Mass Hysteria

What is mass hysteria? It’s where an unexplained phenomenon which is not contagious spreads throughout a community as if it were contagious. There have been moments in history where mass hysteria has occurred. For example, in Tanzania in 1962 a small number of school children got the giggles and soon uncontrollable laughter disrupted the school. A not so funny example occurred three hundred years early. Two young girls experienced seizures. Others began to experience seizures, too. Someone in the community accused some women of being witches and blamed them for causing the seizures. During the ensuing Salem Witch Trials, “More than 20 people were executed and more than 100 were jailed before common sense was restored” (mnn, paragraph 4). Today I witnessed mass hysteria in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was minding my own business and just wanted to buy groceries. I couldn’t find a shopping cart and the parking lot was full. When I went inside, I saw long lines, empty shelves, and disarray. I tried a different store with the same outcome. The coronavirus is not causing the scare. In my opinion, the mainstream media is. I realized the danger of watching to much television or watching the wrong stations. Ignorance fuels the hysteria. People have lost their minds. I decided to order online instead of going to the store but some websites were inoperable. Many “of of stock” comments were written across the pages where the items I wanted were to be found. I realized soon enough this was affecting more than just my local area. My friend (a sensible one) went to the fabric store to buy something and found the store was empty. “I had the place to myself,” she said. “Everyone is home getting brainwashed watching their televisions,” I answered. It’s like Stanley Kramer’s movie “On the Beach.” It was a chilling presentation of what it would be like after World War III. The film was made in 1959 and portrays a science fictional post-war world in 1964. It stars Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins and Gregory Peck. I remember a scene where the streets of San Francisco were empty and Ava Gardner was still alive and walking, is disbelief. So chilling. Reference: https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/5-strange-cases-mass-hysteria retrieved on March 14, 2020.