In the digital age, mass has found a new vector: social media. Between 2019 and 2021, pediatric neurology clinics around the world saw an unprecedented surge in adolescent girls developing sudden, severe tics. The symptoms looked like Tourette syndrome, but the onset was overnight, the tics were unusually complex ("You’re so ugly!"), and they clustered among users of TikTok and YouTube.
In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association published the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III). In a landmark decision, they formally retired as a diagnostic category. The term was deemed too vague, too pejorative, and too rooted in sexist pseudoscience. Hysteria
The mistake of the past was not believing in ; it was believing that only women—and only emotionally weak, sexually repressed, or attention-seeking women—could suffer from it. In the digital age, mass has found a
: Ancient physicians believed the uterus could physically detach and migrate around the body, causing various ailments. Demonology vs. Science In 1980, the American Psychiatric Association published the
"Hysterical" behaviors, such as convulsions, loss of voice (aphonia), or sensory disturbances, were interpreted as signs of demonic possession or witchcraft.
The prescribed treatment was often rapid marriage and childbearing to "settle" the uterus.