Am J Psychiatry 1991; 148:1200-1205
Copyright © 1991 by American Psychiatric Association
Mass hysteria among student performers: social relationship as a symptom predictor
GW Small, MW Propper, ET Randolph and S Eth
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine.
OBJECTIVE: In April 1989 an outbreak of illness suddenly afflicted student
performers in Santa Monica, Calif., and an extensive investigation revealed
no environmental cause. To clarify the details of the epidemic and
determine whether mass hysteria occurred, the authors examined physical,
psychological, and social factors that might have contributed to the
outbreak. METHOD: Participating middle- and high-school performers were
surveyed; 93% (N = 519) responded; cases were defined as students who had
one or more symptoms during the outbreak. A stepwise logistic regression
analysis was used to determine significant predictors of illness. RESULTS:
Characteristic features of mass hysteria were present, including
preponderance of illness in girls, symptom transmission by sight or sound,
presence of hyperventilation, and evidence of psychological or physical
stress. Symptomatic and asymptomatic groups differed in frequency of
several physical and psychological variables, but observing a friend become
sick was the best predictor of the development of symptoms. CONCLUSIONS:
These results confirm earlier research demonstrating multiple psychological
and physical factors that contribute to such outbreaks, particularly
symptom transmission through social networks. Investigators should explore
social transmission as an additional characteristic feature of mass
hysteria in order to facilitate early identification of future outbreaks.
