Epidemic Hysteria in Schools: an international and historical overview

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Abstract
This study examines the characteristic features of epidemic hysteria reports in school settings, describing broad presentation patterns, and implications for management. Three distinct symptom patterns are evident based on the descriptive features of reports. The first type is ‘mass motor hysteria’ (n = 53) which predominates in non‐Western traditional cultures among students exposed to pre‐existing psychosocial stress, most frequently repressive academic and religious discipline, which precipitates dissociation, histrionics, and psychomotor alterations. A second pattern, ‘mass anxiety hysteria’ (n = 62), is typified by the sudden appearance of extreme anxiety following the redefinition of a mundane event such as illness in a fellow student or an unfamiliar odour, which is perceived as an immediate threat. A third pattern, ‘mass pseudo‐hysteria’ (n = 1) involves the relabelling of mundane symptoms by hypervigilant authorities. Epidemic hysteria in school settings manifests as variants of a unitary syndrome that is masked by cultural custom and local nomenclature. A diagnosis is reached by noting the absence of a concrete pathogenic etiology, in conjunction with group anxiety, ambiguous, benign, transient symptomatology, and a preponderance of female victims. Management consists of the identification and removal of the precipitating psychosocial stress.

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