No risk of death from mass hysteria, says Health Adviser

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Health Adviser ASM Matiur Rahman said there is no reason to get panicked about the recently seen mass hysteria disease among children across the country, reports UNB.
Many students have been affected by mass hysteria at different parts of the country.
"It is totally a temporary psychiatric problem, not a serious physical disease. There is no risk of death by this disease."
ASM Matiur Rahman made the observation while speaking at a press briefing at his Secretariat office in the city Thursday.
The Health Adviser emphasised on the mass media's role in creating public awareness so that the common people can easily cope with the disease themselves without getting unduly worried.
Terming the 'mass hysteria' or 'mass psychogenic' illness a sort of psychiatric problem, he said the syndromes of this disease are seen among specific groups of children or people. The disease spreads quickly from one person to another.
"Through examining the history and universal experiment of this disease, no specific physical complication has been identified," he added.
Matiur Rahman said the patients, who suffer from acute mental stress and some physical nervous syndromes, are often called 'conversion disorder' or hysteria. "Hysteria is generally found more among adolescent girls."
He said this disease could originate from normal environmental situation, especially from smell, fear of infection and rumors. "Sometimes, it can spread among the same group of people if an important person of that group falls sick."
He pointed out that the disease firstly affects the children having low stress tolerance in their personal and social life and although it mostly affects the adolescent and young girls, but boys are not free from this illness.
The Health Adviser said it is essential to segregate one victim of such disease from another and to provide them with nutritious food. "The intensity of this disease subsides gradually when the affected person is removed from past environment."
He advised minor tranquilisers like Clonazium 0.5mg, Diazipum 5mg in half or single dose twice or thrice daily for the patient in order to get temporary relief.
Specialist physicians Mahmudur Rahman, Anwara Begum and Din Mohammad, among others, also spoke at the briefing.