Topic: Attention Seeking

1 chapters across the catalog

32: Nocebo
• 36:08 - 37:36

32: Nocebo

Louisiana Twitching Epidemic of 1939

A 1939 case in a Louisiana school involved female students developing uncontrollable muscle twitches, starting with a single girl at a dance. The "disease" spread through the student body until investigators concluded the symptoms were a result of mass hysteria and attention-seeking behavior. The hosts use this to illustrate how non-viral symptoms can be transmitted through social observation.