Mass hysteria - Citizendia

Mass hysteria, also called collective hysteria, mass psychogenic illness, or collective obsessional behavior, is the sociopsychological phenomenon of the manifestation of the same or similar hysterical symptoms by more than one person. Social psychology is the study of how people and groups interact A phenomenon (from Greek φαινόμενoν, pl φαινόμενα - phenomena) is any observable occurrence Hysteria in its colloquial use describes a state of Mind, one of unmanageable Fear or Emotional excesses A symptom' (from Greek σύμπτωμα, "accident misfortune that which befalls" from συμπίπτω, "I befall" from A common manifestation of mass hysteria occurs when a group of people believe they are suffering from a similar disease or ailment. A disease is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions and can be deadly ^[1]

1 Characteristics
2 Criticism
3 Popular culture
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

Characteristics

Mass hysteria typically begins when an individual becomes ill or hysterical during a period of stress. ^[2] After this initial individual shows symptoms, others begin to manifest similar symptoms, typically nausea, muscle weakness, fits or headache. Nausea ( Latin: Nausea, Greek:, " Sea-sickness " also called wamble) is the sensation of unease and discomfort Muscle weakness (or "lack of strength" is a direct term for the inability to exert force with one's Muscles to the degree that would be expected given the individual's FITS or Flexible Image Transport System is a digital File format used to store transmit and manipulate scientific and other images A headache ( cephalalgia in medical terminology is a condition of pain in the Head; sometimes Neck or upper back pain may also be interpreted ^[3]

Sightings of religious miracles are often attributed to mass hysteria. A miracle is an event believed to be caused by interposition of Divine intervention by a Supernatural being in the Universe by which the ordinary operation ^[4]

Cases of moral panic often have symptoms that overlap with mass hysteria. A moral panic can be defined as "the intensity of feeling expressed by a large number of people about a specific group of people who appear to threaten the social order at a given

Criticism

American paranormal and UFO researcher Jerome Clark^[5] argues that mass hysteria is often a flimsy post hoc explanation and "a classic blame-the-victim strategy" in cases where authorities or experts can find no explanation for puzzling or frightening events. Jerome Clark (born 1946 is an American researcher and Writer, specializing in Unidentified flying objects and other anomalous phenomena he is also a Post hoc ergo propter hoc, Latin for "after this therefore because (on account of this" is a logical fallacy (of the Questionable cause variety Victim blaming is holding the victims of a Crime, an Accident, or any type of Abusive maltreatment to be entirely or partially responsible for

Two notable cases where mass hysteria was controversially claimed as the cause of an incident are the toxic lady event and the 2007 Peruvian meteorite event. Gloria Ramirez (January 11 1963-February 19 1994 was a Riverside, California woman dubbed "the Toxic lady" by the media after exposure The Carancas impact event occurred when the Carancas Meteorite fell on September 15, 2007.

Popular culture

In the 18th episode of House season 3, a mass hysteria, triggered by the symptoms of a sick passenger, took place on an airplane. Airborne is the eighteenth episode of the third season of House and the sixty-fourth episode overall House, also known as House MD, is an American Medical drama, which debuted on the FOX network on November 16 2004 The six elements required to set off a mass hysteria can be observed in the episode.

References

^ Mass Delusions and Hysterias / Highlights from the Past Millennium (Skeptical Inquirer May 2000)
^ Doubts raised over Melbourne airport scare. 27/04/2005. ABC News Online
^ ACSH > Health Issues >
^ Mass Delusions and Hysterias / Highlights from the Past Millennium (Skeptical Inquirer May 2000)
^ Clark, Jerome<ref> (1993). ''Unexplained! 347 Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena. '' Canton, Milwaukee: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 0-8103-9436-7. </li></ol></ref>

External links

"Mass Hysteria." SelfhelpMagazine. The bandwagon effect, also known as Social proof or "cromo effect" and closely related to opportunism, is the observation that people often do and believe The bacchanalia were wild and mystic festivals of the Roman and Greek god Bacchus. In Investing, Financial markets are commonly believed to have market trends that can be classified as primary trends secondary trends (short-term and secular trends Collective consciousness refers to the shared beliefs and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society The term " collective behavior " was first used by Robert E Collective effervescence (CE is a perceived Energy formed by a gathering of people as might be experienced at a sporting event a Carnival, a Rave, or Collective intelligence is a shared or group Intelligence that emerges from the collaboration and competition of many individuals Conversion syndrome describes a condition in which physical Symptoms arise for which there is no clear explanation Crowd psychology, or social facilitation theory, is a branch of Social psychology. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds is a popular history of popular folly by Charles Mackay, first published in 1841. Charles Mackay (27 March 1814 &ndash 24 December 1889 was a Scottish poet journalist and song writer Fan death is a South Korean Urban legend which states that an Electric fan, if left running overnight in a closed room can cause the death (by Suffocation Folie à deux (literally "a madness shared by two" is a rare psychiatric syndrome in which a symptom of Psychosis (particularly a paranoid Group behavior in Sociology refers to the situations where people interact in large or Small groups The field of Group dynamics deals with Groupthink is a type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing analyzing and evaluating ideas Herd behaviour describes how individuals in a group can act together without planned direction Herd behaviour describes how individuals in a group can act together without planned direction Hysteria in its colloquial use describes a state of Mind, one of unmanageable Fear or Emotional excesses The London Monster was the name given to an alleged attacker of women in London between 1788 and 1790 The Mad Gasser of Mattoon (also known as "The Anesthetic Prowler" "The Mad Anesthetist" and "The Phantom Anesthetist" "The Mad Gasser of Roanoke" Mean World Syndrome is a Phenomenon whereby the violence-related content of Mass media convinces viewers that the world is more dangerous than it actually is and A meme (miːm consists of any idea or behavior that can pass from one person to another by learning or imitation Herd behaviour describes how individuals in a group can act together without planned direction Ochlocracy ( Greek: οχλοκρατία or okhlokratía; Latin: ochlocratia) is government by mob or a mass of people A moral panic can be defined as "the intensity of feeling expressed by a large number of people about a specific group of people who appear to threaten the social order at a given Morangos com Açúcar ( Strawberries With Sugar, distributed internationally as Sweet Strawberries) is a Portuguese youth Soap opera. Morgellons (also called Morgellons disease or Morgellons syndrome) is a name given in 2002 by Mary Leitao and psychiatrists regard Morgellons as a manifestation of Photosensitive epilepsy is a form of Epilepsy in which Seizures are triggered by visual stimuli that form patterns in time or space such as flashing lights bold Genital retraction syndrome (GRS generally considered a Culture-specific syndrome, is a condition in which an individual is overcome with the Belief that his/her Saint justjpg|thumbnail|200px| Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just]] The Reign of Terror' (5 September 1793 &ndash 28 July 1794 or simply The Terror (la Terreur was Sheeple is a Term of disparagement, a Portmanteau created by combining the words " Sheep " and " people. British English --> Spring Heeled Jack (also Springheel Jack, Spring-heel Jack, etc is a character from English folklore A stampede is an act of mass impulse among Herd animals or a crowd of people in which the herd (or crowd collectively begins running with no clear direction or purpose A stock market bubble is a type of Economic bubble taking place in Stock markets when price of Stocks rise and become overvalued by any measure of Stock A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of Stock prices across a significant cross-section of a Stock market. The Tanganyika laughter epidemic of 1962 was an outbreak of Mass psychogenic illness (MPI in the vicinity of the village of Kashasha on the western coast "Witch trial" redirects here For the song by Rush, see Fear series. com November 3, 2000. Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.
Mass hysteria hits Malaysian school
Six hundred girls in Mexico suffer from collective hysteria

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
network: | |

Contents

Characteristics

Criticism

Popular culture

References

See also

External links