Anxiety Hysteria

Anxiety hysteria, as part of the spectrum of anxiety disorders in the Freudian tradition, presents emotionally as phobic reactions with exaggerated mental symptoms of anxiety such as panic, overwhelming fear.

For instance, a person gets a bad grade on a test. For most people this might cause a brief depression and a vow to study harder next time. A person who has a tendency towards anxiety hysteria might react with a severe bout of depression, suicidal thoughts, and anger towards the instructor or fellow students.

Anxiety hysteria is the opposite condition of "conversion disorder" where anxiety reactions present mostly as physical symptoms.