Mass Hysteria And Psychology

"Some of us are convinced it will go on for much longer, until the population is what the World Economic Forum considers a manageable number. By that stage all individuals apart from the obscenely wealthy will be so manageable (managed by fear) that they will feel and behave like robots."

I see it all very similar to the witchcraft paranoia of the 15th century, which means psychologists need now to address this issue. As here, below:

"Between the 11th and 15th centuries, supernatural theories of mental disorders again dominated Europe, fueled by natural disasters like plagues and famines that lay people interpreted as brought about by the devil."

Let's make a few observations:

Fact (1) Most people on the street are afraid and persuaded they are facing a serious risk to life. This fear of risk, in psychological terms, is over-riding their usual ability to function socially or normally. I would like to point out this foreboding and paranoia has happened before in history and I suspect some underlying cause. Such as the global drop in population IQ, dependence upon the internet, cultural and environmental factors.

Fact (2) Mass hysteria often requires a victim. Mediaeval viruses (or adverse phenomena) were blamed on witches, which resulted in countless trials and executions. My guess is that possibly the anti-vaxers may become the latest scapegoats. Anti vaxers are a wide-ranging group so that many aren't opposed to vaccines per se. They simply believe in their right to make a free choice.

The mistake that can easily be easily made is to assume our technological society today makes our populations far smarter than the ignorant, superstitious mediaeval people who persecuted witches. Yet the truth is enslavement to the internet has substituted human brain potential with digital convenience. Many other social factors have combined to create fertile ground for mass hysteria, collective paranoia and delusion with psychosomatic symptomology.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/ ... udy-finds/

Fact (3) Connection between the current wave of mass hysteria and that of delusion as it existed centuries ago is solid. We are living in a far less advanced society than existed during the 1940s to 1970s. Far less people are brave enough to openly challenge the prevailing view of doom and blame.

"However, this naturalistic point of view changed in the Middle Ages after the Black Plague epidemic that wiped out about 30 million people-half the population of Europe. After that devastation, disease was no longer seen as the result of natural causes but of supernatural forces or malignant spirits that physicians were not able to deal with. At the end of the Middle Ages, but more precisely, during the Renaissance, the blame fell on witches and diabolical possession. "

How to respond? Personally I am actively preparing for such obstacles as random tests, loss of citizen rights (over vaccine refusal) and all worst case scenario possibilities. However, it is really important to get out and challenge the present attempt to stifle alternative opinion. I'm talking to increasing numbers of people and many now are questioning the official line.

How does psychogenic illness work?

There's a huge connection between psychological stress and physical symptoms. When I nearly died of pbeumonia many years ago, I remain convinced stress had provoked the physical breakdown. Nerve rashes, aches in tendons and bones as well as fever can be caused by deep anxiety. The actual fear itself can be highly contagious, as can the physical symptoms.

"But Strasbourg wasn’t alone; several other dancing plagues afflicted Europe in the Middle Ages. Their causes are uncertain, though many put it down to mass psychogenic illness (MPI), a bizarre and poorly understood psychological phenomenon whereby certain physical symptoms — from dancing to hiccups to fainting — spread rapidly among an otherwise healthy population for psychological reasons, often during times of extreme stress. In many separate cases in medieval Europe, for example, groups of nuns would uncontrollably meow like cats and scratch at the bases of trees for days at a time. In Salem, Massachusetts, an outbreak of MPI among adolescent girls in 1692 is credited with provoking the witch trials."
https://www.ozy.com/true-and-stories/ma ... uns/75312/

"Science has proven that medical illnesses can transfer between people by way of viruses. There's nothing mysterious about influenza and head colds spreading from close contact with sick people. Harder to explain, however, are incidents in which symptoms appear out of nowhere or seemingly impossible events are experienced by a large population. Such episodes fall under the blanket psychological term of "mass hysteria," and here are a handful of examples.

A more recent example of mass hysteria involved schools. In mid-November of 2012, strange flu-like symptoms struck a school in the country of Sri Lanka. In addition to intestinal problems and fits of coughing, some children (and a handful of teachers) experienced rashes and headaches. In the small town of Gampola alone, more than 1,000 people were admitted to local hospitals. The area experienced widespread panic as the mysterious illness seemed to spread to other schools and centers of population. No medical cause could be found and the "illness" vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Not finding any other explanation, medical professionals concluded that those afflicted had been the victims of some type of mass hysteria strong enough to produce observable physical symptoms. "


Salem Witch Trials
This is one of the best-known incidents of mass hysteria. It began when two young girls of the small town of Salem Village began to experience seizures that were not explained by contemporary medical science. After their seizures, the girls proclaimed that they were being assaulted by supernatural entities conjured up by local women.

Soon more girls were being afflicted and more townspeople (mostly females) were being accused. Trials were promptly enacted and those women who did not confess were sentenced to death. Ironically, those who falsely confessed did not face execution.

More than 20 people were executed and more than 100 were jailed before common sense was restored. The girls' seizures ended and the trials ceased. "