It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (But Were Never Told)

by Karen Tang

This word, hysteria, contains all the judgments and assumptions about female bodies that have existed for thousands of years. It suggests that women’s distressing physical symptoms stem from a combination of anxiety, mental or neurologic weakness, and broken uteri, rather than from not-yet-understood medical conditions.

The choice of which birth control to use is usually determined by patient preference and trial and error, whereas the type of medications used to treat non-gynecologic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes is based on studies and research.