Her case was described in the book that Breuer wrote with Sigmund Freud,Studies on Hysteria.
Her treatment played an important role in the establishment and development ofpsychoanalysis.
Freud was fascinated with her case and consulted with Breuer during her treatment.
Imagno / Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Anna O.
She dubbed the treatment the “talking cure.”
Breuers description of her treatment led Freud to conclude that hysteria was rooted in childhood sexual abuse.
Pappenheim’s case also influenced the development of the free association technique.
Freud himself once described Anna O. as the true founder of the psychoanalytic approach to mental health treatment.
Five years later, Freud published his bookThe Interpretation of Dreams, which formalized much of his psychoanalytic theory.
What Happened to Anna O?
Pappenheim eventually did recover from her illness and went on to become an important force in German social work.
In 1954, Germany issued a postal stamp bearing her image in recognition of her many accomplishments.
It is unclear whether Pappenheim felt that Breur’s treatment was helpful or successful.
She left no records of her treatment by Breuer.
Contemporary Views
How would Anna O.
’s condition be diagnosed and treated today?
Hysteria is no longer seen as a valid condition.
Today, people exhibiting such symptoms might be diagnosed with some punch in of dissociative or somatic disorder.
Such disorders includedissociative identity disorderorsomatic symptom disorder.
Some have suggested she may have had neurotuberculosisor some throw in of brain inflammation.
Others have suggested that her symptoms stem from a complex partial seizure worsened by substance dependence.
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