Emma Eckstein (1865 - 1924) was an early patient of Sigmund Freud who underwent disastrous nasal surgery, undertaken by Freud's friend and confidant, Wilhelm Fliess. She came from a prominent socialist family and was active in the Viennese women's movement. 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud [] (May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology, based on his theory that unconscious motives determine behavior, that particular kinds of unconscious thoughts and memories, especially sexual and aggressive ones, are the source of neurosis... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]; Slovenian: Dunaj, Hungarian: Bécs, Czech: Vídeň, Slovak: Viedeň, Romany Vidnya; Serbian: Beč) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine states (Land Wien). ... Suffrage parade in New York City on May 6, 1912 The Feminist movement (also known as the Womens Movement and Womens Liberation) campaigns on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, sexual harassment, discrimination and sexual violence. ...

When she was 27, she came to Freud seeking treatment for vague symptoms including stomach ailments and slight depression related to menstruation. Freud diagnosed Eckstein as suffering from trauma, secondary to childhood sexual abuse. Freud suspected, in addition, a "nasal reflex neurosis," a condition popularized by Fliess, an ear, nose and throat specialist. Fliess had been treating the nasal reflex neurosis in his own patients with local anesthesia, specifically cocaine, and found that the treatment yielded positive results, in that his patients became less depressed. Fliess conjectured that if temporary cauterization was temporarily useful, perhaps surgery would yield more permanent results. He began operating on the noses of patients he diagnosed with the disorder, including Eckstein and even Freud himself. The stomach (Gaster) In anatomy, the stomach (in ancient Greek στόμαχος) is an organ in the alimentary canal used to digest food. ... Clinical depression is state of debilitating sadness or melancholy. ... The menstrual cycle is the periodic change in a womans body that occurs every month between puberty and menopause and that relates to reproduction. ... The term neurosis was coined by the Scottish doctor, William Cullen in 1769 to refer to “disorders of sense and motion” caused by a “general affection of the nervous system. ...

Eckstein's surgery was a disaster. She suffered from terrible infections for some time, and profuse bleeding. Freud called in a specialist who removed a mass of surgical gauze that Fleiss had not removed. Eckstein's nasal passages were so damaged that she was left permanently disfigured. Freud initially attributed this damage to the surgery, but later, as an attempt to reassure his friend that he shouldn't blame himself, Freud reiterated his belief that the inital nasal symptoms had been due to hysteria. The incident provided source material for Freud's dream of "Irma's injection".

External link

Text of letter from Freud to Fliess on the aftermath of Emma Eckstein's surgery