Hysteria examines the systemic neglect of women’s mental health within medical research and clinical practice. Historically, psychological and pharmaceutical studies have centered white male bodies, contributing to the misdiagnosis, dismissal, and medical gaslighting of women, particularly women of colour. These structural gaps are compounded by gendered socialization, which shapes how mental illness is expressed, perceived, and taken seriously. The series uses pit bulls as a metaphor for this stigma: animals widely vilified despite evidence that contradicts dominant narratives. Because society often engages more readily with animal advocacy than with conversations about women’s mental health, this parallel becomes a deliberate strategy for confronting avoidance, bias, and misplaced empathy.

Grounded in personal experience, Hysteria reflects on living with MDD, ADHD, and PMDD within systems that consistently minimize women’s suffering. The work examines how nature and nurture intersect, how stigma is reproduced through both science and culture, and why these inequities persist.