Article December 10, 2001 Issue

Mass hysteria—can one person make a difference?

By Channing Walker Contributing editor

Dozens Of Subway Riders panic as symptoms of illness suddenly sweep through their midst. A deranged man has just sprayed something inside the subway car. (It later proves to be a harmless cleaning solution.) In case after case around the United States, the scene is similar. Groups of people, numbering from around a dozen to two hundred, come down with the same illness. Yet public health officials find no exposure to a dangerous germ, chemical, or other substance that would explain the reaction. What's going on? Mass hysteria.

"The incidents are what scientists call mass psychogenic illness," explains an article in the Los Angeles Times (Shari Roan, October 27, 2001) "a well-documented phenomenon in which real symptoms are triggered by false information or fear. With anxiety over anthrax thick in the air, experts on the subject say that conditions are ripe for additional mass hysteria outbreaks."

Some dismiss these episodes as so much foolishness. Others note that investigating these outbreaks in order to determine they aren't something worse puts a strain on an already overtaxed system. Certainly, public healthcare officials have enough to do without dealing with distractions. But the important thing to remember is that victims need relief from their suffering.

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