Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
In the dancing manias of the Middle Ages, some people would dance all day and night, sometimes until they died from exhaustion. Mass hysteria, or mass psychogenic illness, is when a group of people manifest physical symptoms without a physical cause. It's been documented for centuries all over the world, but it isn't a relic of the past. In this video, I explore some of the history, some of the causes, and ponder how it might tell us something about ourselves.
Patreon: patreon.com/GeorgRockallSchmidt
Leave a tip: paypal.me/GeorgRockallSchmidt
Twitter: twitter.com/grockallschmidt
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Sources
Protean nature of mass sociogenic illness
cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/protean-nature-of-mass-sociogenic-illness/2BDC2262E104B8A33F3DD49773DA0D8B
The grim truth behind the Pied Piper
bbc.com/travel/article/20200902-the-grim-truth-behind-the-pied-piper
Dancing Mania and the Black Plague: A Craze That Swept Through Europe
thecollector.com/black-pague-dance-mania
Epidemic Hysteria in Virginia: The Case of the Phantom Gasser of 1933-1934
simonwessely.com/Downloads/Publications/History/3.pdf
A Neurologic Assessment of The Salem Witch Trials
practicalneurology.com/diseases-diagnoses/ms-immune-disorders/a-neurologic-assessment-of-the-salem-witch-trials-1/35450
The science of mass-psychogenic illness
theboar.org/2022/01/the-science-of-mass-psychogenic-illness
Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project - University of Virginia
https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/home.html
The mysterious case of mass sociogenic illness
varsity.co.uk/science/19768
Misinformation about fentanyl exposure threatens to undermine overdose response
npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/03/nx-s1-5349514/misinformation-about-fentanyl-exposure-threatens-to-undermine-overdose-response
The Placebo Effect: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002934314001193
Functional Neurologic Disorder
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK551567/#:~:text=Conversion%20disorder%2C%20also%20known%20as,diseases%20or%20other%20medical%20conditions
Functional neurologic disorder/conversion disorder
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/conversion-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355197
In the dancing manias of the Middle Ages, some people would dance all day and night, sometimes until they died from exhaustion. Mass hysteria, or mass psychogenic illness, is when a group of people manifest physical symptoms without a physical cause. It's been documented for centuries all over the world, but it isn't a relic of the past. In this video, I explore some of the history, some of the causes, and ponder how it might tell us something about ourselves.
Patreon: patreon.com/GeorgRockallSchmidt
Leave a tip: paypal.me/GeorgRockallSchmidt
Twitter: twitter.com/grockallschmidt
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/grockallschmidt.bsky.social
Sources
Protean nature of mass sociogenic illness
cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/protean-nature-of-mass-sociogenic-illness/2BDC2262E104B8A33F3DD49773DA0D8B
The grim truth behind the Pied Piper
bbc.com/travel/article/20200902-the-grim-truth-behind-the-pied-piper
Dancing Mania and the Black Plague: A Craze That Swept Through Europe
thecollector.com/black-pague-dance-mania
Epidemic Hysteria in Virginia: The Case of the Phantom Gasser of 1933-1934
simonwessely.com/Downloads/Publications/History/3.pdf
A Neurologic Assessment of The Salem Witch Trials
practicalneurology.com/diseases-diagnoses/ms-immune-disorders/a-neurologic-assessment-of-the-salem-witch-trials-1/35450
The science of mass-psychogenic illness
theboar.org/2022/01/the-science-of-mass-psychogenic-illness
Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project - University of Virginia
https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/home.html
The mysterious case of mass sociogenic illness
varsity.co.uk/science/19768
Misinformation about fentanyl exposure threatens to undermine overdose response
npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/03/nx-s1-5349514/misinformation-about-fentanyl-exposure-threatens-to-undermine-overdose-response
The Placebo Effect: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002934314001193
Functional Neurologic Disorder
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK551567/#:~:text=Conversion%20disorder%2C%20also%20known%20as,diseases%20or%20other%20medical%20conditions
Functional neurologic disorder/conversion disorder
mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/conversion-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355197
