burst into tears for no apparent reason.

The diagnosis clearly points to hysteria caused by the suppression of natural female functions in convent life. Treatment is performed through pelvic massage until a healing crisis occurs. By pelvic massage, Dr. Brenner meant manual stimulation of the nun’s genitals until orgasm. Surprisingly, this treatment was not considered a sexual act, but a purely medical procedure.

 Physicians of the 10th century were convinced that women were not sexual beings and derived no pleasure from the procedure. Orgasm was not perceived as a sexual response, but as a hysterical crisis, a healing contraction intended to restore the flow of accumulated fluids in the body. The irony of this situation is difficult to miss.

 Male doctors treated nuns with manual stimulation, while simultaneously  denying the existence of female sexuality. This cognitive dissonance was possible due to the strict separation in the doctors’ minds between medical treatment and sexual activity. Dr. Brener’s notes describe his procedure in detail. The procedure took place in a darkened room.

 The patient was placed on a special couch. The actual massage lasted from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the patient’s resistance. After the healing crisis, recognizable by involuntary muscle contractions, rapid breathing, and facial flushing, the patient was supposed to rest for about half an hour. Interestingly, the effects of the treatment were often only temporary.

 Many nuns relapsed after several weeks or months and returned for repeated treatment. From today’s perspective, it seems obvious that the treatment itself contributed to the development of a kind of addiction, offering the nuns the only opportunity for sexual release in their otherwise strictly regulated lives. The Mother Superior of the Sa Maria convent seems to have seen through this dynamic.

 In a letter to the Bishop of Vösburg dated June 6, 1758, she wrote:  concern: “Dr. Brener’s treatments seem to improve our sisters’ condition only temporarily. I observe with concern that some of them simply cannot wait for the next treatment and develop new symptoms if it goes too long without treatment .  I fear the cure may be worse than the disease.

However, the Mother Superior’s concerns were dismissed by the bishop, who cited the doctor’s medical authority.  In his response, he wrote: “Modern medicine has made great progress. We must trust the experts and not allow superstition to hinder the healing process of our sisters. With increasing industrialization and the advent of electricity, inventive physicians began to develop mechanical aids . German physician Dr.

Joseph Mortimer Granville patented  one of the first electric vibrators in 1883.  This device was quickly adopted by doctors treating hysterical patients. The advantages of the vibrator were obvious. It allowed for faster treatment, was less tiring for the doctor, and could be used on a larger number of patients.

However, in German monasteries, electric vibrators were introduced with resistance. High purchase costs and skepticism about the new technology meant that many monastic doctors remained with the traditional manual method. In some more progressive institutions, such as the Heilich Kroc monastery in Dresden, electric therapeutic devices were used from 1890.

The monastery chronicle contains an entry from March 3rd. 1893. Dr. Schfeld presented an electrical device for treating hysteria today. The Mother Superior, after consulting with the bishop, approved the purchase. The device is to be kept in a special room and operated only by Dr. Schenfeld or a nurse under his supervision.

 The nuns’ reactions to the new treatment method were mixed. An anonymous note found between the pages of the Heilik Kit patient diary provides a rare insight into the situation. Today, for the first time, I was treated with an electrical device. The procedure was much shorter than manual treatment, but more intense.

 The doctor did not remain in the room the entire time, which I found pleasant. The healing crisis occurred after a few minutes. I felt lighter and calmer afterward. The story of the hysterical nuns raises fundamental questions about medical authority, religious control, and the suppression of female sexuality. These women were in a hopeless situation ; they had devoted themselves to a life of chastity, but their natural physiological needs did not disappear.

 The medical solution, treatment by male doctors, paradoxically exacerbated the problem by offering a limited form of sexual satisfaction, while simultaneously denying any form of female sexual autonomy. Sister Elizabeth’s story now takes us deeper into the dark secrets of the convent walls. After her first procedure with Dr.

 Brener, she returned to her cell disoriented, ashamed, and internally torn. What she experienced starkly contradicted everything she had been taught about purity and innocence. Yet, her body’s reaction was undeniable. She did feel a momentary sense of relief. This ambivalence, this simultaneous rejection and desire for healing, tormented many nuns undergoing this procedure.

 In her secretly kept diary, discovered only after her death in 1789 , Sister Elizabeth wrote: “I find myself counting the days until the next procedure.  Sometimes I exaggerate my symptoms to convince the doctor that I urgently need treatment.  Then I am filled with remorse and pray for forgiveness for my weakness. These notes are rare, but they give us a harrowing insight into the psychological torment of these women.

  were trapped between vows of chastity and the natural needs of the body, between religious guilt and medical authority, between the desire for salvation and the desire for relief.  Not all nuns accepted this treatment without resistance. The case of Sister Agnes from the convent of S. Clara in Munich shows what consequences opposition could have.

When in 1775 she refused treatment for hysteria by a convent doctor, describing the touch as impure and contrary to her religious beliefs, the Mother Superior insisted on treatment, citing her vow of obedience. When Agnes continued to resist, she was punished with penance and temporary isolation. Eventually she gave in and underwent treatment.  The doctor made a note.

  The patient was initially resistant, but then gave in.   The healing crisis occurred after 30 minutes.  favorable prognosis.  This case highlights the dual authority, medical and religious, to which the nuns were subjected .  Refusal of treatment was not respected as a legitimate personal decision, but was interpreted as a symptom of illness or religious disobedience.

The nuns had virtually no way to escape this situation.  However, there were cases in which the nuns or their superiors put up effective resistance.  The Maria Convent in Augsburg changed its doctor in 1785 after several nuns complained about his treatment methods. The Books wrote to the bishop: “Dr. Szulz treats our sisters in a way that offends their sense of shame and contradicts their religious beliefs.

 We have decided not to use his services anymore. This case shows that nuns, despite their subordinate position, sometimes found ways to represent their interests. The monastery community could fulfill a protective function and offer collective resistance where individual resistance was impossible.

 With the advent of psychoanalysis, the  understanding of hysteria began to fundamentally change. Sigmund Freud and his students saw history as the result of repressed sexual drives and traumatic experiences, which needed to be treated with talk therapy. This new perspective began to spread in Germany around 1910, and  traditional methods of treatment began to be questioned, especially in academic circles .

 German psychiatrist Paul Julius Mbius argued as early as 1888 that hysteria does not originate in the uterus, but in the brain. He defined the disease as all those morbid phenomena that are triggered by imagination. This changed perspective led to a fundamental shift in treatment. Instead of physical stimulation, talk therapies and hypnosis were used.

 However, this change was slow in convents. Traditional methods of treatment continued to be used until the early 20th century, especially in remote, conservative institutions. A  1910 report from the Maria Hilf convent in Bavaria mentions pelvic massage as a standard treatment for hysterical nuns. However, the days of this practice were numbered.

World War I and the social changes it brought with it significantly accelerated this process. After the war, a fundamental reassessment of many traditional practices took place. The women’s movement grew in strength, and with it, a growing awareness of women’s rights and dignity. The old practice of subjecting nuns to intimate medical procedures against their will was increasingly recognized for what it was: a form of violence disguised as medicine.

 The American Psychiatric Association removed female hysteria from the list of recognized illnesses only in 1952. However, in Germany, the practice  This ended largely earlier. The last documented cases of hysteria treatment in German convents date from the early 1900s, leaving a disturbing episode in the history of German medicine.

 Above all, the awareness that scientific theories and medical practice never exist in a vacuum. They are always embedded in cultural values, social power structures, and gender relations. The treatment of hysteria was not simply a medical error, but an instrument for controlling female sexuality and maintaining patriarchal structures.

 This history also teaches us the importance of patient autonomy. Nuns of the 10th and 19th centuries had no voice, choice, or control over their own bodies. Their experiences and feelings were ignored or reinterpreted as symptoms of illness. Truly ethical medicine must place the perspectives and desires of patients at the center.

 Particularly noteworthy is how the medicalization of women’s experiences served as a tool for social control. Normal emotional reactions—sadness, frustration, and anger—were pathologized as symptoms of illness. Women who deviated from social expectations were diagnosed as sick and forcibly treated. This pattern is not limited to the past, but in more recent times.

It persists in subtle forms today. The story of hysterical nuns also reminds us how religion and medicine can work together to oppress vulnerable groups. The nuns were doubly imprisoned by their religious vows and medical diagnoses. They could neither leave the convent nor refuse treatment without questioning both religious and medical authority.

Sister Elizabeth died in 1789 at the age of 58 in the Zank Maria convent. In her final diary entries, she reflected on her life: “I spent 40 years within these walls. I thought I would become closer to God. But instead, I found only loneliness and confusion. The treatments brought me no healing, only shame.

 I hope that the young sisters who come after me will live in more enlightened times.” Her hope was to be fulfilled, albeit more slowly than she would have wished. The next generation of nuns did indeed experience a gradual change. New medical discoveries, changed social attitudes, and a growing respect for individual autonomy made such invasive procedures unacceptable.

Today, over 100 years later, the practice of treating hysteria in convents seems barbaric and unimaginable. We ask ourselves how society could allow such a thing. But we should also ask which medical practices of our time will future generations look upon with similar horror. What groups are still being pathologized and controlled in the name of medicine today? Women like Sister Elizabeth, who suffered these treatments, deserve to have their stories told.

 They remind us of the importance of compassion, respect, and autonomy in medicine. They warn us to be vigilant against any attempts to abuse medical authority to control vulnerable people. What are your thoughts on this harrowing story? Can you imagine how these women must have felt, caught between religious duty and human needs? Share your thoughts in the comments.

 If this profound journey into the dark chapters of German medical history seems important to you, subscribe to the channel to learn more forgotten stories about women who suffered under the guise of religion and science. Their voices deserve to be heard.  to be heard, so that we never forget the high price women paid for men’s control over their bodies. B