EPIDEMIC HYSTERIA IN SCHOOLS - AN INTERNATIONAL AND HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

This study examines the characteristic features of epidemic hysteria r eports in school settings, describing broad presentation patterns, and implications for management. Three distinct symptom patterns are evid ent based on the descriptive features of reports. The first type is 'm ass motor hysteria' (n = 53) which predominates in non-Western traditi onal cultures among students exposed to pre-existing psychosocial stre ss, most frequently repressive academic and religious discipline, whic h precipitates dissociation, histrionics, and psychomotor alterations. A second pattern, 'mass anxiety hysteria' (n = 62), is typified by th e sudden appearance of extreme anxiety following the redefinition of a mundane event such as illness in a fellow student or an unfamiliar od our, which is perceived as an immediate threat. A third pattern, 'mass pseudo-hysteria' (n = 1) involves the relabelling of mundane symptoms by hypervigilant authorities. Epidemic hysteria in school settings ma nifests as variants of a unitary syndrome that is masked by cultural c ustom and local nomenclature. A diagnosis is reached try noting the ab sence of a concrete pathogenic etiology, in conjunction with group anx iety, ambiguous, benign, transient symptomatology, and a preponderance of female victims. Management consists of the identification and remo val of the precipitating psychosocial stress.