title: Is the diagnosis of "mass hysteria" an excuse for incomplete investigation of low-level environmental contamination?
abstract: "Mass hysteria" is an epidemic diagnostic term used to characterize unexplained outbreaks of syncope among women. A syncope outbreak among women in a meeting in a rural area of Michigan prompted an intense investigation for etiology. Low levels of ozone; carbon monoxide, and pentane were found associated with the outbreak. These levels were too low by themselves to explain the symptoms. A sociometric scale of intensity of illness was devised and found to be highly correlated (r = -0.94) with the weight of those who fainted. It is argued that mass hysteria may be the result of interactions of low levels of toxicants and may not be a result of the "hysterical" behavior in women at all.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000506:poisoning*; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007046:Hysteria / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D008824:Michigan; D008875:Middle Aged; D013575:Syncope / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants