A while back, I mentioned the girls of Le Roy, New York who, several years ago, began showing what appear to be—at least to the experts—symptoms of mass hysteria. The girls began experiencing Tourettes like body tics for which no environmental or biological cause could be found. This sort of thing is not that uncommon and has been reported throughout history.

The Atlantic has an interesting follow up on the story alleging that one women who experienced the symptoms effectively caught them off Facebook – she did not personally know any of the girls but “absorbed” their symptoms by reading about them. The article touches on two themes I often report on here. 1) The subconscious can cause bizarre, debilitating physical symptoms, and 2) We—society, humanity, etc.—are becoming overwhelmed with information. To wit…

Bartholomew said that mass hysteria spreads through sight and sound, and historically, one person would have to be in the same room as somebody exhibiting symptoms to be at risk of “catching” the illness. “Not anymore,” he says, noting that social media—“extensions of our eyes and ears”—speeds and extends the reach of mass hysteria. In a paper, he wrote, “Epidemic hysterias that in earlier periods were self-limited in geography now have free and wide access to the globe in seconds.” He says, “It’s a belief, that’s the power here, and the technology just amplifies the belief, and helps it spread more readily.”

Here’s a Dr. Drew episode featuring some of the girls.