"Mass hysteria" is not well known or understood and probably a poor choice of words - it is not pathological. In France in October 2019, 17 students started co

"Mass hysteria" is not well known or understood and probably a poor choice of words - it is not pathological. In France in October 2019, 17 students started convulsing without clear logical reason and no poisoning evidence. It was eventually flagged as a new case of "mass hysteria". This (French) podcast episode[0] captures testimonies from judges, doctors and the mayor of the city to explain how it went, it's mind blowing. Here is a summary (abstract, translated): > On 3 October, during a school cross-country race in Morbier, in the Jura, seventeen schoolchildren were taken ill one after the other: nausea, vomiting, convulsions... > Maelys, a pupil in the third year of secondary school, was excused from running at the last moment because of neck pain. Sitting down, she observes her classmates. The girls in the third grade are the last to pass when the scene suddenly becomes unrealistic: "A friend comes in and suddenly I hear a shout: "She's convulsing!" Another friend falls into the changing room. Another friend comes up to me and says in a panic "I can't feel my legs!" and I see that she is shaking all over her body, her legs don't respond and she yells at me to call the fire brigade. Around us there were already two helicopters." > Two students are in a "state of absolute emergency", one of them with a "vital prognosis". They are being transported to Besançon hospital. > The results of the drinking water were in conformity. The food hypothesis was also ruled out. We also suspected drugs and narcotics, but the blood tests and urine analyses revealed nothing. No toxicological cause could explain the event. > Dominique Parain, a former neurologist at the Rouen University Hospital, read about the incident in the press and recognised the symptoms of a "collective psychogenic syndrome": "First of all, the cross is noted, so there is a favourable ground for stress. Then it appears in a community, in this case a school, and psychogenic syndromes mainly concern girls, as is the case here. Finally, it spreads to the sight, in the manner of a yawn. One person's discomfort causes another's discomfort." > If the cause is imaginary, the symptoms are very real and would have for origin a temporary dysfunction of the cerebral activity: "The brain's connections are constantly being made and broken, and in adolescence, connectivity explodes. This can lead to discomfort. We believe that certain mental images can disconnect cortical regions, leading to a loss of control and various symptoms." > Some schoolchildren still find it hard to believe that these spectacular seizures have a purely emotional cause. "Denial is common in this case", says Dominique Parain. [0] https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/les-pieds-sur-terre/les-pieds-sur-terre-du-jeudi-20-fevrier-2020-2106640 https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/podcasts/les-pieds-...