The phenomenon of mass hysteria

| Friday October 15, 2010 00:00

Over the past millennium, numerous cases of mass delusions and hysterical outbreaks have been reported in varied forms and from all corners of the globe.

A case of mass hysteria that was initially reported in The Monitor of March 8, 2010 that occurred at Kalamare School in Shoshong brought the phenomenon home, even though this was not the first incident of its kind in Botswana. Below is a brief chronology of similar events from across the globe.

When dozens of school children fainted and fell ill during a choir practice and concert many people believed they had been poisoned. But a study concludes they were victims of mass hysteria...... (Associated Press Boston USA 1981)When learners, particularly girls, at schools in Mangaung and Heidedal, in the Free State Province of South Africa presented with itching, entomologists were unable to find a definite cause for the itching. The diagnosis of Anxiety Mass Hysteria was given for this outbreak (South Africa February 2000)

The Ministry of Education ordered the closure of Okavango Community Junior Secondary School in Gumare for three weeks following the out-break of mass hysteria among the students........(Botswana, March 2000)Matthews Okumbe, a clinical psychologist based in Ramotswa, says the term hysteria was used in the 19th and 20th Centuries to mean a state of mind characterised by insurmountable fear or emotional extremes. 'Conversion Disorder is the term which is now used to refer to hysterical reaction,' Okumbe says.  Mass hysteria refers to epidemic-like reactions where many people, often those who live close together, experience loss of self-control due to irresistible fear, he adds.

He says when a person experiences this condition, others around them may feel that the problem is a serious one. And due to fear and ignorance, the others may feel overly stressed, and because they know the nature of the symptom, through seeing and hearing from the others, the stress then gets converted to the same symptom.

Okumbe explains that the major source of this condition is psychological, specifically distress; and individuals experiencing these reactions have their mental stress literally 'converted' into a physical symptom that affects voluntary motor and sensory functioning. 'The most common symptoms include loss of voice, paralysis, deafness, loss of memory, or confused behaviour,' Okumbe says.

Despite the fact that in most recorded mass hysteria cases, the 'victims' are young girls, Okumbe says not much research has been conducted on the issue, but he adds that girls are considered more suggestible than boys. 'When one girl develops conversion symptoms, other girls may also develop the same symptoms, giving the manifestation of an outbreak. At school, they may share their fears with each other with the result that the fear spreads beyond limits,' he says.

The phenomena is also called Mass Psychogenic Illness and is described by one medical dictionary as the spontaneous, en masse development of identical physical or emotional symptoms among a group of individuals or a socially contagious frenzy of irrational behaviour in a group of people as a reaction to an event.

Even though the more common anxiety symptoms are tremors, shaking, difficulty breathing and feelings of suffocation and subsequent fainting spells, mass hysteria manifests itself in different ways, with some more bizarre examples as the laughter epidemic that was reported in Tanzania in 1962. It is believed the epidemic began when one schoolgirl told another a joke, which triggered a small group of giggling girls. The laughter eventually spread outside the school, to other schools and beyond to the community at large.

Although the Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic is an extreme version, it is more common than people think. Infact, what is really frightening about the giggling madness that began from one girl's joke in Kashasha is not that it occurred but that researchers believe it happens so often and is so powerful that we are not even aware of it. Or rather we are not aware how much the phenomena controls us.

Some researches believe there are techniques one can use to avoid being caught up in a wave of mass hysteria, though it has been proven that most people are not able to apply them when the time comes. They say we should not underestimate the power of suggestion. Just because something or someone seems authoritative does not mean they are. Consider alternative explanations to the one the group is accepting. If emotions are running at fever pitch, try to detach yourself from an emotional response and reflect on the issue.

Try not to be driven by wishful thinking or fear. Remember that the media, for example, only focus on a few categories and tend to hype certain topics (such as violent crime, child abductions, school assaults, and natural disasters), making everything they report seem more widespread and important than they probably are. Researchers warn that we should be aware of TV manipulators who show short clips of suggestive videos over and over again.

Okumbe advises that another method of attempting to stop yourself from being affected is by being aware of the condition - its sources and symptoms, or by managing stress-related issues