Through a re-reading of Freud, Bollas argues that sexuality in itself is traumatic to all children, as it "destroys" the relation to the mother, transfiguring her from "mamma", the infant's caregiver, to "mother", the child's and father's sex object. For the hysteric this recognition is endlessly traumatic and the hysterical personality forms itself into an organized opposition to this knowledge.

True to his earlier writings, Bollas' vision is thought provoking and mind expanding. Hysteria brings new perspectives to long-standing ideas, making enlightening reading for students and professionals involved in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy alike, as a well as the lay reader who takes an interest in the formation of personality in western culture.