Mystery Gas: An Analysis of Mass Hysteria

Abstract

This research attempts to explain the sudden onset of a series of severe, physical symptoms found in a group of female workers. An attempt to explain the symptoms in classical biomedical terms proved fruitless. Explanations for the behavior indicate that persons who were the most dissatisfied with their work situation tended to present the most severe symptomatology and that these persons reported having friends who also experienced more severe symptoms. The research suggests the use of sociological theory to facilitate explanations of physical illness and provides a replication of the work of KerckhofJ and Back, The June Bug.