This week: Mass hysteria Edited by: Arakun the Twisted Raccoon  
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Quote for the week: "Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion and secrecy. Hard and exact facts will cool it."
~Elia Kazan
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Imagine you are in a theater full of people, engrossed in the movie playing on the screen. Suddenly, someone in the back of the theater yells, "FIRE!" What do you think will happen next?
Psychologists and sociologists define mass hysteria as a condition in which a large group of people exhibit similar physical or emotional symptoms, such as anxiety or extreme excitement. It is also called mass psychogenic illness, mass sociogenic illness, mass panic, or epidemic hysteria.
Mass hysteria often begins with some event that incites worry or fear. It can happen in a few seconds or over a course of time, depending on the situation. When we hear a cry of "FIRE!" our immediate reaction is to try to get away. Multiply this reaction by hundreds of people in an enclosed space, and you have a recipe for mass panic, whether or not the fire is real. People will rush around, often running away from actual exits, trampling and climbing over each other. Afterwards, survivors may report seeing flames or smelling smoke, even if there was no real fire.
A form of mass hysteria can happen in nature among animals who live in herds or flocks. Instinctive reactions to predators will spread through a herd of cattle or bison, causing them to stampede. Upon hearing a frightening noise, a flock of turkeys or chickens in an enclosed space will pile up in a corner, causing many to be trampled to death or suffocate.
The Salem Witch Trials, which occurred in Massachusetts from 1692-1693, have been partially explained by mass hysteria. Several young girls began having apparent seizures and other symptoms which doctors of the time could not explain. This situation led to more than 200 people being accused of witchcraft, with 20 being executed. While other factors such as hallucinations brought on by fungal contamination of rye bread may have contributed, mass hysteria resulting from isolation, religious extremism, jealousy and corruption probably played a part.
In 1938, a few women in Halifax, England reported being attacked by a man with a hammer or knife. Over the next few weeks, many people reported seeing the killer and claimed they had been attacked themselves. Eventually, the original victims admitted they had made the story up and that their wounds were self inflicted. However many others still continued to insist they had seen the killer and had been attacked. Experts believe that while some of these people had made up the stories to get attention, others actually believed they had been attacked.
A well known example of mass hysteria in fiction is the classic Twilight Zone episode, "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street." In this episode, a few unexplained events and the overactive imagination of a young boy turn a peaceful group of friends and neighbors into an angry mob.
Mass hysteria is a dangerous form of Groupthink. Some of the uglier social ills, such as racism, can be a result of mass hysteria. Adolf Hitler incited mass hysteria among the German people by blaming all the nation's problems on the Jewish people. Similar situations exist today when politicians inflame their people's fears of those who are "different."
Fear isn't the only emotion or reaction that can spread by mass hysteria. Anger, sadness, and even happiness may appear to be "contagious" as well.
Imagine a large group of people drinking and socializing in a bar. Suddenly a fight breaks out between two bar patrons. While some people might wisely flee the scene, others will call the police or try to break it up themselves. For some reason, others will join in the fight, even if they don't know the original brawlers, or have any idea what the fight is about. In this case, intoxication may be a factor, but witnessing a fight might bring out some repressed aggression or anger in some of the bystanders.
In a few bizarre real life cases, one person started exhibiting an odd behavior such as dancing in the street, uncontrollable laughter, or meowing like a cat, only to be joined by hundreds of others.
Power of suggestion is very real, and may lead to actual physical symptoms. In Sri Lanka in 2012, there were reports of a strange flu-like illness affecting children and teachers in a country school. Soon, thousands of people developed flu-like symptoms and were admitted to hospitals. The disease vanished as quickly as it had begun and was never identified. Many experts now conclude that it was the result of mass hysteria that was strong enough to produce physical symptoms.
Experts are not entirely sure why mass hysteria might affect some people but not others. Isolation, low intelligence, and lack of education may be factors, but in some cases, even well-educated, logical people may be induced to "go along with the crowd." The seeds of mass hysteria are the fears, anger, insecurities, and aggression that are buried in all our minds, just waiting for the right situation to bring them out.
Something to try: Write a horror story that involves a case of mass hysteria.
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Horror/Scary: May 01, 2019 Issue [#9518]
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