Hysterical
Welcome to our new series, Is it ok to say that?
In this series, we’ll look at language from current events, popular culture, and the everyday workplace. And we’ll do a deep dive to determine: is it ok to say that?
Overview
Is it ok to say that?
Is it ok to say hysterical?
Specifically, when used to describe a person reporting a problem or expressing an emotion. (Not when used to describe a person or situation as extremely funny.)
Answer
Not recommended
Real-world examples
“Sure, some hysterical women took offense, but by and large, no one really cares that much. It’s a huge overreaction...
“The sheriff said I was a hysterical woman who was just trying to make her husband jealous.”
Distortions
Inflating language, dampening language
Potential workplace damage
Increased legal risk, frustrated and disengaged employees, toxic team dynamics, lower productivity, good employees quit.
Breakdown
The words hysterical and hysteria have an unpleasant history. They have been used to shut down, sideline, or even lock up people pointing out problems.
The first recorded English use of hysteria is from the 1610s. Hysteria was the name given to symptoms stemming from what was believed to be a nervous disease and neurotic condition caused by a “dysfunction of the uterus.” People with this condition would be called hysterical. And this use of hysterical to describe people as neurotic, overly emotional, and behaving inappropriately continues right up to today.
English speakers might recognize the root word hystera, meaning uterus, from the operation hysterectomy, where a uterus is removed from a body. In fact, the idea that a “wandering womb” is to blame for a range of medical problems dates back to ancient Greece.
So for millennia, hysteria has been a specifically female diagnosis and someone described as hysterical is usually a person perceived as female.
Originally, hysterical was applied to women exhibiting physical and mental health issues. Especially in 18th and 19th century Europe, many women’s illnesses were attributed to hysteria. In addition to the general cause of a malfunctioning uterus, hysteria was also attributed to air pollution, women’s lazy and irritable nature, sexual deprivation, a disassociation of consciousness, and trauma.
Over time, the term hysterical went through what linguists call a semantic shift and broadened its meaning. Once used only to describe women and girls exhibiting some kind of illness, it became more generally used to describe someone displaying extreme or unrestrained emotion.
This use of hysterical is always negative and contains a judgment: it is not just that a person is displaying unrestrained emotion, but also that this display is inappropriate.
In the present day, hysterical is used in two kinds of language distortions: 1) inflating language, and 2) dampening language.
Inflating language is a distortion where reasonable behavior is presented as problematic.
Both in and out of the workplace, hysterical is commonly used to dismiss someone who is reporting a problem or expressing their reaction to a bad thing that happened.
Along with hysterical, words like overreacting and emotional are also commonly used to dismiss people bringing up concerns.
This ties in with the second language distortion, dampening language. Dampening language is used to inappropriately silence or dismiss a person or a topic.
When a person bringing up a concern or reporting a problem is labeled as hysterical, this label allows the person or problem to be dismissed.
_____
I once worked with employment lawyer Leslie F. Levy to use linguistics to clarify why saying report was better than complaint.
When talking about problematic behavior at work like inappropriate touching, comments, yelling, and more, managers, HR professionals, and even lawyers would often call it a “complaint” and describe the person as “complaining” about the behavior.
But this isn’t a great way to describe things. That’s because the word complain invokes a negative emotional reaction to something. In this scenario of a complaint, the negative reaction is to something that may or may not be a real problem. The complainer may be dismissed as irrationally emotional and overreacting.
By contrast, when you report, you are informing someone in a position of authority about illegal or inappropriate behavior. Here, emotion is no longer relevant. A reporter is objectively passing along important information about unacceptable behavior.
Removing emotion and its negative connotations from the equation lets us more accurately investigate and assess what has been going on.
Note that attacking a target of abuse or harassment so they look “crazy” and won’t be believed is one of the most common tactics out there. It’s so common it even has a name: DARVO.
Conclusion
A person reporting on and trying to address real concerns may be called hysterical (or overreacting or overly emotional).
Their report may be called a complaint, and they may be described as complaining, both words that also define them as having a (possibly irrational) emotional response.
Labeling someone as hysterical and a complainer inflates their behavior into the realm of inappropriate and allows their report to be dampened and dismissed.
This is why we should avoid calling people hysterical. And why we should always dig deeper when we find hysterical used to negatively categorize and dismiss a person’s report on or response to a situation.
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