Mass Hysteria

We’re living in some interesting times, and I’ve been wondering how psychology plays into the current doomsday phenomenon. It’s fun to study history about previous events related to mass panic and hysteria.

Understanding Mass Hysteria #

Mass hysteria, also called collective obsessional behavior, occurs when large groups of people experience similar physical or psychological symptoms that spread rapidly through social suggestion. These events often emerge during times of social stress or uncertainty, which might explain why they’ve appeared throughout human history.

Different setting, same shape: a rumor starts, people get spooked, and before long the whole thing feels real. Fear, suggestibility, and a sense of unexplained dread tend to be common threads connecting these incidents.

Bizarre Historical Episodes #

Some gems from the Wikipedia article listing mass hysteria events:

The Dancing Plague (1518) #

The dancing plague of 1518 was a case of dancing mania that occurred in Strasbourg, Alsace (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) in July 1518. Numerous people took to dancing for days.

This bizarre incident started with a single woman dancing feverishly in the streets, and within a month, around 400 people had joined the uncontrollable dance. Many danced until they collapsed from exhaustion or even died from heart attacks and strokes. Physicians of the time attributed it to “hot blood,” while modern theories suggest ergot poisoning or stress-induced psychosis following a period of severe famine and disease.

The Great Fear (1789) #

The Great Fear was a general panic that took place between 17 July and 3 August 1789, at the start of the French Revolution.

During this brief but intense period, peasants across France became convinced that aristocrats were hiring brigands to attack them and destroy their crops. This collective fear led to widespread panic, with rural communities arming themselves and attacking noble estates. The panic didn’t just stay in people’s heads–it pushed peasants into action and helped fuel the early French Revolution.

The Halifax Slasher (1938) #

Halifax Slasher (1938) - The Halifax Slasher was the name given to a supposed attacker of residents, mostly women, of the town of Halifax, England in November 1938. The week-long scare began after two women claimed to have been attacked by a mysterious man with a mallet and “bright buckles” on his shoes. Further reports of attacks by a man wielding a knife or a razor followed. The situation became so serious that Scotland Yard was called in to assist the Halifax police. On November 29 one of the alleged victims admitted that he had inflicted the damage upon himself for attention. Others soon had similar admissions, and the Yard investigation concluded that none of the attacks had been real. Five local people were subsequently charged with public mischief offenses, and four were sent to prison.

In Halifax, a few claims were enough to put the whole town on edge, and once that happened people started folding their own stories into it. It also shows the sometimes surprising motivations behind these events–attention-seeking behavior that spirals into community-wide panic.

The June Bug Epidemic (1962) #

June bug epidemic (1962) - The June bug epidemic serves as a classic example of hysterical contagion. In 1962 a mysterious disease broke out in a dressmaking department of a US textile factory. The symptoms included numbness, nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. Word of a bug in the factory that would bite its victims and cause them to develop the above symptoms quickly spread. Soon 62 employees developed this mysterious illness, some of whom were hospitalized. The news media reported on the case. After research by company physicians and experts from the US Public Health Service Communicable Disease Center, it was concluded that the case was one of mass hysteria. While the researchers believed some workers were bitten by the bug, anxiety was probably the cause of the symptoms. No evidence was ever found for a bug which could cause the above flu-like symptoms, nor did all workers demonstrate bites.

The June bug epidemic gets cited a lot because the setup was almost too good for rumor to spread: high stress, repetitive factory work, and bad air in that department. Those conditions likely contributed to the initial symptoms, which then spread through social contagion. Interestingly, the affected workers were predominantly women, which has led researchers to explore gender dynamics in mass hysteria events.

The Great Clown Panic (2016) #

2016 clown sightings - Sightings of people in evil clown costumes in the United States, Canada, and 18 other countries were dismissed as a case of mass hysteria, stating that a fear of clowns (which is common in children and adults) may be an underlying cause. The website Vox likewise claimed that “The Great Clown Panic of 2016 has been perpetuated by pretty much everyone except actual clowns.”

A few sightings or hoaxes were enough to kick off a feedback loop of viral posts, copycat reports, and nonstop coverage. The widespread coulrophobia (fear of clowns) in the population made people particularly susceptible to this specific form of panic. Most reported sightings were never confirmed, and the phenomenon largely disappeared after the initial media frenzy died down.

Mass Hysteria in the Digital Age #

You can see the same machinery now in health panics and online rumor spirals. Social media gives both information and misinformation a straight shot into everyone’s head, which probably makes these collective behaviors easier to trigger than they used to be.

What This Reveals About Human Nature #

What sticks with me is how little it takes for a private fear to turn public and start feeding itself. Our perception of reality isn’t as fixed or objective as we might like to believe. Studying these examples at least makes it harder to pretend we’re above that.

Are there any mass hysteria events you’ve witnessed or read about that particularly fascinate you? The psychology behind these phenomena continues to be a rich area for research and reflection.