Mass Hysteria...really? About the Group of 12 Girls W/tics from the Same School

someone suggested it might have something to do with side effects of Gardasil vaccine? Perhaps a bad batch? or a worse batch, as there are frequently side effects.

Precisely what my first thought was, are they all of the age that they may have all recently received the gardasil vaccine? Especially if they all had doses from the same lot, which would be likely if they all lived in a smaller town with one doctors office. Yikes.

I suppose the real test of determining if their environment is having this effect on them would be to remove them all completely from their current places, move them to different separate environments and see if the tics/symptoms continue.
There is a lot more to measure than just air quality - water, cleaning agents used on surfaces/buses, every where they frequently spend time, school food/lunches/snacks/drinks, do they play the same video games (some rapidly flashing games have been known to cause seizures), etc.
Is there a commonality in their home lives (or health histories) that could be a factor, etc?
You see, the school is only interested in proving they are not the cause - and that is very different from doing the all the research to find what the cause is.
I'd doubt the mass hysteria theory until there were a lot more evidence to eliminate environmental factors.

When it's babies or toddlers affected . . . gee they must have been born that way (gosh darn those bad genes).

When it happens to older kids it must be "hysteria."

Mmmm-hmmm . . .

Reminds me of The Crucible in a way. The mind is very powerful. If you feel something long enough, your brain reacts and you will really have these uncontrollable symptoms. It seems like an environmental witch hunt of sorts. I can't say if the girls are "faking it." But I can't say if it didn't start out that way...

I don't know. I feel a little uncomfortable with the mass hysteria idea, especially if there's something medically underlying it. PANDAS, for example, can cause very strange symptoms in kids including tics and OCD. I'm not suggesting that's what they have as I didn't watch the show, only read a news clip about it....but if that can happen then I'd imagine it could be something to that effect. No matter what, though, it's scary. I hope they get better soon and hope they get to the root of it.

You're having a hard time believing "so many girls"..."same school"...

that is the very definition of mass hysteria.

It's amazing what our minds can do to our bodies. Ever notice how you don't always notice your headache, but if you think about it it all of sudden hurts worse?

I don't really know what's going on. The girls have all been examined by their own doctors and specialists. They can't find anything wrong.

It's entirely possible that their minds are causing actual symptoms. If these girls were friends, and one started (from stress, etc.) then it wouldn't take much for the others to pick up, really.

I would be losing my mind if one of them was my daughter as well!

....I also would be asking about E-V-E-R-Y S-I-N-G-L-E substance they put into their bodies...

I remember what it was like to be a teenager and my first thought was someone passed out laced something or another...lollipops, cookies, etc??

Mass hysteria is a very bad name for this as it implies that the girls are choosing to be this way or are in some way in control and are faking it. Conversion disorder is a better term as it explains what is happening. The brain is shifting gears, in a way, and taking in information and then responding in a distinct way. It is like wires getting crossed a bit, and then, when the brain sees another person responding in a similar way, it continues to accelerate the response. Have you every had the experience of trembling when you feel a bit nervous? That is a stress reaction. I have noticed when I am around a certain family member who really stresses me out that I get a severe tremor in my left hand, so severe that I saw a neurologist. Yet, if asked, I would not feel that I was stressed as I felt like I was handling everything with this person fairly well. The last example I have is that feeling mom's get, a very real physical feeling, when they see their kids get hurt....your brain sees this other body get hurt and it reacts physically. I can't be the only one on mamapedia that has had that experience.....you see your little one slam to the ground and your can actually feel the impact.

I think one thing that is not helping these girls is having all of this broadcast on the tv news.

I saw that yesterday. It's pretty clear from the video that the tics are real. As a parent I would be freaking out. It didn't say whether they investigated any other similarities among the girls. Water sources, places they shop, who knows.

Have not read the story yet, I would really wonder if it's actually just a big hoax on their part, and they are all faking it. Or at least some of them. But I agree that if it is real, it's really strange. Maybe there is something environmental but the school is not the source.

Have you ever seen the little girls they show waiting outside a Justin Beiber concert?

I could see mass hysteria. Little girls are HIGHLY impressionably and glean their emotional responses from one another.

BUT, that said, I wouldn't be surprised to hear of some other reason.

The whole thing is very strange, but the mind is a power thing. I agree with you that I would be crazy with worry over this. I honestly don't know what to think about, and just wish those girls a speedy recovery and hope they get to the bottom of it all.

Wasn't that just awful what those girls are going through. I do hope that they find relief. As parents I can see them being upset. The teenage years are hard, but they also can be some of the best times of your life.

I too saw this - however I simply cannot believe that it is their minds - poison comes to my mind but I am synical that way... I hope someone figures it out - and i think them being on tv is a way for the parents to maybe get more help - the school would not tell them the steps that hve been taken just that it's not the school it was tested....

I thought it was interesting too and it is very clear that they are not faking. If they are faking it they are very good actors. This condition is keeping the girls from doing the things they normally do. One girl was s cheerleader and can't cheer now due to her condition. As a parent I would want another explanation. I just think they don't know why this is happening and are trying to come up with something. I hope these girls are cured soon.

It is interesting, and hopefully the girls and their parents will get some answers soon. The cynical side of me couldn't help but think of the girl (also on the Today show a while back) who claimed to have incurable hiccups and was then found out to be a fake!