Apart from its title, Irby does not use the word “hysterical” in the essay. To a greater extent than any of the other essays, “Hysterical!” is a chronologically straightforward account of the physical troubles Irby endured for decades because of her menstrual periods. The author’s periods began at age 10. Her first experience, which she describes vividly, was extremely unpleasant. Her mother, in Irby’s view, was particularly unhelpful in that she no longer needed menstrual products and viewed her daughter’s experience as an annoyance. The author characterizes her youthful menstrual cycles as being unpredictably irregular and completely disruptive. She notes that she had no community of girls who found themselves in similar circumstances with whom to commiserate. As she became a young adult, she became more adept at dealing with her periods, though they continued to be disruptive, especially in regard to her romantic life.

At 38 while on a trip to Texas, Irby experiences a dramatic, uncontrollable flow, humiliating and frustrating the author. The next month, she writes, “my last period began on December 15, 2017, and ended on Fe^bruary 12th, 2018” (104). The eight-week span created additional physical problems for Irby related to blood loss. She attempts to persuade a physician to remove her uterus, something the doctor is reluctant to do in case Irby decides she wants to have children in the future.