pjmedia.com By MILT HARRIS
Mass psychogenic disorder, mass sociogenic illness, and mass epidemic hysteria are different ways to describe the same thing and are certainly not new. In fact, there have been some fascinating cases throughout history, and most if not all have had tragic consequences in one manner or another.
One case has become known as the Dancing plague of 1518. Scientists and historians still aren’t sure what led people in Strasbourg to dance themselves to death. However, in July 1518, residents of the city of Strasbourg, which was then part of the Holy Roman Empire, were struck by a sudden and seemingly uncontrollable urge to dance. At the time, Strasbourg was a densely populated and highly stressed city, with frequent outbreaks of disease, famine, and social unrest. Some historians have suggested that the dancing may have been a form of mass psychogenic illness, triggered by anxiety, religious fervor, or other psychological factors.
The hysteria kicked off when a woman known as Frau Troffea stepped into the street and began to silently twist, twirl, and shake. She kept up her solo dance-a-thon for nearly a week. Before long, some three dozen other people had joined in. By August, the dancing epidemic had claimed as many as 400 victims. With no other explanation for the phenomenon, local physicians blamed it on “hot blood” and suggested the afflicted simply gyrate the fever away.
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