Mass hysteria illustrates situations where people’s psychological distress is converted into physical symptoms. Whereas, due to a stressful or alarming event, people are filled with fear and anxiety, which makes them vulnerable to become captivated by the actions and feelings of others around them. This causes them adopt those same feelings, symptoms, or beliefs, whether they are actually true or not. Representations of mass hysteria are evident in many forms, whether it is in a cartoon, a picture, a piece of literature, or everyday life. Sometimes, through those forms, the idea of mass hysteria is used to satirize an event and convey a message. Mass hysteria is a psychological and neurological issue that instills fear within the minds of people, …show more content…
During the episode, SpongeBob and Patrick have to house sit for Sandy the Squirrel who has a pet caterpillar, a land creature that they have never seen before. After a few days of house sitting, the caterpillar transitions into a butterfly and SpongeBob and Patrick are confronted with the new being. They have never seen such a thing and immediately begin to fear that this “unknown creature” will eat them and the entire town as well. In the end, SpongeBob and Patrick alert the town about the terrifying and mysterious beast, thus causing everyone to go into a complete panic. They begin to fear for their lives and begin to burn down the buildings, run around crazily, and ransack businesses (“Wormy”). This episode is a cogent example of how people’s fear creates hysteria. Since no one knew any facts about the butterfly, they immediately became afraid and speculated the worst. The only reason the towns people acted in such a way was because they saw how frightened SpongeBob and Patrick were, so they did so as well, thus creating a frenzy fueled by fear within the community …show more content…
There has been an enormous commotion because the disease has invaded the U.S. and closely affected its citizens. In a political cartoon, drawn by Mike Luckovich, there are four United States citizens acting hysterically due to the broadcasting of the outbreak of Ebola. One citizen says “Folks with Ebola are in the U.S. for treatment.” Other people begin to comment, “They’ll infect us; We’re gonna die; Run!” (Luckovich). This cartoon demonstrates the fear that creates mass hysteria because the citizens immediately come to the conclusion that since someone with the disease has entered their community, they’ll die. Furthermore, havoc is created because the last citizen yells “Run”, which that action in itself could cause an entirely new issue (Luckovich). That one word being yelled could cause people to be hurt or even killed, just because of the speculations and fear of Ebola. Likewise, their emotions of fear and being in danger are deepening the hysterics of the situation because they feel as if they will be infected as well. Without finding the facts of the disease and understanding its elements, people subject themselves to sense of idiocy, according to the CDC (Luckovich). This instance is a reference of how the fears, actions, and emotions of supposedly sane and reasonable citizens are beginning to make them run around and act like chickens with their heads cut
It’s the year 2028, and the world we used to know as bright and beautiful is no longer thriving with light. A disease similar to the plague broke out and caused great havoc. Although it may seem like forever ago, sickness spread only a few years ago. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is about a man and his son who fortunately survived this sickness; although they made it, the struggle to keep going is tough. Before most of the population became deceased, people went insane. They started to bomb houses, burn down businesses and towns, and destroy the environment. Anyone who had the disease was bad blood. Many saw it as the end of the world, which in many cases was true.
The Ebola Outbreak spread panic and suspicion throughout the world, similar to how the witch trials spreading hysteria around Salem. With news of Ebola spreading and mutating quickly, the world flung into panic (Ebola {2}). No one knew who all had come in contact with, or who was carrying the deadly disease. Similarly in Salem, people don’t know who is a witch, nor do they know if witchcraft has even been occurring (Salem). Regardless if the accusations were true, a mass panic spread over the people of Salem just like what happened with the Ebola outbreak.
The mass hysteria between today’s society and the Salem witch hunt can be compared through Freedom , Religion ,and the killing of innocent victims. Mass hysteria has caused a lot of destruction in society throughout the years. It has brought about a lot of chaos in both Salem as well as the present society. Mass hysteria has brought out a lot of fear in people in both Salem and present society.
Although the zombie metaphor focuses primarily on fear involving unconscious contributors and their mission of adding to their population, the fear of governmental control and how society responds to the epidemic is also an issue that needs to be considered. In this scenario, the viral outbreak is not only a threat to individual health but also to the stability of society as a whole.
As the infection spreads, only Israel initiates a nationwide quarantine program and closes its borders. Pakistan and Iran destroy one another in a nuclear war, after Iran attempts to stem the flow of refugees from Pakistan. The United States does little to prepare, as it is sapped of political will by several "brushfire wars" and lulled into a false sense of security by an ineffective and fraudulently marketed vaccine. When the world recognizes the true scope of the problem, a period known as the "Great Panic" begins. The United States Army sends a task force to Yonkers, New York, in a high-profile military campaign intended to restore American morale. Instead, the troops are overwhelmed and routed by the zombies, due to reliance on tactics designed for human enemies, who can be demoralized into retreat...
What is hysteria? By definition, hysteria is a state of intense agitation, anxiety, or excitement, especially as manifested by large groups or segments of society. In a broader sense however, hysteria is a killer, the delitescent devil. Hysteria was the main cause of nineteen deaths in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Years later, hysteria was responsible for countless ruined reputations and lives during the era of Senetor Joe McCarthy. Hysteria does not just appear out of nowhere though. There are driving forces such as revenge and abuse of power that bring about the irrational fear that can take over society. These are the issues expressed in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
Hysteria is an uncontrolled fear complemented with excessive emotion that leads to poor decisions and actions done with complete lack of forethought. The hysteria that existed in the town of Salem was largely caused by the people’s extreme devotion to religion, as well as their refusal to delve into other possibilities to explain the predicament of the time. These circumstances still exist today, and it is quite possible, as well as frightening, that a similar event could recur today. One would like to think that one would never lose control of their opinions and thought, but hysteria is a powerful force and can bring even the most intellectual of people to lose sense of what is occurring. More modern examples of hysteria such as the McCarthy trials and the ostracizing of people infected with AIDS show that learning to properly evaluate a situation for it’s reasonability and integrity prove to still be a valuable lesson for today.
The Communist Scare in the 1950’s also demonstrated this idea. Senator Joseph Miller, well aware of American fear of the Soviet Union after World War Two, claimed that the American Government was overrun by Communists. This one event led to the beginning of an epidemic as now fear of Communism ran across the country. Eventually, it reached a point in which the government, using the Smith Act of 1940 as their basis, arrested anyone that could be against the government. There became a large trial of Hollywood actors that may be communist sympathizers. Like the accused in Salem, these actors were assumed guilty from the start of the trial, and it was difficult to prove against being Communist. The goal of the trial was to get the “actors, directors, and producers to ‘name names’ of colleagues who had Communist ties or sympathies”(Roberts 2). This just created more people to investigate, and therefore a larger epidemic of Communism in the United States. The event is evident of mass hysteria as the fear of Communism became rampant across the entire county, even though the threat of Communism in the United States Government was not likely. It also demonstrates the traits of an epidemic as described in The Tipping Point. The fear of Communism started out in a Women’s Club in Wheeling, West virginia, and then within the year there was a House for Un-American Activities. The point at which the fear went from local to national is the “dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once”(Gladwell 9), and this moment is known as the tipping point. The Witch Trials lacked the element of an epidemic as it never was contagious enough to spread passed salem, but both events clearly demonstrate mass hysteria across a given
He points out that if our immune system “overreacts to everything, we actually get sicker.” By comparing us to an immune system, he is highlighting that, like our immune system, if we freak out over every little thing, we can actually begin to hurt our country, rather than focus on the issues that matter. That is, if we continue with our melodramatic ways, we will begin to suspect everyone as a threat, slowly making our country (the body of the American people) “sicker”. This comparison makes Stewart’s viewers think, “am I really overreacting to the things I see or hear on the media?” With this reaction, the author achieves this purpose by making his listeners reflect on how much they may be taking the media by its word. As a result, this self-reflection will most likely result in them “waking up” and looking at problems from a more analytical point of view, rather than just believing everything they hear, thus creating a society in which the author wishes people to value American “values and principles” over what they experience on
the 1600s, same thing right? Hysteria is an exaggerated emotion especially in large groups of people. Hysterical events will be examined through the AIDS epidemic and the Salem Witchcraft Trials which are two separate points of history.
Hysteria has no place in a society because it is wrong. It causes chaos and confusion and in these cases death.
However, local and national news also produces negativity towards mental illness by “portraying people with mental illness as threats to themselves and to others” (Anaya 4). In the past two years, the news features stories such as a man who has schizophrenia, running on a shooting spree then killing himself; or a mother with depression who murders her children, then kills herself (Anaya 4). Anaya explains that television programs use mental illness as a headline to grab the attention of views and ultimately implies to respond with fear (5). Highlighting that mental illnesses are the reason for the evil in society, hurting those who suffer with mental illnesses. Therefore, the population begin to believe mental illness is bad, so do the people who suffer with mental
In Saramago’s novel, the government’s commands, instant decisions, and fears about the blind epidemic is what the blind infected, vulnerable characters are terrified about the most. “Look here, blind man, let me tell you something, either the two of you get back to where you came from, or you’ll be shot […] they’re terrified and are only obeying orders” (63). With a large number of people going blind quickly and with no apparent cause, public health officials’ panic and the blind internees are not only afraid for their lives in terms of their sickness, but they are also terrified of the government’s command to shoot and kill the infected internees. The most important things in life is not power and the ability to instill fear on others, it is compassion, love, and understanding. Without these three qualities, we become blind t...
Hysteria is defined by dictionary.com as “Behavior exhibiting excessive or uncontrollable emotion, such as fear or panic.” This was a critical theme in the play in which it was tearing apart the community. Hysteria replaces logic and allows people to believe that their neighbors are committing some unbelievable crimes such as, communicating with the devil, killings babies, and so on.
Instead, the film cherry-picks frightening or exaggerated elements of a spectrum of disorders, including schizophrenia, delusional disorder, dissociative identity disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. This makes Laeddis an embodiment of a combination of the most frightening psychological disorders. While there are certain aspects of Laeddis’ psychosis that are accurate in terms of an individual disorder, these elements do not add up to a realistic portrayal of mental illness. This combination of fact and fiction also extends to the film’s treatment of institutionalization, psychological therapy, and the connection between violence and mental illness. The exaggerations and distortions of Shutter Island serve one purpose, they entertain the audience. However, this type of entertainment often comes at the cost of perpetuating the negative stigma and misinformation that surrounds mental illness in modern society. While the film may entertain audiences with its dramatic twists and turns, Shutter Island is a part of a trend of inaccuracies and exaggeration of mental illness in modern