Mass psychogenic illness

Mass psychogenic illness
Other namesMass hysteria, epidemic hysteria, mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder
Painting by Pieter Brueghel the Younger of dancing peasants
Dancing plagues of the Middle Ages are thought to have been caused by mass hysteria.
SpecialtyPsychiatry, clinical psychology
SymptomsHeadache, dizziness, nausea, abdominal pain, cough, fatigue, sore throat
Risk factorsChildhood or adolescence, intense media coverage
Differential diagnosisActual diseases, mass delusions, somatic symptom disorder

Mass psychogenic illness (MPI), also called mass sociogenic illness, mass psychogenic disorder, epidemic hysteria or mass hysteria, involves the spread of illness symptoms through a population where there is no infectious agent responsible for contagion.[1] It is the rapid spread of illness signs and symptoms affecting members of a cohesive group, originating from a nervous system disturbance involving excitation, loss, or alteration of function, whereby physical complaints that are exhibited unconsciously have no corresponding organic causes that are known.[2]

  1. ^ Kelly, J.R.; Iannone, R.E.; McCarty, M.K. (2014). "The function of shared affect in groups". In von Scheve, Christian; Salmella, Mikko (eds.). Collective Emotions. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-965918-0. Archived from the original on 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  2. ^ Bartholomew, Robert; Wessely, Simon (2002). "Protean nature of mass sociogenic illness" (PDF). The British Journal of Psychiatry. 180 (4): 300–306. doi:10.1192/bjp.180.4.300. PMID 11925351. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-01-30. Retrieved 2018-10-10.

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