Mass hysteria: a dispersed collective behaviour
Sunday, 22 July 2007
Md. Shafiqur Rahman, PhD and Rukhsana Shaheen, PhD
THROUGHOUT history, in all societies and civilisations, people have demonstrated episodes of dramatic, often melodramatic, behaviour. Study of the nature of these episodes has evolved into a loosely defined field of sociology-collective behaviour. The term was first used by Robert E. Park, and employed definitively by Herbert Blumer. Collective behaviour refers to a special form of social action, in which people depart from everyday routines, responding to events, things, or ideas in an unventional way that emerges spontaneously. The two generalised types of collective behaviour are: converging collective behaviour -- the crowd, and dispersed collective behaviour.
In converging collective behaviour people converge in response to particular stimuli. This may be of several types: casual, conventional, expressive and acting. The dispersed collective behaviour includes rumour, gossip, fads, public opinion, propaganda, mass hysteria…that roots on false belief, misinformation, stress…. Studying collective behaviour can be very practical and useful in today's society to allow people to better understand how people respond in certain situations. Predicting these outcomes can help prevent conflict from becoming worse in a destructive way.
Psychosocial epidemiology: Many factors contribute to the formation and spread of hysterical illness: the mass media, rumours, extraordinary anxiety or excitement, cultural beliefs and stereotypes, the social and political context, and reinforcing actions by authorities such as politicians, or institutions of social control such as the police or military.
Mass hysteria is the socio-psychological phenomenon of the manifestation of the same or similar hysterical symptoms by more than one person. It may begin when a group witnesses an individual becoming hysterical during a traumatic or extremely stressful event. Mass hysteria is typified as the spontaneous, rapid spread of false or exaggerated beliefs within a population at large, temporarily affecting a particular region, culture, or country. Episodes typically affect small, tightly knit groups in enclosed settings such as schools, factories, convents and orphanages, particularly among young females.
Mass hysteria is characterised by the rapid spread of conversion disorder, a condition involving the appearance of bodily complaints for which there is no organic basis. In such episodes, psychological distress is converted or channeled into physical symptoms. There are two common types: anxiety hysteria and motor hysteria. The former is of shorter duration, usually lasting a day, and is triggered by the sudden perception of a threatening agent, most commonly a strange odour. Symptoms typically include headache, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, and general weakness. Motor hysteria is prevalent in intolerable social situations where discipline is excessive. Symptoms include trance-like states, melodramatic acts of rebellion known as histrionics, whereby pent-up anxiety built up over a long period results in disruptions to the nerves or neurones that send messages to the muscles, triggering temporary bouts of twitching, spasms, and shaking. Motor hysteria appears gradually over time and usually takes weeks or months to subside.
Jerome Clark, while recognising that mass hysteria can undoubtedly be genuine and widespread, argues that mass hysteria can be 'a classic blame-the-victim strategy' in cases where authorities or experts can find no explanation for puzzling or frightening events. It can also manifest in situations where there is a problem that is endangering their society, but the people want to find a scapegoat and take out their frustrations on someone instead of looking for the cause of the problem.
Chronology of global major episodes: During the Middle Ages (fifth-fifteenth century), dozens of outbreaks of hysterical fits and imitative behaviours (e.g. biting) were reported among repressed nuns in cloistered European Christian convents.
* In 1630, a poisoning scare terrorised Italy, coinciding with pestilence, plague, and a prediction that the Devil would poison the city's water supply. This caused mass hysteria.
* In 1639 at an all-girls' school in France, pupils were convinced by their overzealous teacher that they were under Satanic influence. This led to hysterical manifestations.
* In 1692, Massachusetts was the scene of a mass hysteria that spread throughout the region and involved witchcraft accusations which led to trials, torture, imprisonment, and executions.
* In 1761, two minor earthquakes struck London on two consecutive months, incidentally on the same date. This led to a belief that the tremor on the subsequent month would destroy the city. This caused mass hysteria.
* In 1806, based on a report of a hen laying eggs inscribed with 'Christ is coming', a panic spread through parts of England that the end of the world was at hand.
* In 1835, newspaper reports from New York stated that an astronomer had perfected the world's strongest telescope, and had discovered various life forms on the Moon. This caused a worldwide sensation.
In the war-scare setting of British South Africa in 1914, local newspapers erroneously reported that hostile monoplanes from adjacent German South West Africa were making reconnaissance flights as a prelude to an imminent attack. Despite the technological impossibility of such missions at that time, thousands of residents misperceived ambiguous, nocturnal aerial stimuli as representing enemy monoplanes.
* In 1937, a head-hunting rumour-panic swept through a village in Indonesia. According to traditional belief, government construction projects would soon crumble without an offering of a head. So the fearful belief of the search for head caused mass hysteria.
* In 1938, a live fictional radio drama was broadcast across much of the United States. It depicted an invasion by the Martians who had landed on earth, and had begun attacking with heat rays and poison gas. This generated mass delusion with hysterical manifestations.
* In 1944, the Illinois police received a phone call that a woman and her daughter had been left nauseated and dizzy after being sprayed with a sweet-smelling gas by a mysterious figure lurking near their bedroom window. The incidence received extensive media coverage. Over the next two weeks the police received several reports of similar incidence. Exhaustive investigation couldn't confirm such incidence.
* In 1947, a pilot while flying over a mountain in the United States observed some shining objects which he described to news reporters as saucer shaped. The news report detailed it as 'flying saucer'. Since then, the flying saucer wave has been regarded as a media-generated collective delusion
* In 1954, reports appeared in United States newspapers of damaged automobile windshields. People started noticing mysterious pits in the windshields, which was attributed to nuclear fallout and some other phenomena. Actually the pits were there since its manufacture, but since people look through the glass rather at the glass, the pits evaded notice.
* In 1956, residents in Taiwan lived in fear that they would be the next victim of a crazed villain who was slashing people at random with a razor. This led to mass hysteria.
* During 1968-71, more than 100 thousand people reported observing Virgin Mary apparitions above a Church in Egypt. These apparitions were in the form of small bright short-lived lights, or more enduring, less intense glowing light. This created a widespread religious frenzy.
* In 1975, reports circulated in Puerto Rico of a mysterious creature attacking domestic and farm animals, draining their blood and scooping out chunks of their flesh. Residents became so distraught that some had to be taken to hospitals.
* In 1979, the head-hunting and kidnapping rumour-panic suddenly broke out in an island of Indonesia. The scare was triggered by rumours that the government was constructing a bridge in the region and needed a body to place in the foundation to strengthen it.
* In 1983, mostly female residents of the Israeli-occupied Jordan reported various psychogenic symptoms. The episode was precipitated by rumours of poison gas and a long-standing Palestinian mistrust of Jews.
* In 1990, several thousand residents in Kosovo were struck down by a mystery illness that persisted for some three weeks. The episode began at a high school and rapidly spread to dozens of schools within the province. An outbreak of respiratory infection within a single class appears to have triggered fears that Serbs may have dispensed poison.
* In 1990, an episode of 'vanishing' genitalia caused widespread fear among males across Nigeria. This was usually triggered by incidental body contact with a stranger in a public place, after which the 'victim' would feel strange scrotum sensations and grab their genitals to confirm that they were still there.
Local episodes: The folk culture in Bangladesh has many false beliefs that trigger occasional fear and delusion. During the 1960s, there was a delusion that a head was needed to complete the construction of a bridge. This was a cause of acute panic among the youngsters of the days. In Bangladesh, in the recent past, some incidences of mass hysteria have occurred. During 1989-90, mostly the elderly females experienced zinjhi baat, manifested by tingling and paresthesia of extremities followed by unconsciousness.
It was believed that it occurred due to bite of an insect that lives on dhol-kolmi plant. In 2005, 2006, and very recently in 2007, mass hysteria has been experienced mostly by the teenage schoolgirls in different parts of Bangladesh. No definite precipitating factor has been reported in the episodes, but some of the affected have mentioned a strange odour as stimuli. Unlike various global episodes, no triggering factor-delusion, demonistic spirit, extreme stress, fear, toxin, misinformation by media, curricular content, teaching methods, conflicting peer and parental pressure, failure to cope with the physiological changes-could be identified so far in Bangladesh. Further concerted probing by sociopsychologists is essential to find out the factors, so as to reassure and alleviate the symptoms.
An outline of response: Attempt to separate persons with illness associated with the outbreak;
* Promptly perform physical examination and basic laboratory testing sufficient to exclude serious acute illness;
* Monitor and provide oxygen as necessary for hyperventilation;
* Minimize unnecessary exposure to medical procedures, emergency personnel, media or other potential anxiety-stimulating situations;
* Notify public health authorities of apparent outbreak;
* Promptly communicate results of laboratory and environmental testing to patients;
* While maintaining confidentiality, explain that other people are experiencing similar symptoms and improving without complications;
* Remind patients that rumours and reports of 'suspected causes' are not equivalent to confirmed results;
* Acknowledge that symptoms experienced by the patient are real;
* Explain potential contribution of anxiety to the patient's symptoms;
* Reassure patient that long-term sequel from current illness are not expected;
* As appropriate, reassure patient that thorough clinical, epidemiologic and environmental investigations have identified no toxic cause for the outbreak or reason for further concern;
* Reassurance of the community by announcing that the outbreak is over and stating that the illness was benign and without long-term effects.
The article is a compilation from Internet documents, as well as personal knowledge and experience of authors. The authors are working as Officers in the Department of Medical Sociology at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
THROUGHOUT history, in all societies and civilisations, people have demonstrated episodes of dramatic, often melodramatic, behaviour. Study of the nature of these episodes has evolved into a loosely defined field of sociology-collective behaviour. The term was first used by Robert E. Park, and employed definitively by Herbert Blumer. Collective behaviour refers to a special form of social action, in which people depart from everyday routines, responding to events, things, or ideas in an unventional way that emerges spontaneously. The two generalised types of collective behaviour are: converging collective behaviour -- the crowd, and dispersed collective behaviour.
In converging collective behaviour people converge in response to particular stimuli. This may be of several types: casual, conventional, expressive and acting. The dispersed collective behaviour includes rumour, gossip, fads, public opinion, propaganda, mass hysteria…that roots on false belief, misinformation, stress…. Studying collective behaviour can be very practical and useful in today's society to allow people to better understand how people respond in certain situations. Predicting these outcomes can help prevent conflict from becoming worse in a destructive way.
Psychosocial epidemiology: Many factors contribute to the formation and spread of hysterical illness: the mass media, rumours, extraordinary anxiety or excitement, cultural beliefs and stereotypes, the social and political context, and reinforcing actions by authorities such as politicians, or institutions of social control such as the police or military.
Mass hysteria is the socio-psychological phenomenon of the manifestation of the same or similar hysterical symptoms by more than one person. It may begin when a group witnesses an individual becoming hysterical during a traumatic or extremely stressful event. Mass hysteria is typified as the spontaneous, rapid spread of false or exaggerated beliefs within a population at large, temporarily affecting a particular region, culture, or country. Episodes typically affect small, tightly knit groups in enclosed settings such as schools, factories, convents and orphanages, particularly among young females.
Mass hysteria is characterised by the rapid spread of conversion disorder, a condition involving the appearance of bodily complaints for which there is no organic basis. In such episodes, psychological distress is converted or channeled into physical symptoms. There are two common types: anxiety hysteria and motor hysteria. The former is of shorter duration, usually lasting a day, and is triggered by the sudden perception of a threatening agent, most commonly a strange odour. Symptoms typically include headache, dizziness, nausea, breathlessness, and general weakness. Motor hysteria is prevalent in intolerable social situations where discipline is excessive. Symptoms include trance-like states, melodramatic acts of rebellion known as histrionics, whereby pent-up anxiety built up over a long period results in disruptions to the nerves or neurones that send messages to the muscles, triggering temporary bouts of twitching, spasms, and shaking. Motor hysteria appears gradually over time and usually takes weeks or months to subside.
Jerome Clark, while recognising that mass hysteria can undoubtedly be genuine and widespread, argues that mass hysteria can be 'a classic blame-the-victim strategy' in cases where authorities or experts can find no explanation for puzzling or frightening events. It can also manifest in situations where there is a problem that is endangering their society, but the people want to find a scapegoat and take out their frustrations on someone instead of looking for the cause of the problem.
Chronology of global major episodes: During the Middle Ages (fifth-fifteenth century), dozens of outbreaks of hysterical fits and imitative behaviours (e.g. biting) were reported among repressed nuns in cloistered European Christian convents.
* In 1630, a poisoning scare terrorised Italy, coinciding with pestilence, plague, and a prediction that the Devil would poison the city's water supply. This caused mass hysteria.
* In 1639 at an all-girls' school in France, pupils were convinced by their overzealous teacher that they were under Satanic influence. This led to hysterical manifestations.
* In 1692, Massachusetts was the scene of a mass hysteria that spread throughout the region and involved witchcraft accusations which led to trials, torture, imprisonment, and executions.
* In 1761, two minor earthquakes struck London on two consecutive months, incidentally on the same date. This led to a belief that the tremor on the subsequent month would destroy the city. This caused mass hysteria.
* In 1806, based on a report of a hen laying eggs inscribed with 'Christ is coming', a panic spread through parts of England that the end of the world was at hand.
* In 1835, newspaper reports from New York stated that an astronomer had perfected the world's strongest telescope, and had discovered various life forms on the Moon. This caused a worldwide sensation.
In the war-scare setting of British South Africa in 1914, local newspapers erroneously reported that hostile monoplanes from adjacent German South West Africa were making reconnaissance flights as a prelude to an imminent attack. Despite the technological impossibility of such missions at that time, thousands of residents misperceived ambiguous, nocturnal aerial stimuli as representing enemy monoplanes.
* In 1937, a head-hunting rumour-panic swept through a village in Indonesia. According to traditional belief, government construction projects would soon crumble without an offering of a head. So the fearful belief of the search for head caused mass hysteria.
* In 1938, a live fictional radio drama was broadcast across much of the United States. It depicted an invasion by the Martians who had landed on earth, and had begun attacking with heat rays and poison gas. This generated mass delusion with hysterical manifestations.
* In 1944, the Illinois police received a phone call that a woman and her daughter had been left nauseated and dizzy after being sprayed with a sweet-smelling gas by a mysterious figure lurking near their bedroom window. The incidence received extensive media coverage. Over the next two weeks the police received several reports of similar incidence. Exhaustive investigation couldn't confirm such incidence.
* In 1947, a pilot while flying over a mountain in the United States observed some shining objects which he described to news reporters as saucer shaped. The news report detailed it as 'flying saucer'. Since then, the flying saucer wave has been regarded as a media-generated collective delusion
* In 1954, reports appeared in United States newspapers of damaged automobile windshields. People started noticing mysterious pits in the windshields, which was attributed to nuclear fallout and some other phenomena. Actually the pits were there since its manufacture, but since people look through the glass rather at the glass, the pits evaded notice.
* In 1956, residents in Taiwan lived in fear that they would be the next victim of a crazed villain who was slashing people at random with a razor. This led to mass hysteria.
* During 1968-71, more than 100 thousand people reported observing Virgin Mary apparitions above a Church in Egypt. These apparitions were in the form of small bright short-lived lights, or more enduring, less intense glowing light. This created a widespread religious frenzy.
* In 1975, reports circulated in Puerto Rico of a mysterious creature attacking domestic and farm animals, draining their blood and scooping out chunks of their flesh. Residents became so distraught that some had to be taken to hospitals.
* In 1979, the head-hunting and kidnapping rumour-panic suddenly broke out in an island of Indonesia. The scare was triggered by rumours that the government was constructing a bridge in the region and needed a body to place in the foundation to strengthen it.
* In 1983, mostly female residents of the Israeli-occupied Jordan reported various psychogenic symptoms. The episode was precipitated by rumours of poison gas and a long-standing Palestinian mistrust of Jews.
* In 1990, several thousand residents in Kosovo were struck down by a mystery illness that persisted for some three weeks. The episode began at a high school and rapidly spread to dozens of schools within the province. An outbreak of respiratory infection within a single class appears to have triggered fears that Serbs may have dispensed poison.
* In 1990, an episode of 'vanishing' genitalia caused widespread fear among males across Nigeria. This was usually triggered by incidental body contact with a stranger in a public place, after which the 'victim' would feel strange scrotum sensations and grab their genitals to confirm that they were still there.
Local episodes: The folk culture in Bangladesh has many false beliefs that trigger occasional fear and delusion. During the 1960s, there was a delusion that a head was needed to complete the construction of a bridge. This was a cause of acute panic among the youngsters of the days. In Bangladesh, in the recent past, some incidences of mass hysteria have occurred. During 1989-90, mostly the elderly females experienced zinjhi baat, manifested by tingling and paresthesia of extremities followed by unconsciousness.
It was believed that it occurred due to bite of an insect that lives on dhol-kolmi plant. In 2005, 2006, and very recently in 2007, mass hysteria has been experienced mostly by the teenage schoolgirls in different parts of Bangladesh. No definite precipitating factor has been reported in the episodes, but some of the affected have mentioned a strange odour as stimuli. Unlike various global episodes, no triggering factor-delusion, demonistic spirit, extreme stress, fear, toxin, misinformation by media, curricular content, teaching methods, conflicting peer and parental pressure, failure to cope with the physiological changes-could be identified so far in Bangladesh. Further concerted probing by sociopsychologists is essential to find out the factors, so as to reassure and alleviate the symptoms.
An outline of response: Attempt to separate persons with illness associated with the outbreak;
* Promptly perform physical examination and basic laboratory testing sufficient to exclude serious acute illness;
* Monitor and provide oxygen as necessary for hyperventilation;
* Minimize unnecessary exposure to medical procedures, emergency personnel, media or other potential anxiety-stimulating situations;
* Notify public health authorities of apparent outbreak;
* Promptly communicate results of laboratory and environmental testing to patients;
* While maintaining confidentiality, explain that other people are experiencing similar symptoms and improving without complications;
* Remind patients that rumours and reports of 'suspected causes' are not equivalent to confirmed results;
* Acknowledge that symptoms experienced by the patient are real;
* Explain potential contribution of anxiety to the patient's symptoms;
* Reassure patient that long-term sequel from current illness are not expected;
* As appropriate, reassure patient that thorough clinical, epidemiologic and environmental investigations have identified no toxic cause for the outbreak or reason for further concern;
* Reassurance of the community by announcing that the outbreak is over and stating that the illness was benign and without long-term effects.
The article is a compilation from Internet documents, as well as personal knowledge and experience of authors. The authors are working as Officers in the Department of Medical Sociology at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh