# hysteria was believed to be caused by sexual frustration > But in fact these women were suffering from straightforward sexual frustration – and by the mid-19th century the problem had reached epidemic proportions, said to afflict up to 75% of the female population. Yet because the very idea of female sexual arousal was proscribed in Victorian times, the condition was classed as non-sexual. It followed, therefore, that its cure would likewise be regarded as medical rather than sexual.[[(Aitkenhead, 2012)#^d-ln1]] > Thus arose the idea of a female madness related to the lack of a normal sexual life: **Plato**, in *Timaeus*, argues that the uterus is sad and unfortunate when it does not join with the male and does not give rise to a new birth, and Aristotle and Hippocrates were of the same opinion[[(Tasca et al., 2012)#^hk51m]] - Hysteria was believed to be related to the lack of a normal sexual life - This then caused the uterus to wander around → [[hysteria was originally believed to be caused by spontaneous uterus movement]]