To End Mass Hysteria, Have a Party

Ruth Graham, from an article about the lastest American outbreak of group hysteria, among girls at a high school in upstate New York:

Until more is known about mass hysteria, the treatment of a 1789 case in Northern England might point the way to a cure both effective and enjoyable. The outbreak at a textile factory started when one woman teased another by putting a mouse in her dress; the skittish prank victim fell into convulsions. Soon, however, a rumor spread that an open bag of imported cotton had somehow caused the reaction, and others quickly began falling ill. The factory had to temporarily shut down when 24 people (21 women, two young girls, and one man) experienced violent convulsions so severe they had to be restrained. The plague ended when authorities convinced the patients that symptoms were “merely nervous.” To further tamp down anxieties, sufferers were encouraged to “take a cheerful glass and join in a dance.” The day after the dance, almost all the victims went back to work, their convulsions having disappeared for good.