Hysteria

I’ve spent many years dreading doctor’s appointments. I always had this feeling like I had to justify being there in the consult room, that I was experiencing real symptoms, and not just being dramatic. This stemmed from negative past experiences – there was my heart condition that was initially dismissed as anxiety attacks, and daily pelvic pain and bleeding that was initially ‘normal’ and then later considered to be endometriosis.

When I spoke to my family and friends about this, it seemed like almost every woman had their own story about not feeling seen or heard as a patient. And when I did some more research, I realised that across Australia, women and men are treated very differently in our health system.

That’s why I decided to make Hysteria, an online documentary series about the barriers women face in a health system designed for men, by men. The series is aimed at Gen Z and Millennial women but is relevant to women at all life stages. I teamed up with Margie Bryant, an incredibly talented documentary producer, and obtained development funding from Screen Australia.

Hysteria is quite unusual for a documentary – it consists of 14 episodes, 1 minute long each, which are available on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. These days, not too many people sit down and watch a 90-minute documentary on TV in one sitting. We wanted Hysteria to be accessible and shareable for our audience.

So, what can you expect to see? In Hysteria, we go to the ancient roots of the gender health gap, uncovering how outdated concepts like ‘hysteria’ and the ‘wandering womb’ still influence medicine today. We also explore how medical research has historically focused on the male body, leading to gaps in knowledge about women’s health. And finally, through conversations with women with lived experience, health professionals, health researchers and policymakers, we explore how to create a fairer health system.

Hysteria comes as women’s health is increasingly part of the national conversation, with the recent Senate inquiry into reproductive health, ongoing Medicare gender audit, and countless women coming forward to share their stories. We are excited to add to this conversation and push for change.