Faust H S, Brilliant L B
J Occup Med. 1981 Jan;23(1):22-6. doi: 10.1097/00043764-198101000-00013.
"Mass hysteria" is an epidemic diagnostic term used to characterize unexplained outbreaks of syncope among women. A syncope outbreak among women in a meeting in a rural area of Michigan prompted an intense investigation for etiology. Low levels of ozone; carbon monoxide, and pentane were found associated with the outbreak. These levels were too low by themselves to explain the symptoms. A sociometric scale of intensity of illness was devised and found to be highly correlated (r = -0.94) with the weight of those who fainted. It is argued that mass hysteria may be the result of interactions of low levels of toxicants and may not be a result of the "hysterical" behavior in women at all.
“群体癔症”是一个用于描述女性中不明原因晕厥爆发的流行性诊断术语。密歇根州农村地区一次会议上女性群体出现的晕厥爆发促使人们对病因展开了深入调查。研究发现，低水平的臭氧、一氧化碳和戊烷与此次爆发有关。然而，这些物质自身的含量水平过低，无法解释这些症状。研究人员设计了一种疾病强度的社会计量量表，并发现其与昏厥者的体重高度相关（r = -0.94）。有人认为，群体癔症可能是低水平有毒物质相互作用的结果，而根本不是女性“癔症性”行为导致的。
