More On Mass Hysteria

Posted 22 minutes ago
"A 35-year-old woman loses the use of her legs, suddenly becoming paralysed from the waist down. In another case, a woman feels an overwhelming compulsion to close her eyes, until eventually she cannot open them at all. After numerous tests, nothing physically wrong was found with these patients, so what caused their symptoms?

Conditions like these used to be diagnosed as hysteria. In fact, they would fit neatly into the pages of Sigmund Freud and Josef Breuer’s Studies On Hysteria, written over a century ago.

You might think our understanding has advanced since Freud, or, rather more fashionably, that Freud was just wrong. But this isn’t the case.

It was Freud who proposed that the memory of trauma which the patient fails to confront, because it will cause them too much mental anguish, can be “converted” into physical symptoms. What is more surprising is that cases like this are typical of those routinely seen by neurologists today."

davidbanner99@ wrote:I am not sure how much of the virus people fear so much has a purely bological cause. Initially it was thought to pose a risk to those who had serious comorbid health issues. Now, over time, this has been inflated to "deadly". You could get run over by a bus and they'd now call it Covid related.

Einstein once stated knowledge has a limit but stupidity seeingly has none.

I agree.

Today in the UK has been nominated The Great Reopening. I've done my bit to spread the word and hope thousands of small businesses will do precisely that. I'm recommending they be polite to police or council officers but NOT pay fines.

This nonsense, which appears to have a sinister origin, will only be over when the majority of people cease to comply.

davidbanner99@ wrote: Something is conjured up to embody the fear. A deadly virus. A millenium bug. Witches. Russians who orchestrate election results.

I think these are false equivalencies. Witches are not the equivalent of a virus. But I get your point and agree that people often use narratives to generate fear. And this fear gives them power.

Still, I’m not sure what mass delusion is taking place. I’m not sure where you are observing mass delusion but in the US people are just pissed. There is not fear of the virus. It is widespread anger and frustration with governance. I’m not seeing hysteria and delusion in a huge percentage of the population.

I've been studying hysteria in some depth recently. Eugen Bleuler, for that matter, noted similarities between associative deficiencies in Schizophrenia and Hysteria.
I am now pretty much convinced we do indeed have an epidemic of mass hysteria that, in many cases, brings about physical symptoms of illness. Here's why:
(1) Hysteria, paranoia and negativity was already very present in societies prior to the current virus-mania. The millenium bug crisis may not have been as severe as what we now witness but, nevertheless, thousands of people stocked up on food and feared a catastrophe. More recently, the ongoing mania about Russian hackers, poisoners and so forth.
(2) I see people every day who are not displaying "normal" fear but neurotic fear and anxiety. Such people may be seen darting backwards in a store, walking the dog remote from others, but still wearing coverings. And no matter how many layers of protective garments they wear, still they fear contagion. Meantime, children are being taught to fear others as "potential carriers" and that contact in any shape or firm is negative. How this will affect them into adulthood is hard to predict but I am not optimistic.
As stated, bacteria and illness is part of evolution. There is no such thing as zero risk. I tend to classify what I witness on a daily basis as "feeble-mindeness" and terribly misguided.
I suspect there is some underlying cause or fear that has led to the sorry state of affairs I now confront.

davidbanner99@ wrote:I suspect there is some underlying cause or fear.

In the US the underlying cause driving fear is media and politicians.

I still don't see evidence of mass hysteria or delusion. It is perfectly rational for people to hear about a deadly virus that is spreading and go out and buy up items off the shelves. This happens with hurricanes and snowstorms every season and I don't see anyone claiming hysteria because people rush out to stock up on things they think they might need.

And a virus is infinitely scarier than a hurricane or snowstorm. While you say "flu" you do realize that plagues have historically wiped out large percentages of an entire population, right? The black plague is just a single example.

I think you might want to look into hindsight bias. Now that a vaccine is being distributed and controls are in place it is easy to look back and say people were acting hysterically. But at the time there was rational fear of an unknown killer spreading across the globe.

Again, I'm not saying people are not being overly cautious. But I can't blame them. I think the fear-mongering caused by the media and politicians is downright criminal. Still, being overly cautious is nowhere close to mass hysteria.

I don't know. I think possibly given your intense interest in schizophrenia that you are seeing a pattern that doesn't exist. It is the adage that when you have a hammer, all problems begin to look like a nail.

This isn't the black plague, though, and certainly not as deadly as AIDS. Remember too that hysteria does and can create physical symptoms. Example, panic attacks. These latter have seen people wheeled into cardiac units but the cause is acute anxiety and neurosis.
I am inclined to think the root cause of Covid is mass hysteria. Speaking to people every day, it appears they show acute symptoms of anxiety. In fact I notice some stimming in the form of fidgeting, stereotypical movement, reactionary avoidance. In fact, you will notice many people step back (or walk away), if you mention the virus. Putting it bluntly, a huge number of people are trapped in a cycle of acute hysteria.
You might ask, how do I know? Well, in the past I suffered from chronic social phobia and had to be treated as a patient. The symptoms, therefore, are familiar.
As to comparison with the 15th century witch mania, this too was connected to physical illness. Instead of "witches" today we have "carriers" or "anti-vaxers". Hysterical neurosis in society tends to demand an enemy - those who are thought to be the cause of the unexplained outbreak of illness and doom. And as stated, children are being taught to fear and avoid "potential carriers", which will in many cases leave them traumatised for life.

davidbanner99@ wrote:I am inclined to think the root cause of Covid is mass hysteria.

The root cause of COVID is a virus that began to spread from Wuhan China in early 2020. The root cause was in no way shape or form mass hysteria. Your claim, in my opinion, is absolute nonsense. You might as well be writing a garbage fantasy novel. A person's bodily organs do not shut down in a matter of days as a result of mass hysteria.

But it's a public space and we are both welcome to share our opinions. You can be "inclined to think" whatever you like. Be inclined to think the root cause of COVID is mass hysteria. Continue writing that fantasy. Enjoy.

There's no proof it came from China. The same virus already hospitalised over 1000 people in Sri Lanka (possibly 1997). After much investigation it was put down to Psychogenic Mass Hysteria. The same flu and respiratory symptoms but a different diagnosis.
Based on a lot of material I read from the USSR (where neurology was more advanced than in the USA), psychosomatic symptomology is real. As Freud already wrote decades ago, hysteria can cause loss of the use of limbs and loss of site as well as other somatic disorders. With psychogenic hysteria the widespread anxiety and the somatic symptoms go together.

davidbanner99@ wrote:There's no proof it came from China.

Right.

Then I wonder why when I landed in China on the 3rd of Feb. in 2020 there were roadblocks, quarantine, and people wearing full PPE, but nowhere else in the world at that point? Maybe it was just a massive prank?

Again, you’re welcome to your alternate fantasy explanation.

To understand this, it's necessary to step back and apply context. Societies have been increasingly paranoid now for some years. The Millenium Bug is one reasonable example. It was never as bad as what we're seeing today but I do definitely recall the mayhem and panic at the turn of the century. People were stock buying food and the media went on and on about the Millenium I.T. bug.
The Covid Virus probably has some biological factor but surely it's clear there's huge exaggeration? I spoke to various people who had this Covid virus and all struck me as highly nervous, hyperchondriacs. One man I know well struck me as pretty much terrified well before he became ill. Plus, his account of his experience seemed not to have been remotely life-threatening. Also, in no way did I back off from these people or feel any threat to myself. Two others I spoke with were a couple. The female from Sweden appeared very nervy.
On a daily basis I see lone figures out on a walk. They are 60 feet away from houses and draped in masks. The supermarket broadcasts messages every 5 minutes - long-winded lectures on "all being in this together". The word "safe" is employed almost like a comma as the diatribe describes where the fire exits are located and the "safety marshalls" keeping this "a safe place". After this doom-laden message comes to an end, the next message is aired by a different voice. The absurdity of it is I see no logical means of somehow saving the shoppers through a few fire exit doors and dreaded safety marshalls - who'd be about as much use as a chocolate fire guard if anyone so much as coughed. Watch them run for the fire escape!
It may well not be as bad as this in the USA but here it's the theatre of the absurd.
What really gives cause for concern is the victimization of people by authoritarianism, fines, curbs in freedom of movement and the right to protest or disagree. At the moment, viral on the internet is a pic of a Dutch woman with severe head injuries caused when she was knocked to the floor by a water canon.
Whether we agree on the nature of this virus, I suspect an increasing percentage of people are reaching their limit of patience. However, I think so many others really do think the virus is certain death. That includes my closest friend who is too scared to touch her mail.

davidbanner99@ wrote:The Covid Virus probably has some biological factor...

Probably? Probably some biological factor? No. It 100% has a biological factor, full stop.

And the end result of this biological factor is that it kills people, just like previous viruses that have killed people. Mass hysteria doesn't cause severe inflammation in a matter of a few days or target the elderly and those with comorbidities, etc.

If a person holds a belief that a virus "probably" has some biological factor then either the person is ignorant regarding how a virus works or that person is suffering from some sort of delusion.

Which do you think is more probable in your case? Are you simply unaware, not knowing that 100% of viruses are biological in nature? Do you think it is like a computer virus, devoid of biology? Or are you suffering from some form of delusion?

Richard@DecisionSkills wrote:

davidbanner99@ wrote:The Covid Virus probably has some biological factor...

Probably? Probably some biological factor? No. It 100% has a biological factor, full stop.

And the end result of this biological factor is that it kills people, just like previous viruses that have killed people. Mass hysteria doesn't cause severe inflammation in a matter of a few days or target the elderly and those with comorbidities, etc.

If a person holds a belief that a virus "probably" has some biological factor then either the person is ignorant regarding how a virus works or that person is suffering from some sort of delusion.

Which do you think is more probable in your case? Are you simply unaware, not knowing that 100% of viruses are biological in nature? Do you think it is like a computer virus, devoid of biology? Or are you suffering from some form of delusion?

You appear not to have studied hysteria either clinically or historically. Or understand psychosomatic symptoms. That's partly why we're in this current fix because most people in psychology and psychiatry never studied the mostly German and Soviet research that is available. The huge numbers of people hospitalised in Sri Lanka by a flu-like pandemic decades ago were officially put down to a case of mass hysteria. That is, not just my opinion but an official explanation. There are other cases if you go further back in history.
I am happy to forward these studies. I read scores of analytical papers on hysteria, mass hyperchondria, somatic allergy, psychogenic phenomena and historical records. Is Covid mass psychogenic hysteria? Yes.

davidbanner99@ wrote: Is Covid mass psychogenic hysteria? Yes.

Nope. But keep beating that drum.

"Mass psychogenic hysteria" does not cause death due to illness in a matter of a few days.

The case in Sri Lanka was an isolated case of ~ 1,000 people having mild symptoms such as nausea and itching.

By your logic, the Black Plague and the 1918 flu epidemic were just incidents of "mass psychogenic hysteria". No matter that millions of people were actually sick due to a biological cause. According to the studies you've read, it was all just "mass hysteria".

Delusional: characterized by or holding idiosyncratic beliefs or impressions that are contradicted by reality or rational argument, typically as a symptom of mental disorder.

Your argument is delusional.

Let's be clear: Mass hysteria and psychosomatic illness don't rule out illness by bacterial infection. Studies indicate it "mirrors" such illness.
For example, Asperger demonstrated almost the same autism symptoms such as motor impairment can be caused by encethalitis or purely psychological factors. Or genetic, hereditary factors.
I don't know what proportion of Covid is biological and what degree is psychogenic. What I can say is, so far, all the people I spoke to who were diagnosed with Covid have always been prone to hyperchondria and of nervous, neurotic disposition.

I quote the following from USSR clinical research:

"Thus, the prevalence of SPD (psychiatric disorder), according to one of the domestic epidemiological studies (SYNTHESIS program), averages 5.8% and largely correlates with the profile of somatic diseases (in cardiology - 3.5%; in oncology - 6.2%, in dermatology - 6.9%). In addition, the frequency of SPD in some somatic and psychosomatic disorders is even higher: in chronic pain syndromes - up to 10%, and in non-delusional hypochondria and somatoform disorders (SFD) - 20.7 - 29.2%."

What this study demonstrated was large percentages of patients being treated in regular cardiac or clinical wards were eventually re-evaluated for hyperchondria and psychosomatic disorders.