Did you know? Vibrators and mental health

Here's an image of an early steam powered vibrator
http://blarneyfellow.wordpress.com/2006/11/27/treating-hysteria/

It wasn't used primarily for sexual gratification. It was invented
because doctors' arms got tired. A treatment for hysteria was an orgasm.
I will get round to hunting for the research papers from the time which
prove the efficacy of orgasm for the treatment of hysteria.

There's more information on this site.
http://vibratorshistory.com/the-golden-age-of-female-hysteria/

The Vibrator History site doesn't acknowledge that the diagnosis has a
new meaning. I think hysteria is now know as a conversion disorder but I
haven't checked and my mind has been failing me recently.

It sounds like it was common back in the 19th century. Perhaps it was
caused by sexual repression or perhaps the treatment didn't really work
but it made a lot of women a lot happier. What's interesting to me is
it's not a common diagnosis today. It's been known since Roman times and
it's suggested that Galen pioneered this alternative treatment. The way
hysteria is described it sounds like there was a high prevalence in
America in the 19th century however the supposed illness seems to have
all but disappeared in modern tiimes. I wonder how or why?