Mysteries of the human psyche: Mass psychoses. Psychosis as a violation of mental processes Death of people mass psychosis in different countries

Mass hysterical psychosis[ | ]

An extreme form of manifestation of mass psychosis is mass hysteria. The term "mass hysteria" is generally used to define that the victims experience physical symptoms that do not actually exist.

Stories are known for such massive mental epidemics of hysteria, such as:

Z. Freud put forward a very productive idea for describing the phenomenon of the crowd. He viewed the crowd as a human mass under hypnosis. The most dangerous and essential thing in crowd psychology is its susceptibility to suggestion. Any opinion, idea or belief suggested to the crowd, it accepts or rejects entirely and refers to them either as absolute truths or as absolute delusions. In all cases, the source of suggestion in the crowd is an illusion born in one individual due to more or less vague memories. The evoked representation becomes the nucleus for further crystallization, filling the entire area of the mind and paralyzing all critical abilities.

Factors in the development of mass psychosis[ | ]

Notes (edit) [ | ]

Psychoses // Philosophical Encyclopedia
Mass psychosis and hysteria
Bekhterev V.M. Suggestion and its role in public life
Mokshantsev R., Mokshantseva A. Crowd psychology
Frith K. Brain and Soul: How Nervous Activity Shapes Our Inner World. - M .: Astrel: Corpus, 2011. - S. 272-277.
Five myths that make up the main content of the manipulation of consciousness // Schiller G. Manipulators of consciousness. - M., 1980
Televiolence (Manipulations on Russian TV channels) // Psi-factor, 2004

But the voice is someone else's, and it is not heard in the ears, but as if inside the skull. That is, the classic Kandinsky-Clerambault syndrome. The voice says strange things. At first, the patient is confused, even realizes that he is sick, asks for help and does not know what to do. But the voice grows stronger and becomes much more real than common sense and the world around us. And then confusion is replaced by what in psychiatry is called "crystallization of delirium." In an attempt to explain what is happening, the patient invents a plot. It may feature CIA radioactive beams or invisible poisonous gases from the FSB, aliens, reptilians, a syndicate of criminal hypnotists, or ancient Mayan spirits. Delirium grows stronger, becomes overgrown with details, and now the patient speaks with conviction about the spirits of the ancient Indians who have risen from the ashes. Who chose him as a guide to inform mankind through him of their firm decision to incinerate the earth if mankind does not immediately stop war, pedophilia and poaching of the Baikal omul.

After some time, the cops bring a person taken in a public place for being inadequate to the emergency room of a city mental hospital. The man threw himself at his interlocutors, argued, demanded attention and carried complete nonsense about the Mayan spirits who were resurrected and are trying to talk to humanity for the last time.

The nuance of the situation is that this inadequate person is not a sick person, but his spouse. It's just that he has an induced psychosis, and he expresses ideas that were born in someone else's sick mind. The psychiatrist's task is not easy. He must determine this and figure out what kind of delusion he is dealing with - classical or induced. To treat the induced delusions of the spouses, it will be enough to separate and completely stop their interaction. Soon, the healthy spouse will recover, and the patient will begin a long and difficult course of treatment for schizophrenia.

Induced delusions in psychiatry are not so rare. The mechanism of its occurrence is simple: if people are close enough or even relatives, if the patient enjoys respect and authority in a healthy person, then his energy of persuasion is sometimes quite enough to overshadow reality and common sense with his voice - just as the voice of the disease did before. rang out inside his head.

Is it really that easy to make a person believe in obvious nonsense? Alas, it's as easy as shelling pears. Moreover, delirium can be induced not by one person, but by several. History knows of cases when the ruler of the state, suffering from paranoia or mania, induced entire nations with his delirium: the Germans fled to enslave the world, believing Hitler in the superiority of their nation, the Russians rushed to shoot their neighbors and employees, believing Stalin in the widespread dominance of foreign spies. Induced delusion that has spread to a large crowd has a special name - mass psychosis.

One should not amuse oneself with the hope that a critical perception of reality is inherent in a person by nature. It is not human. Man in its mass is always a product of faith. Most citizens of any country are capable of believing anything. The superiority of their race over the rest. In the justice of the October Revolution. The need to burn young women suspected of witchcraft at the stake. The fact that the DPRK is the happiest country in the world, and all the people of the globe envy us. The healing properties of a magnet. In the healing of water, charged with positive vibrations of a psychic. On a pilgrimage to the icon of Matryonushka of Moscow, healing from infertility and prostatitis. The fact that the neighbor, a locksmith, Vitya, turns out to be a spy of British intelligence. And in the great proletarian justice, expressed in the shooting of the spy Viti along with his wife Vera and children. That Stalin is the most humane. And that Hitler is the most humane. Contrary to logic. No evidence. Despite the opposite. And if the need for logic arises, a person will find one suitable "fact" that will irrefutably prove that Hitler gave the children candy, the icon really healed the employee, water can memorize music (the scientist checked it!), And a UFO was once shot down by military pilots, they showed in TV show, infa 100%.

Approximately 45% of the world's population believes in God, although this number seems to me to be twice as low. They believe in the creation of a woman from a man's rib. And the Flood. Although the evidence for this is as for those Mayan spirits who threatened to destroy humanity in the name of omul. The rest of humanity believes in String and Big Bang Theory. Although there is no more evidence here either. 100% of all people in the world believe that they believe in the Real Truth, and the rest are fools, zombies and unbelievers.

The whole history of mankind is the story of a sincere belief in yet another delirium. Humanity is suffering from induced psychosis like the flu - in droves, in crowds of millions and for long decades without remission. Is it any wonder that some schizophrenic out there infected his healthy spouse with a schizophrenic idea? This is a completely normal condition for most people.

Each of us lives among patients with the most different induced delusions (more dangerous if the same), and he himself is also sick. This is totally normal. Only distant descendants will realize which of our today's beliefs and everyday habits were delirium. And they will be surprised how we believed in these ideas contrary to logic, common sense and all available statistics.

Nevertheless, logic and common sense exist, and some ideas are adequate. How to figure out which ones? If we assume that in a world filled with delirium, there is still an adequate perception of reality (or at least some part of it), then how and by what signs can this be distinguished from delusion and mass psychosis?

It is clear that the main criterion is the internal logic of the theory and its consistency. If there are suspicions of mass psychosis, it makes sense to abandon TV and other means of mass induction, and instead use fundamentally different sources, constantly comparing and assessing the reliability of the information. A separate useful skill is the constant comparison of theory with data from a variety of statistics. And not with an isolated incident that happened to an employee. A person for whom the image of two dead children looks more convincing than all the data of world statistics is a potential victim of induced delirium and a ready adherent of mass hysteria about the prohibition of cyclists, balcony loggias and home canning of mushrooms.

But there is also an auxiliary criterion that allows us to assume with a good degree of probability that we are dealing with induced delusions in the form of mass psychosis: these are the statistics of its participants. Because if we are dealing with induced delusion, then it will primarily affect those categories of people who are more prone to this than others. Even Wikipedia, with captivating frankness, lists the categories of people most susceptible to mass psychosis: hysteria, suggestibility, low intelligence. If the theory is supported by such characters in their mass, this is a good reason to suspect mass psychosis. Let's consider them in more detail.

1. Hysteria

Hysteria and aggression are valuable diagnostic criteria. Everyone knows that aggression is resorted to when the physical suppression of dissent is the last way to prove their point. If supporters of a certain idea begin to desire punishment for their opponents on a mass (not single) basis, most likely they are sick. If the supporters of the idea approve of the deliberate atrocities (torture, executions, repression, expulsion, concentration camps, long prison terms), justifying them with holy goals, then they are definitely sick. Delirium will end someday, and the descendants will be ashamed of the era.

2. Suggestibility

Suggestibility, superstition, and religiosity are similar terms, but not the same. In any case, the last thing I want here is to oppose religion and atheism - these are such complex issues that I myself do not share either side, professing my own hybrid theory of God.I believe that there is no God in our Universe, but there will be. Because to create it is the ultimate task of the technical and moral progress of mankind (perhaps originally invented and posed by God himself, for example, by using a paradox in the cosmic laws of time). It follows from this theory, in particular, that God does not help, but sees everything (all the events of the Universe that have happened are available to God, but he does not affect them retroactively). There is no need to wait for miracles and justice at this stage, but this is not a reason to sit back and be a brute. That the prayer will eventually reach the addressee, and good deeds will be credited. And even the continuation of life after death, this theory promises - albeit in half with the risk that humanity will not cope with the task, being left without the Almighty and all the blessings with which he could reward those who helped him to arise, and even those who interfered (mercy and forgiveness is a property of God). Therefore, each of the people, by their own actions, slightly changes the probability of the mission's success, and this is the main meaning, risk, work and moral choice: it will not be easy, but success is not guaranteed. In any case, this theory perfectly explains the world order, sets a noble goal of life and brings the idea of serving God to the modern level, without entering into conflict with either traditional religions, or with science, or with atheism.

But superstition in its broadest sense is a valuable diagnostic criterion, showing a willingness to accept a variety of delusional theories without requiring verification of facts. Superstitions include a variety of beliefs, whose essence is not confirmed by facts and experiment: fortune-telling, omens, dream books, horoscopes, magic, non-professional theories of self-treatment, as well as, in fact, everyday superstitions, such as the danger of black cats crossing the road. If such characters are found in a crowd of supporters of a certain idea, this is a clear signal that we are dealing with induced delusions. But, of course, a crowd of believers whose behavior contradicts their own religious teachings can serve as the same clear diagnostic criterion (even not to mention Christianity, any religion denies rudeness, violence, aggression, torture, executions, pogroms and persecutions).

3. Low intelligence

Intelligence, educational level and occupation are not synonymous, but strongly related to each other, if only simply by statistics. Therefore, if a noticeable part of the supporters of the idea are students and academics, this is hardly a mass psychosis. And vice versa: if the idea is mainly taken up by the workers and peasants, declaring that their enemies are the literate officer class, entrepreneurs and the intelligentsia, then this is a clear sign of delirium (which, however, can drag on for 70 years, as the history of the USSR has shown). And in the same way, it can be assumed that the society was struck by a mass psychosis, when mainly employees, unemployed, workers and state employees go to the demonstrations, who oppose themselves to an indefinite circle of "enemies" with a deliberately higher level of education and intelligence: the creative class, entrepreneurs, musicians , artists, writers, computer scientists.

It is impossible to describe in words what happened in the Netherlands during the World War II commemoration meeting.
While there was a minute of silence, a scream was heard in the crowd, and everyone began to scream and run in panic.
The police covered the Queen.
Panic.
For no reason, no reason.
Instantly.
Instantly.
Without even thinking to look around and change your mind ...

May 07, 2010 8:41 pm

In 1885, a cholera epidemic broke out in Italy. During these difficult days, the inhabitants of the small village of Korano near Naples began to see the Madonna in black clothes praying for the salvation of people on the nearby hill where the chapel stood. Word of this incident quickly spread throughout the area, and people began to flock to Carano. All or almost all clearly saw the praying Mother of God. A massive hallucination, like an epidemic, threatened many with insanity. Then the government took drastic measures. The chapel was moved to another place, the carabinieri occupied the hill - and the visions ceased.

In the same 19th century, during the Franco-Prussian war, hundreds of peasants of the Rhine province in the battlefield saw images of the Madonna and the crucifixion of Christ on the clouds. Similar massive hallucinations were observed during the First World War. In the Middle Ages, outbreaks of painful hallucinations occurred more than once in convents. In 1631, this was the distinguishing feature of the monastery of the Luzhensk Ursuliloks. The nuns claimed that demons began to visit them at night. They saw their "beast-like muzzles", felt how "nasty, clawed paws" were touching them. The women fought in convulsions, fell into a lethargic sleep, rolled on the floor with wild screams. They spewed curses and curses to God.

Investigation of this "case" was carried out by the holy fathers-inquisitors. The culprit was found: the priest Urban Grandier, who had long been suspected of being associated with the devil. After inhuman torture, the unfortunate Grandier was burned.

I would like to cite an excerpt from an article by the famous Russian psychiatrist V.M. Bekhterev, who studied the phenomenon of mass psychosis: “Undoubtedly,” he writes, “in some cases, the transmission of mental“ infection ”from one to another seems to be extremely facilitated even among perfectly healthy individuals. Particularly favorable conditions for such transmission are thoughts of the same kind prevailing among many people and of the same mood. Thanks to these conditions, among other things, illusions and hallucinations of an identical nature are distinguished in many persons at the same time. These collective or mass hallucinations, which occur under certain conditions, are one of the most interesting phenomena. In almost every family chronicle, one can hear stories about the vision of deceased relatives by a whole group of people. "

“Among the collective hallucinations,” writes V.M. Bekhterev, “include, among other things, the vision of the heavenly army by one detachment of Russian troops before the Battle of Kulikovo, the vision of the crusaders of the army chained in armor descending from the sky under the leadership of St. George, Demetrius and Theodol and much more. "

And nowadays, mass hallucinations are not uncommon at sectarian prayers. A hallucination that appears in one of the worshipers is then transmitted to others. The same mood for everyone, mutual suggestion, associated with constant conversations about the same subject, leads to the fact that the hallucination becomes common for the masses.
To illustrate, we will give several vivid examples of mass psychoses. In 1998, after being vaccinated in Jordan, 800 adolescents were affected by the "mystical disease". The results of the investigation showed that the cause of the disease was not immunization, but mass hysteria ( hysteria - a condition in which a person unconsciously copies the symptoms of the disease of others, biasedly looking for flaws in his own well-being) ... The mass media played a fatal role in this, convincing the population that the vaccine was spoiled, and the hype that arose after the onset of the disease aggravated the situation and increased the number of adolescents who sought help at hospitals.
One of the phenomenal cases of mass hysteria happened in France in 1789 against the backdrop of revolutionary events. "Great fear" (fr. La Grande Peur) spread throughout the country, plunging into horror the inhabitants of villages and cities, telling terrible stories about the invasion of either the Austrians or the British, whose invincible hordes erased all living things from the earth. Interestingly, the "Great Fear" had absolutely no basis under it, because there was no invasion.

There are thousands of examples of mass psychosis and hysteria, and this begs the conclusion about the influence of the media, which have every opportunity to control the crowd. Even a normal person who gets into a crowd becomes imbued with a general mood and loses the ability to be critical

thinking.

Collective hysteria often spreads when there is a fear of real or imagined illness combined with a stressful environment.

Here are the strangest cases of mass hysteria that demonstrate how quickly society can be swallowed up.
Mass hysteria (examples)

Meowing nuns

In France in the Middle Ages, nuns began to meow inexplicably like cats. Other nuns soon joined them, until the whole monastery began to emit meowing sounds for several hours.

The situation got out of control, and the villagers were forced to call in soldiers, who threatened to flog the nuns if they didn't stop. In those days, it was believed that some animals, especially cats, can take possession of people.

Shivering epidemic when writing

The first massive manifestation of this hysteria occurred in Gross-Tinz in 1892, when a 10-year-old girl's hand began to tremble in class. The tremors spread throughout her body and passed on to other students in her class, 15 of them.

In the same year, 20 children in Basel, Switzerland developed the same shaking symptoms. Twenty years later, 27 more children in Basel developed the same tremors, possibly after listening to the story of the first case of massive tremors.

Halifax Buster

In 1938, two women from Halifax in England claimed to have been attacked by a strange man with a hammer and brightly colored shoe buckles. Soon, even more people began to claim that they were attacked by a similar man, only with a knife. Soon, the Scotland Yard police decided to take on this case. In the end, it turned out that many of the "victims" had actually made up the story, and some of them were even sent to prison for harm to society.

Mad Gasman in Matoon

In 1944, in the city of Matoon, USA, a woman Aline Kearney claimed that she felt something terrible outside the window, which made her throat burn and her legs go numb. She also saw a vague figure. Soon the entire city was frightened by an unknown biochemical intruder, but no evidence of its existence was found.
Epidemic cases

Tanganyika laughter epidemic

This incident happened in Tanganyika (present-day Tanzania) at a boarding school when three female students started laughing and their laugh was too contagious. They were soon joined by 95 of the 150 students. Some laughed for several hours, while others laughed for up to 16 days. The school was closed, but this did not stop the laughter, which spread to the neighboring village. A month later, another epidemic of laughter struck, affecting 217 people.

June epidemic of insects

In 1962, 62 workers in an American textile factory were struck by a mysterious disease. She caused symptoms such as numbness, nausea, headaches, and vomiting. Many believed that the disease was caused by June insect bites, but in fact the symptoms were caused by mass hysteria due to stress.

Blackburn faints

In 1965, several girls from a school in Blackburn, England began to complain of dizziness and many fainted. Within an hour, 85 girls were admitted to hospital after fainting. A year later, it was revealed that the recent outbreak of polio in Blackburn caused mass hysteria.

Evil Charm Mount Pleasant

In 1976, 15 students at the Mount Pleasant School in Mississippi fell to the ground and began to wriggle in pain. The school and police suspected drugs were the cause, but there was no evidence of this. The disciples believed that some kind of curse was to blame, and one third of all the disciples stayed at home for a day so that they would not be overtaken by "corruption."

Fainting epidemic in the West Bank

About 943 Palestinian girls and women fainted on the west bank of the Jordan River in 1983. Israel and Palestine have accused each other of using chemical weapons. In fact, only 20 percent inhaled something toxic, and the remaining 80 percent were hysterical.

Poisoning of students in Kosovo

In 1990, thousands of students in Kosovo fell ill with what many thought were toxic gas poisoning. Many fainted, vomiting and seizures, sore eyes and facial flushing. Doctors have never been able to figure out what exactly caused the poisoning, and suggest that it was a case of mass hysteria.

Shock from Pokémon

The first season of the Pokémon anime had an episode that was never shown outside of Japan due to the fact that it caused nausea and epileptic seizures in approximately 12,000 Japanese children after watching it in 1997. The series "Dennō Senshi Porygon" was accompanied by bright flashes, which were supposed to cause seizures. Others believe it was a case of mass hysteria.

Sugar Strawberry Virus

In 2006, they showed a series from the Portuguese soap opera "Strawberries with Sugar", where the heroes suffered from a terrible disease. After viewing, 300 children developed symptoms of this disease. Several schools have been closed in an attempt to stem the mass hysteria.
Charlie's spirit

Although the version of this game has been popular in South America for many years, it has recently become very popular. During the session, the person asks a question to a spirit named Charlie, who presumably answers by directing the movement of pencils stacked on top of each other.

A simpler example of mutual suggestion is the following fact. Everyone knows how the mood changes when a cheerful person appears among the bored. Very quickly, even without particularly striving for this, the rest become infected with his fun. It also happens that a bored person gets in a good mood when he finds himself in a cheerful and lively society.

In psychiatry textbooks, among the lush variety of mental illnesses, there is one that occupies a special place. Since there are painful symptoms, as it were, but the patient himself is healthy. The name of this disease is induced psychosis.

For example, let's imagine a family of two middle-aged spouses. They lived happily ever after, but one fine day one of the spouses falls ill with schizophrenia. The disease proceeds according to classical textbooks: he begins to have small problems, all sorts of disorders of attention, and against the background of these small symptoms inside the head, a voice begins to be heard more and more clearly. The patient does not know whose voice it is. But the voice is someone else's, and it is not heard in the ears, but as if inside the skull. That is, the classic Kandinsky-Clerambault syndrome. The voice says strange things. At first, the patient is confused, even realizes that he is sick, asks for help and does not know what to do. But the voice grows stronger and becomes much more real than common sense and the world around us. And then confusion is replaced by what in psychiatry is called "crystallization of delirium." In an attempt to explain what is happening, the patient invents a plot. It may feature CIA radioactive beams or invisible poisonous gases from the FSB, aliens, reptilians, a syndicate of criminal hypnotists, or ancient Mayan spirits. Delirium grows stronger, becomes overgrown with details, and now the patient speaks with conviction about the spirits of the ancient Indians who have risen from the ashes. Who chose him as a guide to inform mankind through him of their firm decision to incinerate the earth if mankind does not immediately stop war, pedophilia and poaching of the Baikal omul.

One should not amuse oneself with the hope that a critical perception of reality is inherent in a person by nature. It is not human. Man in his mass is always a product of faith. Most citizens of any country are capable of believing anything. The superiority of their race over the rest. In the justice of the October Revolution. The need to burn young women suspected of witchcraft at the stake. The fact that the DPRK is the happiest country in the world, and all the people of the globe envy us. The healing properties of a magnet. In the healing of water, charged with positive vibrations of a psychic. On a pilgrimage to the icon of Matryonushka of Moscow, healing from infertility and prostatitis. The fact that the neighbor, a locksmith, Vitya, turns out to be a spy of British intelligence. And in the great proletarian justice, expressed in the shooting of the spy Viti along with his wife Vera and children. That Stalin is the most humane. And that Hitler is the most humane. Contrary to logic. No evidence. Despite the opposite. And if the need for logic arises, a person will find one suitable "fact" that will irrefutably prove that Hitler gave the children candy, the icon really healed the employee, water can memorize music (the scientist checked it!), And a UFO was once shot down by military pilots, they showed in TV show, infa 100%.

It is clear that the main criterion is the internal logic of the theory and its consistency. If there is a suspicion of the presence of mass psychosis, it makes sense to abandon TV and other means of mass induction, and instead use fundamentally different sources, constantly comparing and assessing the reliability of the information. A separate useful skill is the constant comparison of theory with data from a variety of statistics. And not with an isolated incident that happened to an employee. A person for whom the image of two dead children looks more convincing than all the data of world statistics is a potential victim of induced delirium and a ready adherent of mass hysteria about the prohibition of cyclists, balcony loggias and home canning of mushrooms.

1. Hysteria

2. Suggestibility

3. Low intelligence

Psychosis is a complex disease of a person's mental state, which is characterized by a severe mental disorder that does not correspond to real situations and circumstances. Psychosis as a violation of mental processes is characterized by a discrepancy between human activity and what is happening around him.

This disease is classified as a severe form of mental disorder, and it is a collective complex of various disorders. As a rule, they are accompanied by symptoms of psychopathological processes, which include: depersonalization, hallucinations and pseudo-hallucinations, derealization and various variants of delusion.

The perception of reality in this disorder is completely distorted, which can also manifest itself in the form of pathological disorders of perception and thinking in general.

The reasons for the development of psychosis

The disease can be provoked by various factors, therefore, the reasons for the development of psychosis are divided into internal and external. When the main cause lies in individual, internal disorders, this type of psychosis is called endogenous.

It can be caused by the expression of the nervous system or endocrine balance. Often, these factors are due to age-related changes in the body and arising hypertension, atherosclerotic processes in the vessels of the brain.

Endogenous psychosis is characterized by a rather pronounced duration and the presence of relapses. External causes of psychosis are most often mental trauma, constant stress, industrial poisoning, alcoholism, drug and psychedelic use, infectious diseases with damage to the central nervous system and the brain.

Psychosis manifests itself as a rather complex combination, which makes it difficult to determine the root cause of the disease. The cause may be some kind of internal factor, while an external one, for example, a stressful situation, plays the role of a "trigger".

At the same time, the first most frequent external cause is alcohol dependence, which gradually flows into alcoholic psychosis. No less common are psychoses caused by old age, endomorphic disturbances or clouding of consciousness.

Signs and symptoms of psychosis

The specificity of this disorder lies in a deep violation of the perception of reality and disorganization of the patient's behavior. Often, the first signs of an upcoming disorder are a decrease in physical activity and work tolerance, a violation of stress resistance and attention.

Such a person suddenly becomes characterized by a tendency to depression, frequent anxiety, insecurity. The patient withdraws into himself, withdraws, strives for isolation from others, treats them with pronounced suspicion. Frequent interest in unusual things, such as magic and religion, is also characteristic. At the same time, it is possible to gradually develop persecution mania.

Most often, the signs and symptoms of psychosis are paroxysmal. In other words, the disease proceeds in the form of a series of sudden outbreaks of exacerbation, which are followed by periods of remission and false recovery. For outbreaks of seizures, seasonality is characteristic, they can also be triggered by various psychostimulating factors, emotional upheavals, stress.

A person suffering from disorders is not capable of an independent critical assessment of his condition, although he experiences profound metamorphoses. First of all, the loss of an adequate perception of the surrounding world plays a role. At the same time, strong oppression, depression sets in, the person is pursued by constant and.

This manifests itself in incoherent conversations with oneself, sudden unreasonable laughter, a sharp change in behavior to alert, concentrated. The patient may begin to listen intently to something, while expressing a preoccupied look. Behavior can change to secretive, hostile, characterized by ideas of the greatness of one's "I".

Mass psychoses

Massive variants of psychosis are also possible as disorders of mental processes. This specific state is typical for teams and companies, where the ideas of imitation and heightened suggestibility act as the basis. These cases are characterized by extra-collective behavior, which is often referred to as "crowd".

A crowd is a certain group of people, whose members can be pronouncedly amorphous, be unfamiliar with each other, but, despite this, they will unite with some common ideas, experiences, emotions. Examples of mass psychoses are collective self-immolation, addiction to computer games or social networks, mass patriotic or pseudo-patriotic frenzy.

Almost all mass psychoses based on suggestion begin with an illusory idea that arises from one of the team members. As a rule, such a person acts as a "secret leader" and has a certain amount of charisma and oratory, which is quite enough for the inspired "public".

An important role is also played by unconscious processes that can be associated with some large-scale action that has a pronounced impression or affects certain interests. A striking example is the various forms of protests and the struggle for an idea or right.

Senile psychosis

This condition occurs, as a rule, after 60 years. At the same time, it is characterized by a pronounced clouding of consciousness and in many ways can resemble a developing one. This disease differs from senile dementia in that it does not have a total loss of mind.

A common cause of development is somatic diseases of this age group. For example, senile psychosis can be caused by acute or chronic respiratory diseases.

Common causes are vitamin deficiencies, heart failure, postoperative periods, and pathologies of the genitourinary system. Much less often, low mobility and an inactive lifestyle, unbalanced nutrition and disruption of the daily routine can become a provoking factor. A variant of the chronic form of the disease is possible, which is characterized by a pronounced degree of depression.

Treatment of psychosis

How much psychosis can be cured and what is the future prognosis of the patient's life depends on the severity and type of the disease. It is important to understand that psychosis sufferers need hospitalization, as they themselves are often unaware of their actions and can harm both themselves and others.

Drug therapy consists of the use of antipsychotics, tranquilizers, as well as antidepressants and restorative drugs. Subsequent psychological rehabilitation is also important, which includes building trusting relationships with the patient and training sessions. The use of physiotherapy, various types of physiotherapy exercises, and occupational therapy is widespread.

This will not only relieve the patient's stress, but also improve the metabolic processes and the patient's performance. It is important to understand that the psyche of a person, especially those who have suffered a serious disorder, is a rather flexible and shaky structure. For this reason, full recovery and recovery in some may proceed quickly, while in others it may take months.

ABOUT ADVANCED DISORDERS - INDUCED AND MASS

Delusional disorder (or psychosis) is a clearly defined disorder of a person's mental activity, in which his behavioral reactions contradict the real situation. There is a very extensive classification of them according to various criteria. In this article, we will discuss one type - namely, induced psychosis (induced delusional disorder).
The hallmark of induced psychosis is the presence of symptoms of mental disorder in a completely mentally healthy person. Where do these symptoms come from? Let's figure it out.

Imagine a family consisting of an elderly mother and an elderly daughter who, due to circumstances, are forced to live under the same roof. The mother, due to her advanced age, shows clear signs of incipient paranoia - she imagines the insidious conspiracies of social workers, she constantly accuses the sellers of trying to weigh or cheat on her, the woman is convinced that a teenage neighbor will one night break open the door and steal all her savings. There are more and more such crazy ideas day by day, and, of course, she regularly shares her experiences with her daughter.

After some time, a middle-aged woman is delivered to the psychiatric ward of the hospital, who behaved inappropriately in a public place - a grocery store - attacked the cashier with her fists, accused all trade workers of conspiring against customers.
The clinic's specialists are faced with a difficult task - they must recognize whether it is a true psychosis or an induced one. Indeed, in our history, the mother is sick - she is the inducer of symptoms, and the daughter is simply a recipient of maternal delusional ideas. To heal the induced patient, it is enough just to completely break his connection with the inducer. The latter needs an appropriate course of treatment.

It is much easier to become a victim of induced delusions than it seems at first glance. If the donor of psychosis and the recipient are in a sufficiently close relationship and the former enjoys authority with the latter, then sooner or later delusional ideas will have a chance to overshadow the voice of reason of a mentally healthy person, thereby causing a state of psychosis.

In addition, several people and even whole crowds can become victims of the inductor at the same time. There are many examples in history when a mentally unbalanced ruler infected the vast majority of the inhabitants of his country with his delirium. The brightest of them - the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin and the theory of the superiority of the Aryan race of Adolf Hitler.

Induced delusion that is common to a large number of people is called mass psychosis. This concept means the state of a crowd of people under the influence of any general idea, faith.

All of humanity has lived for centuries in a state of one or another mass psychosis.

A person, in fact, is a product of his environment, it is easier for him to think like the majority.

That is why we believe in the power of water charged by a psychic on TV, in losing weight with the help of hypnosis and a magic pancake made of white clay, and in the fact that someone, somewhere, once saw a UFO. The spread of the mass delusional state is greatly facilitated by the Internet and television. Who among us has not received e-mails from an unknown author telling about shards of glass found in baby food or about a poison that is specially added to some food?

However, along with crazy ideas, there are also normal, adequate theories. How do you recognize them? First, it is worth abandoning the influence of all means of mass induction (radio, TV). Secondly, to compare data from different sources of information, to assess their reliability and consistency. It is worth using extensive data, and not taking on faith any isolated case. A true theory will always be logical, without internal contradictions.
Another sign by which mass psychosis can be recognized is the characteristics of its participants.

There are certain categories of people who are more susceptible to induction than others. The qualities inherent in victims of mass delusional states are aggression, suggestibility and fanaticism, a low level of intelligence. Let's consider each of them separately.

Aggression
It is used when the threat of physical violence becomes the only way to prove oneself right. If a crowd demands reprisals against opponents (war, torture, imprisonment), justifying itself by some higher goal, this is definitely a mass psychosis.

Suggestibility and fanaticism
As well as superstition and religiosity. These concepts are similar in their own way, but there is a difference. If in the crowd of "ideological" there are characters who believe in fortune telling, horoscopes, the power of spilled salt and the danger of black cats, then you are dealing with victims of mass delirium. The same can be said about the community of religious fanatics demanding reprisals against "infidels" - no religion encourages violence, persecution and disrespect for one's neighbor - that is, people themselves contradict the professed faith.

Low intelligence
An example is the demonstration of the unemployed, the homeless, who oppose themselves to a circle of people with a higher level of intelligence. It is noteworthy that cultural workers, successful entrepreneurs, scientists and even university students are less susceptible to mass fortunes than representatives of the working class, not to mention the lumpenized strata of the population.

So, if all or some of the listed qualities are inherent in the participants of any large-scale actions, then you have become a witness of the phenomenon of mass psychosis. And only a critical understanding of what is happening will help you avoid its harmful effects.

Discussion article. Your opinion?