This paper discusses Freud's reading of Dostoyevsky's hystero-epilepsy, based on this latter's literary production, biography and correspondence. The hypothesis that there was no epilepsy has its limits, but we found that the relationship between Dostoyevsky and father figures did play a crucial role in his neurosis, which served as a symptomatic construction to deal with his helplessness.
Dostoevsky; hystero-epilepsy; hysteria; father