"attack of hysteria," 1833, in conniption fit, American English, origin uncertain; perhaps a fanciful formation related to corruption, which was used in a sense of "anger" from 1799, or from English dialectal canapshus "ill-tempered, captious," which probably is a corruption of captious.
CONNIPTION FIT. This term is exclusively used by the fair sex, who can best explain its meaning. Ex. "George if you keep coming home so late to dinner I shall have a conniption." As near as I can judge, conniption fits are tantrums. [Bartlett, 1848]