The Crucible Meets Erin Brockovich?

This story is bizarre.

Is this conversion disorder? PANDAS? Something else?

Mass hysteria?

PANDAS is an acronym for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections.

I haven't heard conversion disorders discussed since the heyday of Freudian analysis.

It is odd that the condition gets worse when the girls are together (the girls admit). That definitely points towards a psychological explanation.

I've seen parts of clips where the girls seem to be imitating tics and not having them.

And then I've seen clips where some of the girls really seem to be experiencing involuntary movements.

Although I suspect a human can fake almost any involuntary reaction like that in a voluntary or even unconsciously voluntary (in the Freudian sense) manner.

Conversion disorders do occur, but they're extreme cases, and they usually present in the form of a deeply troubled individual.

As "mass hysteria" they're much rarer.

But it could be one or two of the girls had PANDAS and began getting attention and some of the other girls copied them in the desire for attention.

I'm not trying to cast aspersions. It's just a possibility.

Is fracking responsible for this mystery illness? Comment chain with some awful punning.



Is there any science behind the "Gardasil theory" or is this an internet urban legend? NOTE: Yeah, I noted the homophobia in the epithet "Anderson Pooper" in this clip, but I'm still posting this because of the interesting speculation contained within. Be prepared for the conspiracy theorist mentality. The strongest point they make for the Gardasil theory versus the fracking, PANDAS or mass hysteria arguments is the fact that seemingly no boys are affected.



So why didn't the above radio guys just read the science behind the Gardasil side effects on air. It's no mystery. It can indeed cause these things. The question of the concentration or larger numbers of afflicted might have something to do with that particular batch of vaccine (possibly even a contamination issue).

For some reason, I could NOT post this article link as HTML. It kept deleting stuff around it: so you'll have to cut and paste if you want to see this: www.livestrong.com/article/165213-neurological-side-effects-of-gardasil/