Collective Hysteria: What It Is And How It Occurs
There are countless cases of mass hysteria reported in history. The phenomenon has been talked about for more than a century, although it has been very little studied. Curiosity magazines, literature and cinema have dealt with him more than science itself.
A recent case of mass hysteria occurred in the town of Kota Bharu, in northern Malaysia. It happened at a local school. A group of students said they had seen a “black figure” wandering the hallways. As the days went by, other students, and even teachers reported something similar. A teacher went so far as to affirm that the “black figure” had wanted to enter her body.
The school had to close temporarily. They called in Islamist experts on exorcisms and similar phenomena. They did several sessions of prayer and deliverance. Then the school reopened and everything returned to normal.
Similar cases have occurred all over the planet. In fact, the beautiful drama “The Salem Witches” is about this phenomenon. A group of girls begins to see apparitions from beyond. They have tremors, they speak in strange languages, they faint in a group and then everything disappears without a trace. What really happens in those situations?
Mass hysteria or group psychosis
Mass hysteria is a case of group anxiety attack. It is characterized by the appearance of a series of psychic and physical symptoms that are spreading in a group. As in a domino effect , the symptoms are contagious. Later, when those affected are medically examined, no abnormalities are discovered, neither in their bodies nor in their minds.
Mass hysteria is also called “mass psychogenic illness”, “mass hysteria” or “group psychosis”. In addition to panic , he often also presents a wide variety of physical expressions. Tremors, seizures, fainting, numbness and even blindness are the most frequent.
Whoever is caught in the web of mass hysteria experiences what happens to him as something real, or quasi-real. According to sociologist Robert Bartholomew, there are about a hundred outbreaks of this phenomenon each year. Most of them are produced in schools and factories.
Some manifestations of the phenomenon
According to physician Jay Salpekar, director of the Neurobehavioral Program at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, mass hysteria is a result of stress. Everything indicates that the groups in which this phenomenon occurs have been subjected to a shared stress before the outbreak of hysteria occurs.
Usually stress takes some physical form: pain, trembling, etc., and then other members of the group replicate it. The expressions of mass hysteria are very varied. Sometimes it is a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Other times from the vision or perception of “supernatural forces.”
Sometimes it also manifests as a physical illness. This is the case of 200 Colombian students who ended up in the hospital after a vaccination: they all believed that it had hurt them, but it was not. It was all on his mind.
A disorder about which little is known
Most cases of mass hysteria occur among female adolescents, between the ages of 12 and 15. However, many cases involving men and adults have also been recorded.
In all cases, there is a closed environment that has been constant in the lives of those affected. The specialists Robert Bartholomew and Simon Wessely have indicated that the phenomenon is a response to the social problems that afflict a community at a given moment.
Tense environments predispose to mass hysteria. It is said that practically anyone can be a victim of this evil. Circumstances combine to make it so. Once the chain reaction occurs, it is difficult to abstract. Anyway, it is more frequent in infantile personalities.
Most of those affected by the phenomenon do not consult after having suffered it. For this reason, studies on the matter are very scarce and are based mainly on conjecture rather than on established facts. It is, if anything, a fascinating manifestation of the human mind, reminding us how difficult it is to keep everything under control.
