While the current reality for a year and a half has brought us face to face with it Covid-19, some decades ago Tanzania was called upon to face another, more bizarre epidemic, the laughter epidemic in particular, which, as it turns out, is not so unusual.
It seems, then, that laughter is not just a happy noise. It can be a sign of sadness, triggered by anger or sadness or is associated with rage, reports atlasobscura.com.
The most famous example epidemic So it happened in Tanzania (then Tanganyika) in 1962. However, this kind of psychological behavior occurs on a weekly basis around the world, especially among populations experiencing chronic stress, and there is ample evidence of such events in places of instability. such as Kosovo, Afghanistan and South Africa.
The outbreak of the laughing epidemic in Tanzania
The outbreak of the laughter epidemic in 1962, therefore, began in a girls’ school in Tanzania and then spread to other communities, with uncontrolled laughter affecting about 1,000 people, lasting several months and causing the temporary closure of 14 schools..
Most cases of massive psychiatric illness start with a single person – in this case, a schoolgirl probably fell into a laughter caused by anxiety – triggering a chain reaction, until the girls around her were also overwhelmed by a desperate laugh. Slowly, the laughter spread beyond the school and the area where the girls’ school was located, danger and other populations.
The symptoms of the disease of laughter
According to atlasobscura.com, the symptoms of the patients included recurrent bouts of laughter and crying lasting from a few hours to 16 days. These seizures were accompanied by anxiety – pointless running, occasional violence – but there was no evidence of organic causes.
Christian Hebelman of Texas A&M University, who has been investigating the incident, describes the laughing epidemic as a case of massive psychogenic or sociogenic disease, a disease that has the ability to strike in various high-pressure environments. Stress factors here among schoolgirls may include the unknown expectations imposed on British schools and the uncertainties created by Tanganyika’s independence just one month before the incident.
Psychogenic illness has all sorts of so-called nervous symptoms, Hebelman explains, and laughter is just one of them. Although her case Tanzania has closed, similar cases of massive psychogenic illness occur between groups of people who can not get out of a stressful situation.
In such situations, the person has no power over stress and can find no other answer. Such a person is usually young, female, and mostly an employee, rather than a boss or boss.
Gelotology: the science of laughter
Recent developments in laughter and its therapeutic and positive effects on the human body, an area of ​​research known as jestology, include humor and laughter therapy, laughter meditation and laughter yoga. -in which supposed laughter becomes real, bringing supposed benefits to the mind and body. It is worth mentioning, reports atlasobscura.com, that laughter has been associated with reduced stress hormones and increased endorphins, providing both physical and psychological relief.
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