Tag: mass psychogenic illness

Culture-Bound Psychosomatic Syndromes

In her book Sleeping Beauties, neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan travels the world to investigate fascinating stories of mass psychogenic illness where social and cultural factors result in symptoms that give voiceless people a way to be heard.

/ January 18, 2022

Did Microwaves Harm US Employees at Its Embassy in Havana?

A recent review of unexplained symptoms in employees of the US Embassy in Havana pointed to microwaves. Was it mass psychogenic illness instead? Or something entirely different?

/ March 26, 2021

“Mystery” Illness in Colombia

It looks like we can file this one under “here we go again.” A small town in Colombia, El Carmen de Bolivar, has seen more than 200 girls hospitalized with a mysterious illness since May of this year. The symptoms include dizziness, headaches, and fainting. So far, all of the girls hospitalized have been found to be healthy and were quickly released...

/ September 24, 2014

Mass Media Attention Psychogenic Syndrome – MMAPS

By now you have probably heard of the middle and high school children in LeRoy, NY who have come down with what some reports are calling a “mystery” illness. Of course it is almost obligatory to note in such stories that doctors or experts are “baffled.” There are several features of this story that are interesting from a science-based medicine and also...

/ February 1, 2012