Массовая истерия: случаи и проявления

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In sociology and psychology, mass hysteria is a phenomenon that transmits collective illusions of threats, whether real or imaginary, through a population and society as a result of rumors and fear. In medicine, the term is used to describe the spontaneous manifestation—or production of chemicals in the body—of the same or similar hysterical physical symptoms by more than one person. A common type of mass hysteria occurs when a group of people believes that they have a similar disease or ailment, sometimes referred to as mass sociogenic illness or epidemic hysteria.

According to an account which was written by an author in 1784, a nun who lived in a German convent in the 15th century began to bite her companions, and the behavior soon spread through other convents in Germany, Holland and Italy. In The Epidemics of the Middle Ages, an 1844 collection of works written by J. F. C. Hecker (and translated by Benjamin Guy Babington), a translator's note by Babington, citing an unnamed medical textbook, recalls the story of a nun who lived in a French convent during an unspecified time (presumably in the Middle Ages) who inexplicably began to meow like a cat, shortly leading the other nuns in the convent to meow as well. Eventually, all of the nuns in the convent would meow together for a certain period, leaving the surrounding community astonished. This did not stop until the police threatened to whip the nuns.

Monkey man of Delhi (2001) – Rumors about a hairy monkey looking monster attacking people in Delhi in India led to the deaths of several panicked people who fell from roofs or stairwells while fleeing what they thought was the monster. North Carolina (2002) – Ten girls developed seizures and other symptoms at a rural North Carolinian high school. Symptoms persisted for five months across various grade levels. Incidents tended to happen outside of class, with half of all incidents estimated to have occurred around lunch hour. Half of the affected were cheerleaders or former cheerleaders. "Strawberries with Sugar virus" (2006) – In May 2006, an outbreak of the so dubbed Morangos com Açúcar Virus ('Strawberries with Sugar virus') was reported in Portuguese schools, named after the popular teen girl's show Morangos com Açúcar ('Strawberries With Sugar'). At least 300 students at 14 schools reported similar symptoms to those experienced by the characters in a then recent episode where a life threatening virus affected the school depicted in the show. Symptoms included rashes, difficulty breathing, and dizziness. The belief that there was a medical outbreak forced some schools to temporarily close. The Portuguese National Institute for Medical Emergency eventually dismissed the illness as mass hysteria. near Chalco, a working class suburb of Mexico City, mass hysteria resulted in an outbreak of unusual symptoms experienced by more than 500 adolescent female students at Children's Village School (Villa de las Ninas), a Catholic boarding school. The affected students had difficulty walking and were feverish and nauseated, some becoming partially paralyzed. Tanzania (2008) – In September 2008, 20 girls at a school in Tabora started fainting while taking their final year exams. The mass fainting has been linked to neurosis related to the local practice of witchcraft. Afghanistan (2009–) – Starting around 2009, a spate of apparent poisonings at girls' schools across Afghanistan began to be reported, with symptoms including dizziness, fainting, and vomiting. The United Nations, World Health Organization and NATO's International Security Assistance Force carried out investigations of the incidents over multiple years, but never found any evidence of toxins or poisoning in the hundreds of blood, urine, and water samples they tested. The conclusion of the investigators was that the girls had a mass psychogenic illness. Despite these findings, Afghan officials often blame the incidents on the Taliban, accusing them of contaminating the school's water supply or using poison gas. The most recent notable event happened on the 24 April 2014 in a public secondary school. The phenomenon caused a wave of panic among many parents, educators, and members of the community. Some of the students affected by the phenomenon claimed to have been possessed by spirits, or jinn, displaying histrionic symptoms such as screaming, shaking, fainting, and crying. Le Roy, New York (2011–12) – After 12 high school girls developed Tourette like symptoms in 2011, their school was tested for toxins, and all other factors for their symptoms were ruled out. The case, and some of the girls and their parents, gained national media attention. In January 2012, several more students and a 36 year old adult female came forward with similar symptoms. They were all diagnosed with conversion disorder. Sri Lanka (2012) – From November 15–20, 2012, incidents of mass hysteria occurred at 15 schools in Sri Lanka. More than 1,900 school children of 15 schools in Sri Lanka and five teachers were treated for a range of symptoms that included skin rashes, vomiting, vertigo, and cough due to allergic reactions believed to be mass hysteria. It originated at the Jinaraja Balika Vidyalaya in Gampola on November 15, 2012, when 1,100 students were admitted to hospital with a range of symptoms that included skin rashes, vomiting, vertigo and coughing. Later, authorities had to close down the school for 3 days. After that on November 16–19 there were more reports of students from other parts of the country showing similar symptoms. Unreliable source: date=December 2013
Charlie Charlie panic (2015) – Four teens in Tunja, Colombia, were hospitalized, and several in the Dominican Republic were considered "possessed by Satan" after playing the Charlie Charlie Challenge viral game. 2016 clown sightings – Sightings of people in evil clown costumes in the United States, Canada, and 18 other countries were dismissed as a case of mass hysteria, stating that a fear of clowns (which is common in children and adults) may be an underlying cause. The website Vox likewise claimed that "The Great Clown Panic of 2016 has been perpetuated by pretty much everyone except actual clowns." Recurrent epidemic of mass hysteria in Nepal (2016–2018) – A unique phenomenon of “recurrent epidemic of mass hysteria” was reported from a school of Pyuthan district of western Nepal in 2018. After a 9 year old school girl developed crying and shouting episodes, quickly other children of the same school were also affected resulting in 47 affected students (37 females, 10 males) in the same day. Since 2016 similar episodes of mass psychogenic illness has been occurring in the same school every year. In 2016, twelve students were affected and in 2017, a total of 18 students of the same school were affected showing various symptoms in a single day. Hence it was thought to be a unique case of recurrent mass hysteria. Havana syndrome (2016 2023) Idiopathic symptoms experienced mostly abroad by U. S. government officials and military personnel, ranging in severity from pain and ringing in the ears to cognitive dysfunction, were first reported in 2016 by U. S. and Canadian embassy staff in Havana, Cuba. Beginning in 2017, more people, including U. S. intelligence and military personnel and their families, reported having these symptoms in places around the world including in Washington, D. C. Many U. S. federal government officials and agencies blamed the reported illnesses on attacks by unidentified foreign agents using unknown weaponry. In March 2023, seven U. S. intelligence agencies completed a review of the proposed cases and reported that "available intelligence consistently points against the involvement of US adversaries in causing the reported incidents" and that a foreign adversary's involvement was "very unlikely". Emirates Flight 203 (September 2018) – 106 of 521 passengers on a 14 hour flight from Dubai to New York reported symptoms including coughing, sneezing, fever, or vomiting. The pilot notified airport ground staff, and personnel from the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention met and quarantined the plane in New York and evaluated passengers, 11 of whom were sent to the hospital. A few passengers on the "flight from hell" turned out to have common colds or flu, with the other passengers coming to the belief that they were also sick after observing those around them. Ketereh, Malaysia (2019) – In August 2019, the BBC reported that schoolgirls at the Ketereh national secondary school (SMK Ketereh) in Kelantan, started screaming, with some claiming to have seen 'a face of pure evil'. Professor Simon Wessely a former president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, suggested it was a form of 'collective behaviour'. Robert Bartholomew, a medical sociologist, suggested it was due to the stricter implementation of Islamic law in the school. The school responded to the outbreak by cutting down the trees around the school, believing they were home to supernatural spirits. Starehe Girls' Centre, Kenya (October 2019) – 52 students were isolated with an unknown disease, showing symptoms of a high pitched cough, sneezing and low grade fever, a number that later rose to 68. As the number rose, the school's administration shut the school down and instructed parents to pick up their daughters. Specimens collected from the affected students showed only two cases of rhinovirus, a virus that is the predominant cause of the common cold. After carrying out psychological assessments on the students, a team of mental health specialists dispatched by Kenya's Ministry of Health to the school concluded that the 'mysterious' disease was a case of mass hysteria. Iranian schoolgirls mass poisoning reports (2022 2023) A series of alleged chemical attacks during which students in dozens of schools in Iran were reportedly poisoned in various and undetermined manners by unidentified perpetrators. These events started in November 2022 and reports of thousands of students being poisoned in ongoing assaults were claimed to have occurred in the following months. Mass psychogenic illness has been identified as a possible cause of the incidents. School and university shooting threats in Brazil (2023) after the Blumenau school attack in Blumenau, in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina and the Thomazia Montoro school shooting in São Paulo, a wave of threats against education centres throughout Brazil occurred, with many schools and universities being closed and students refusing to go to those vicinities or parents not allowing their children to go to school. While some of these threats were real, most of them turned out to be hoaxes motivated by mass hysteria. Musoli, Kenya (2023) In October of 2023, over 100 students from the St. Theresa’s Eregi Girls’ High School were hospitalized due to rapid and involuntary arm and leg movement, sometimes accompanied by headaches and vertigo. Routine medical tests revealed nothing unusual, and there were no signs of infectious disease as a cause. Ultimately it was decided that the events were caused by “stress due to upcoming exams” and the incident was determined to be an incident of “hysteria”. Due to the determination of collective stress as the cause, medical sociologist Robert Bartholomew favors the neutral term mass psychogenic illness over mass hysteria. This is because people respond more favorably to a diagnosis of stress induced symptoms than to a diagnosis of mass hysteria. Bartholomew notes such outbreaks are not unusual in schools in the developing world. This is particularly true in schools in which discipline is tight and accompanied with cultural strain between administrators and students. An outbreak can be preceded by months of such tension, which then results in physical symptoms such as seen in Musoli. Far from faking it, “Under such prolonged stress, the nerves and neurons that send messages to the brain become disrupted, resulting in an array of neurological symptoms such as twitching, shaking, convulsions, and trance like states.” Bartholomew further observes that school stress borne illness such as occurred here have not been uncommon in Africa since the 1960s. Some appear to be due to Christian missionary schools largely ignoring local traditions and mythologies. Instead, such schools impart their own mythologies and culture. This may create overwhelming anxiety due to the students being taught one thing at home, such as ancestor worship, which is then forbidden at a Christian mythology based school. Other such outbreaks have similar tradition based causes, such as a 1995 outbreak of “bouts of screaming, crying, foaming at the mouth, and partial paralysis” in over 600 girls at an African Muslim school in Northern Nigeria. This outbreak was surmised to be due to expectations of traditional arranged marriage, colliding with modernity’s emphasis on romantic love that the students had observed in movies. The difference between these two cases of mass psychogenic illness reinforces that each outbreak needs to be evaluated in the specific circumstances in which it occurred, as such instances are “never spontaneous reactions to stress per se; they are always couched in some unique context.”