Mediomania: (noun) a type of insanity where a person believes that they can communicate with spirits. It was common in the late 1800's for mediums to be diagnosed with this affliction. Most often these mediums were women, and the diagnosis could mean being locked away in an institution for the rest of her life or surgeries including, but not limited to, hysterectomy.
I recently learned about mediomania while reading a very interesting book, called "All Will be Revealed" by Robert Anthony Siegel. It reminded me of the many ways that men have attempted to control women throughout history. It really saddened and angered me to read about the institution where the female character in the book was placed. I have no idea how historically accurate it was; I have had a hard time finding much information about mediomania on the web. I think it would be an interesting area of research, maybe a future project?
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