The term “collective madness” has been used to speak of very diverse phenomena, from the dance epidemics that took place in Europe in the Middle Ages to the rise of Hitler and Nazism, or even the communist revolutions and the Catalan independence movement.

In this article we will try to analyze the concept of collective madness or mass psychogenic illness leaving aside the political and ideological uses that have been given to the term. However, as we will see below, it is difficult to delimit the degree of solidity and the explanatory potential of this concept due to factors of diverse nature.

What is collective madness?

The concepts “collective madness” and “mass psychogenic illness” are used to refer to unusual phenomena consisting of the propagation of disorders of psychological origin in multiple members of human communities. More generally, depressions or anxiety disorders of a collective nature have also been mentioned.

However, this term is normally used to refer to alterations characterized by a delirious tone ; sometimes it is also evident the instrumental use of the concept of collective madness in order to discredit certain sets of personal ideas and values, such as religions and political ideologies.

The difference between this concept and that of collective hysteria is ambiguous, judging by the available literature. The latter term is used in a particular way to speak of collective delusions concerning threats, whether they are real or not; however, the phenomena of collective madness that we will describe have been qualified as collective hysteria by some authors.

At present, the degree of agreement of the scientific community on these concepts is very low. In addition to the difficulties inherent in the analysis of collective phenomena , there is also a blurring in the definition of collective madness and the contamination of the concept due to its indiscriminate use by experts and laymen.

Examples of this phenomenon

Throughout history, various events have been recorded that have been related to the idea of collective madness. The usual symptoms of these disorders are typically psychosomatic , such as headaches, feelings of dizziness, weakness and fatigue, coughing, nausea, discomfort in the abdomen and throat or breathing difficulties.

In a very general way, and taking into account the limitations we have mentioned, we can affirm that the phenomena included in the category of collective madness have in common the lack of organic basis for the alterations , the transience of the signs and symptoms, the presence of intense anxiety and the appearance in isolated human groups.

1. The epidemics of dance

During the High Middle Ages, between the 14th and 17th centuries, a series of very striking episodes of collective madness took place in Europe. These phenomena are referred to as “dance epidemics” because the people affected danced in groups in an uncontrolled manner until they lost consciousness due to fatigue.

Dance epidemics usually occurred during periods of economic crisis, and in some cases lasted for several months. It seems that these events were especially common in groups of nuns, and the dance movements often involved obscene gestures.

2. Episodes in Factories

Since the Industrial Revolution, outbreaks of collective madness in factories began to appear . We find references to these phenomena in many different places, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Russia, Germany, France and Italy. The specificity of the context is striking, although the episodes vary greatly from one to another.

Thus, for example, in the 1970s collective phenomena characterized by aggression and experiences of spirit possession occurred in several factories in Singapore; the “June Bug” episode, which took place in the United States, is also well known, was clearly associated with psychosocial stress and included physical signs of anxiety.

3. The Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic

In 1962, a phenomenon of collective madness took place in the Lake Tanganyika region of Central Africa. In one school, three girls started laughing uncontrollably ; the episode affected 95 of the 159 pupils of the school. Very similar events followed in other schools; some adults also showed the signs.

4. Grisi siknis

Sikkim Grisis is a syndrome linked to the specific culture of Miskito society, which resides mainly in Honduras and Nicaragua. These outbreaks affect mainly adolescent women; they refer to experiences of possession by spirits or demons and manifest violent behaviors and symptoms such as fear, anger and dizziness.

This kind of collective madness has gained some fame in recent years because of the outbreaks that followed Hurricane Felix, especially in Nicaragua. These episodes were relatively long-lasting and affected a large number of young women, being transmitted from one to another by suggestion.