Mass Hystaria
Alex McCormick
Hysteria in the Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials was an event where hysteria thrived. In the salem with trials, 12 people were killed due to a set of girls who were lying about people being witches. For days, the court believed them as they kept accusing more and more people. As they children lied, some people believed them, but towards the end they started disbelieving.
Laughter Epidemic
Laughter Epidemic in Tanzania
In Kashasha, Tanzania at a girls boarding school in 1962, students could not stop laughing. The laughter spread throughout the village and eventually adults soon started laughing. The reason that people were laughing was because of the amount of stress that the girls were under. In some cases the laughter lasted 16 days, but overall the epidemic lasted 18 months. The school where it started was sued.
Tanzanian Laughter Epidemic - Clip from Laughology
Mass Hysteria Comparison
The Witch Trials and the Laughter Epidemic of Tanzania are very similar in some ways. Both the Salem Witch Trials and the Laughter Epidemic started with girls. Both spread to different people leading more people to be affected. Another connection would be the power of influence between laughing and between the girls in the Salem Witch Trials.