Weird Stuff - Bizarre Cases of Mass Hysteria

1. Weird Stuff - Bizarre Cases of Mass Hysteria Mass hysteria is the common term used to describe a situation in which various people all suffer from similar hysterical symptoms – either from a phantom illness or an inexplicable event.

2. As we read the following stories, consider what might be the cause of the mass hysteria in each example. Jot down your thoughts to discuss at the end of the power point.

3. Mumbai Sweet Water The 2006 Mumbai “sweet” seawater incident was a phenomenon during which residents of Mumbai claimed that the water at Mahim Creek, one of the most polluted creeks in India which receives thousands of tons of raw sewage and industrial waste every day, had suddenly turned “sweet”. Within hours, residents of Gujarat claimed that seawater at Teethal beach had turned sweet as well. In the aftermath of the incidents, local authorities feared the possibility of a severe outbreak of water-borne diseases, such as gastroenteritis. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board warned people not to drink the water, but despite this many people collected it in bottles, even as plastic and rubbish drifted by on the current. By 2pm the following day, the devotees said that the water was salty again.

4. Tanganyika laughter epidemic The Tanganyika laughter epidemic of 1962 was an outbreak of mass hysteria, believed to have occurred in or near the village of Kashasha in the modern nation of Tanzania near the border of Kenya. It is possible that, at the start of the incident, a joke was told in a boarding school, and this joke triggered a small group of students to start laughing. The laughter perpetuated itself, far transcending its original cause. The school from which the epidemic sprang was shut down; the children and parents transmitted it to the surrounding area. Other schools, Kashasha itself, and another village, comprised of thousands of people, were all affected to some degree. Six to eighteen months after it started, the phenomenon died off. The following symptoms were reported on an equally massive scale as the reports of the laughter itself: pain, fainting, respiratory problems, rashes, and attacks of crying.

5. Hindu Milk Miracle The Hindu “milk miracle” occurred on September 21, 1995. Before dawn, a Hindu worshiper at a temple in South New Delhi made an offering of milk to a statue of Lord Ganesha. When a spoonful of milk from the bowl was held up to the trunk of the statue, the liquid disappeared, apparently being taken in by the idol. Word of the event spread quickly, and by mid-morning it appeared that Hindu statues in temples all over North India were taking in milk. A small number of temples outside of India reported the effect continuing for several more days, but no further reports were made after the beginning of October.

6. June Bug Epidemic In 1962 a mysterious disease broke out in a dressmaking department of a US textile factory. The symptoms included numbness, nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. Word of a bug in the factory that would bite its victims and develop the above symptoms quickly spread. Soon sixty two employees developed this mysterious illness, some of whom were hospitalized. The news media reported on the case. After research by company physicians and experts from the US Public Health Service Communicable Disease Center, it was concluded that the case was one of mass hysteria. While the researchers believed some workers were bitten by the bug, anxiety was likely the cause of the symptoms. No evidence was ever found for a bug which could cause the above flu-like symptoms, nor did all workers demonstrate bites.

7. Soap Opera Hysteria Morangos com Açúcar is a Portuguese youth soap opera, which is very popular in Portuguese communities, especially amongst children and teenagers, aiming to depict the adventures of typical Portuguese youths. In May, 2006, an outbreak of the “Morangos com Açúcar Virus” was reported in Portuguese schools. 300 or more students at 14 schools reported similar symptoms to those experienced by the characters in a recent episode. These included rashes, difficulty breathing, and dizziness, forcing some schools to close. The Portuguese National Institute for Medical Emergency dismissed the illness as mass hysteria.

8. The Toxic Lady Gloria Ramirez was a Riverside, California woman dubbed “the toxic lady” by the media after exposure to her body and blood sickened several hospital workers. In 1994, she was rushed to the hospital suffering from the effects of cervical cancer. The medical staff who attended to her began to feel ill and eventually fainted. Gloria’s body exuded a garlicky and fruity smell, and her blood contained flecks of a strange paper-like substance. The health department issued a statement at the conclusion of their investigation which stated that those who had become sick were, in fact, suffering from mass hysteria.

9. The War of the Worlds “The War of the Worlds” was an episode of the American radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as a Halloween episode on October 30, 1938 and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation of H. G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds. Some listeners heard only a portion of the broadcast, and in the atmosphere of tension and anxiety leading to World War II, took it to be a news broadcast. Newspapers reported that panic ensued, people fled the area, others thought they could smell poison gas or could see flashes of lightning in the distance. Some people called CBS, newspapers or the police in confusion over the realism of the news bulletins. Initially, Grover’s Mill (one of the reported sites in the drama) was deserted, but crowds developed. Eventually, police were sent to control the crowds. To people arriving later in the evening, the scene really did look like the events being narrated, with panicked crowds and flashing police lights streaming across the masses. There were instances of panic throughout the US as a result of the broadcast, especially in New York and New Jersey.

10. The Monkey Man of Delhi In May 2001, reports began to circulate in the Indian capital of New Delhi that a strange monkey-like creature was appearing at night and attacking people. Eyewitness accounts were often inconsistent, but tended to describe the creature as about four feet (120 cm) tall, covered in thick black hair, with a metal helmet, metal claws, glowing red eyes and three buttons on its chest. Theories on the nature of the Monkey Man ranged from an avatar of a Hindu god, to an Indian version of Bigfoot, to a cyborg that could be deactivated by throwing water on the motherboard concealed under fur on its chest. Many people reported being scratched, and two (by some reports, three) people even died when they leapt from the tops of buildings or fell down stairwells in a panic caused by what they thought was the attacker. More than 15 people suffered from bruises, bites, and scratches.

11. The Dancing Plague The Dancing Plague of 1518 was a case of dancing mania that occurred in Strasbourg, France (then part of the Holy Roman Empire). Numerous people took to dancing for days without rest. The outbreak began in July 1518, when a woman, Frau Troffea, began to dance fervently on a street in Strasbourg. This lasted somewhere between four to six days. Within a week, 34 others had joined, and within a month, there were around 400 dancers. Most of these people eventually died from heart attack, stroke, or exhaustion. Historical documents clearly state that the victims danced. It is not known why these people danced to their deaths, nor is it certain that they were dancing willfully.

12. S0, what causes mass hysteria? • In many cases, hysteria is triggered by an environmental incident — such as contamination of the water supply — that causes people to literally worry themselves sick over getting sick, even though they’re otherwise perfectly healthy. • In other cases, people who witness individuals around them falling ill unwittingly trick their own bodies into manifesting the same symptoms. • And in still other cases, social or emotional pressures simply become too much for a community to handle, leading to widespread anxiety in the form of neurological problems such as blindness or numbness. • All three situations are examples of psychosomatic disorders, meaning the brain is making the body sick — but experts say they’re no less real or painful than any other illness with physiological roots.

13. Your Turn • What are some examples of mass hysteria that have occurred in the last 10-15 years?