Mass Psychogenic Illness

A Social Psychological Analysis

M. J. Colligan, J. W. Pennebaker, L. R. Murphy, M. J. Colligan, J. W. Pennebaker, L. R. Murphy

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN:
  9780898591606
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317838630
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Clinical Psychology
• Index: Psychology

First published in 1982. This study looks at the concepts around mass hysteria or anxiety due to an illness episode that defies physical explanations and where investigators may turn to a psychological interpretation of an outbreak. The present book brings together scientists from several disciplines in an attempt to to explore outbreaks from a variety of perspectives, including historical, cultural, social, psychological, and even medical.

Mass Psychogenic Illness:

A Social Psychological Analysis

I	OVERVIEW OF MASS PSYCHOGENIC ILLNESS: HYSTERIA REVISITED?

The notion that psychosocial factors may play an important role in the etiology of certain episodes of mass illness is hardly new. Reports of such incidents are threaded throughout the history of civilization, providing a reflection of the sociocultural and philosophical currents of the times. It was Hippocrates, writing in about 400 B.C., who first introduced the term “hysteria”, derived from the Greek word “hysterikos” meaning “womb,” to explain the appearance of a wide range of symptoms (e.g., convulsions, twitching, muscle spasms, headache, abdominal cramps) in unmarried Greek women. It was the contention of Hippocrates that sexual abstinance was an unnatural state, agitating the womb and causing it to wander throughout the body in search of satisfaction. The meanderings of the womb produced discomfort in the affected regions, and resulted in an overall excited state in the victim (Veith, 1965). Presumably this affliction could spread to other women in the vicinity of the victim, creating an epidemic reaction or “mass hysteria.”

With the advent of the dark ages and the pervasive concern with religiosity and righteousness, outbreaks of mass psychogenic episodes became more frequent. During this time, it was commonly believed that such afflictions resulted from the demonic possession of unworthy souls. Perhaps the best known example of such episodes is the St. Vitus Dance epidemics that swept through Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Martin (1923) attributes the origin of this phenomenon to a popular mid-evil fable involving an event rumored to have occurred in a church-side graveyard in the German countryside on Christmas night in 1021. A group of pagens, consisting of both men and women, had met to celebrate Christmas in a sacriligous night of song and dance when their revelry disturbed the services of the parish priest in the nearby church. His appeals to them to stop proved unsuccessful. In his anger, the priest placed a curse on them that they should dance without rest for a full year. The rumor goes that the wretched souls had danced themselves into the ground up to their knees before two bishops happened by, and, sympathetic to their pleas, removed the curse. Nevertheless, the ordeal had been so traumatic as to leave them trembling and spasmatic for the rest of their lives. In appearance, it was said that their uncoordinated gait resembled that of the beloved St. Vitus who had apparently suffered from neuropathy. At any rate, the curse of St. Vitus became a popular malediction which was levied against enemy and sinner during the dark ages. It was widely believed that the guilty would be physically punished for their shortcomings. Not surprisingly, this prophecy was fulfilled and mass outbreaks of uncontrolled dancing, hopping, and jumping were periodically reported throughout the countryside.

In 13th century Italy, a particular form of St. Vitus Dance involving spasms, uncontrolled vocalizations, and dancing till exhaustion was thought to be caused by the bite of a spider, the tarantula. It was not uncommon for a victim of “tarantism” to rush naked from his or her home to dance and shout in the streets. Often the victim would be joined by neighbors until, by some counts, as many as 500 individuals were similarly affected (Martin, 1923). Once bitten, the victims believed their systems to be permanently poisoned, so that they were subject to relapses for the rest of their lives.

The dynamics and triggering factors of the St. Vitus Dance episodes have recurred throughout history and have been implicated in mass outbreaks of illness, halucinations, and a variety of behaviors described in the first chapter of this section. The “spells” and trance states reported by the victims of recent mass illness outbreaks in Singapore described by Dr. Phoon in Chapter 2 are reminiscent of the bizarre symptoms characterizing the St. Vitus Dance epidemics. An objective review of past cases can do much to enhance our understanding of the role of psychosocial factors in the etiology of illness. Incidents such as these have been recorded for centuries among a variety of cultures within factories, schools, convents, and other social organizations. Not only have these outbreaks spanned time and culture, but the symptoms and the behaviors associated with them have differed tremendously. Where one culture may typically have mass illness episodes characterized by symptoms of nausea, headaches and dizziness, other cultures may have outbreaks wherein the affected individuals display common halucinations or violent behaviors. As the following chapters will suggest, the differences in the symptoms can partially be explained by the prevailing cultural, religious, and scientific beliefs held by the society. Despite these large differences, a number of remarkable similarities appear to underly their occurrence. For example, most incidences occur among individuals in stressful environments who have friends who have also been affected. Although the triggering event may differ from outbreak to outbreak, the general pattern of the contagion of symptoms is similar. Clearly, the similarities among the outbreaks are as intriguing as the differences between them.

Finally, although our appreciation and understanding of mass psychogenic illness can be enhanced by an historical perspective, we should not feel constrained by the assumptions of our predecessors. The term “hysteria” has become so laden with surplus meaning and controversy that one frequently confuses this label with the phenomenon itself, and in rejecting the former, one loses sight of the latter. One of the primary aims of this volume is to reexamine outbreaks of “mass hysteria” in terms of current social psychological theory and knowledge.

The first section of the book is intended to acquaint the reader with the basic phenomenon of mass psychogenic illness. Each chapter offers a unique view of documented cases. The first chapter, written by Dr. Kerckhoff, gives an indepth account of one particular case that occurred in 1962 in a textile mill. In his account of the classic June Bug outbreak, the evolving psychological and sociological processes within a typical case are carefully documented. Dr. Phoon’s chapter presents several case studies that have occurred within various factories in Singapore. His account offers a startling example of cultural and subcultural influences on incidents of mass illness episodes. The final chapter, by Drs. Colligan and Murphy, summarizes several outbreaks of mass illness within factories in the United States. The authors point to several common situational and personality factors implicated in the contagion of illness.

It must be noted that the reader interested in additional case studies will find numerous examples in several of the later chapters related to the theoretical issues surrounding mass psychogenic illness (Section 3 of the book). For example, Dr. Sirois lists a large number of hysteria outbreaks that have occurred over the centuries as they relate to his psychodynamic orientation (Chapter 13). In addition, Dr. Stahl—in Chapter 11—chronicles an interesting illness outbreak that occurred in a computer center. Shorter references to other such cases are discussed in virtually all of the remaining chapters.

REFERENCES

Martin A. History of dancing mania. American Journal of Clinical Medicine, 1923, 30, 265–271.

Veith, I. Hysteria: The history of a disease. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965.

1	Analyzing a Case of Mass Psychogenic Illness

Alan C. Kerckhoff
Duke University

What follows is a brief account of a study of mass psychogenic illness which was originally published in book form under the title The June Bug. Most of what is presented here is in the form of excerpts from that volume, chosen so as to encompass many of the more important elements in the event itself and in our analysis of it. Further details may be found in the book.¹

Given the nature of such cases, we knew nothing about the event until its report by the mass media. It was thus practically over before we even made contact with the company where it occurred. As so often happens, therefore, we were necessarily dealing with the problem of trying to understand the case after it was over, based on what few records existed and on interview data that could be collected later on. It is always possible to interpret the results, therefore, as of questionable validity. For instance, though we found that persons affected in this case were different in significant ways from those who were not affected, one might argue that the differences were due to different kinds of participation in the event rather than explanations of that participation. Although we are persuaded that our results form a reasonable explanation of participation, significant methodological issues remain.

THE “BUG” AND THE EPIDEMIC

Word first reached the public on the 6 o’clock news. The report was brief, and an air of mystery was already evident:

Officials of Montana Mills shut down their Strongsville plant this afternoon because of a mysterious sickness.

According to a report just in from Strongsville General Hospital, at least ten women and one man were admitted for treatment. Reports describe symptoms as severe nausea and a breaking out over the body.

Indications are that some kind of insect was in a shipment of cloth that arrived from England at the plant today. And at the moment the bug is blamed for the outbreak of sickness.

Later that night, on the 11 o’clock news, further details were supplied. Some of them varied from the original report, but the melodramatic tone remained:

During the past three weeks a number of the 200 employees have been stricken with a mysterious illness, apparently caused by an insect bite. Today about ten women and one man were stricken. Several were admitted to the hospital for treatment and observation. Company officials say they are fumigating the building.

The plant is scheduled to reopen tomorrow morning at six o’clock.

This station learned tonight from a company employee that the small insect attacks the skin, the bites leaving a wound similar to a gnat bite. In about twenty minutes the victim is struck with severe nausea. The company doctor informed us tonight that an entomologist is studying the problem. A report is expected later this week.

It was a Wednesday night in June, 1962.… Before it ended, the story became considerably more complex and the cast of players grew markedly. Some feeling for the event and the reactions to it can be derived from a brief sampling of the reports of the various news media over the next few days:

Thursday—… Hiram L. Lamont, plant personnel director, said a number of women reported to work today, when the plant resumed operations, in a highly nervous state. At least six were treated by the company physician and sent home.

Dr. C. H. Foreman, Strongsville County Health Officer, reports tonight, however, that there is nothing present in the community to get excited about.… The predominating symptom according to physicians and company officials is anxiety.… Dr. Foreman says the doctors have ruled out a virus—since none have fever—and food poisoning. All are in good condition.

Friday—Two experts from the U.S. Public Health Service Communicable Disease Center arrived today in Strongsville to assist local health officials trying to determine the cause of the sudden outbreak of sickness which has hit employees of Montana Mills.… Also on the premises were several plant officials, representatives of the plant’s insurance company, two State College entomologists, representatives of the Strongsville Exterminating Company, and an engineer from the State Board of Health.…

Nine persons remained hospitalized last night and two more have been treated in the hospital emergency room. There were unconfirmed reports this morning that at least four more persons have been hospitalized. About fifty persons have been affected.…

Dr. Foreman said that the cause of the illness is still unknown. The two Public Health Service doctors are returning to the Communicable Disease Center tonight with several specimens found today. The specimens are identified as small insects about the size of a mite.

Baffled physicians are pursuing a theory of mass hysteria in the search for a cause of the mysterious sickness.…

Saturday—Today Dr. C. H. Foreman and the experts from the U.S. Public Health Service conferred on the findings of the laboratory tests on several insects taken from the Montana Mills plant to be analyzed at the Communicable Disease Center.…

The physicians have advised the company to fill the building with a residual spray that would kill off the bird mite. Officials said they would take this precaution over the weekend. But the investigation continues, say the experts, because nothing specific has been found as yet.

There was one more case of the unknown sickness at the plant today.

Sunday—Nervous disorder, publicity and lastly a bug’s bite caused the outbreak of a “very real” and mysterious sickness at Montana Mills. That’s the opinion of physicians who carried out extensive investigations. The illness was characterized by nervousness, nausea, weakness, numbness and insect bites.

They summarized it like this: The sickness was definitely real but related to overtones of anxiety and nervousness. They hesitated to use the word “hysteria.” The least important factor was the bite of an insect.…

Monday—Business was back to normal at Strongsville’s Montana Mills plant today. The elusive bug apparently is a thing of the past. And, according to all the experts the rashes and other ailments which caused the trouble can be traced to a bug all right—but a mental one rather than one which crawls or flies.…

In any event, as one exterminator put it: “Whatever has been here ain’t here now.”

A SCHEMATIC OVERVIEW

Montana Mills is a rather large plant employing 965 workers. A subsidiary of a large northern concern, it was relatively new in the area, the sprawling one-story building being only 2 years old. It is an unusual company in that it carries out all operations from spinning raw fibers into thread to the manufacture and distribution of finished women’s clothing. Thus, there are several different departments separated in the various parts of the one large building.…

The distribution of the workers by sex, department, and shift is significant for our purposes.… The plant works three shifts. The vast majority of the workers (728) worked on the first shift (8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.) at the time of the incident. Of those on the first shift, only about one-fifth were men, whereas the majority (59%) of those on the second and third shifts were men. This difference was largely due to the fact that the dressmaking operations were carried out only during the first shift, and these operations were carried out by women.…

Finally, it must be noted that June is a month of peak production in this plant. Given the seasonal nature of the basic product, women’s clothing, time is of th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• PART I: OVERVIEW OF MASS PSYCHOGENIC ILLNESS: HYSTERIA REVISITED?
• PART II: METHODOLOGICAL AND PROBLEMATIC ISSUES IN MPI RESEARCH
• PART III: THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO MASS PSYCHOGENIC ILLNESS
• Author Index
• Subject Index