Erin Brockovich to probe New York 'mass hysteria' case Erin Brockovich has announced she'll be looking into an outbreak of Tourette's-like symptoms among a group of high school students in western New York, to see if they have any environmental causes. Around 15 girls at Le Roy High School have developed strange symptoms since last fall: uncontrollable verbal outbursts and physical twitches so debilitating that one student interviewed by ABC has to use a wheelchair. New York Department of Health authorities looking into the matter reportedly found no sign of environmental causes or infectious agents. Some have diagnosed the illnesses as a type of conversion disorder, in which psychological stress can induce a host of physical symptoms. Though the causes may be in the mind, the effects can be highly debilitating. According to the Mayo Clinic, they can include difficulty swallowing, deafness, seizures and even paralysis. Nonetheless, warns the NYU Langone Medical Center, the symptoms of the illness are very real and should not be taken lightly.
Survey Database, Survey of Scottish Witchcraft, Scottish History, School of History and Classics, The University of Edinburgh, Scotland To begin exploring the nearly 4,000 records of accused witches and documentation of witchcraft belief, click on one of the options listed below. Should you encounter any difficulties we have help pages along the way to guide you through your searches and to help you interpret your results. We have also provided a comprehensive Glossary of terms used in these web pages that also includes other helpful lists and supplemental reference materials. When you click on the glossary link, a new browser window will open so that you can refer to it throughout your time in our web pages. Accessing the Database Search the database Allows you to create your own search of the database.
Mass Delusions and Hysterias: Highlights from the Past Millennium Article Robert E. Bartholomew and Erich Goode Volume 24.3, May / June 2000 Over the past millennium, mass delusions and hysterical outbreaks have taken many forms. The turn of the second millennium has brought about, in the Western world at least, an outpouring of concern about cosmic matters. The study of collective delusions most commonly falls within the domain of sociologists working in the sub-field of collective behavior, and psychologists specializing in social psychology. Mass hysteria is characterized by the rapid spread of conversion disorder, a condition involving the appearance of bodily complaints for which there is no organic basis. Middle Ages, France During the Middle Ages, dozens of outbreaks of hysterical fits and imitative behaviors were reported among repressed nuns in cloistered European Christian convents. I have read in a good medical work that a nun, in a very large convent in France, began to meow like a cat; shortly afterwards other nuns also meowed.
CUL Witchcraft Collection - Digital Witchcraft Collection Die Emeis, by Johann Geiler von Kayserberg. Cornell University Library’s Witchcraft Collection is part of the Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. It contains more than 3,000 books, manuscripts, and related materials. An online selection of 104 English language books from the Witchcraft Collection is available to search, browse by title, or browse by author.
Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706 Burr, George Lincoln, 1857-1938. Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706 Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library | Table of Contents for this work | | All on-line databases | Etext Center Homepage | that April day when Mr. Religion, but more especially his great Veneration for the Church of England, although his general and more constant communion was with the Nonconformists." The letter here printed did not see print in his own day; but that the present copy exists suggests that it may have been meant to circulate inmanuscript,43 and it is not impossible that it was even written for that purpose. Notes [43]. [44]. October 8, 1692. I received the other day, and am very ready to serve you to my uttmost. I suppose his Honour never made the experiment, whether there was not as much virtue in his own hand, as there was in Mr. But let this pass with the S. I most admire48 that Mr. The great cry of many of our neighbours now is, What, will you not believe the confessours?