Website RuNews24 spoke about mass cases of hysteria that went down in history.
Meowing Nuns
In the Middle Ages, people believed that animals could somehow inexplicably affect humans. Once in France there was such a case: several nuns almost simultaneously began to make sounds reminiscent of the meowing of cats.
Over time, meowing sounds spread throughout the monastery and became audible to all its inhabitants. The situation got out of hand and frightened the inhabitants of the nearby village so much that they had to call in the soldiers to calm the nuns.
Dancing epidemic
In 1518, a woman went out into the street and began to dance. Gradually, 34 people joined her, and they continued to dance non-stop for seven whole days. A month later, about 400 people took to the streets, continuing to dance. It all looked like mass hysteria caused by unknown reasons.
Salem witches
This case of mass hysteria is probably one of the most famous. In 1692, Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, Anna Putnam and Elizabeth Hubbard began to behave anomalously.
Their behavior was explained as the devil’s tricks, and this incident became the starting point for the trial of the “witches”. As a result, many of them were accused of witchcraft and sentenced to death.
Strawberries with sugar
In 2006, an episode of the Portuguese television series “Strawberries with Sugar” caused concern among the public.
The characters of the series are faced with a terrible disease, and suddenly, about 300 real schoolchildren began to show symptoms of this disease. As a result, several schools were closed in an attempt to stop the mass hysteria caused by this incident.
non-existent pregnancy
In 1970, a woman was brought to a psychiatric clinic who claimed to be pregnant, although in fact she was not. Later, doctors determined that the woman had lost her friend, who was indeed pregnant.
As a result of severe stress, the woman began to distort reality and mistakenly believe that she herself is pregnant.
Incredibly, this mental illness has spread to other women. It took them about two years to recover and get rid of all symptoms.
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