Uttarakhand: Why were 39 girl students of this college hit by mass hysteria? Locals call it 'God's wrath'

The Government Inter College Ramak, located about 90 km from Champawat district headquarters in Uttarakhand, has seen at least 39 girl students crying, shouting and running away from classes together these days. Their parents have blamed it on God’s “wrath”. The education department has described the strange behaviour as mass hysteria. The matter came to light on Wednesday evening when Chief Education Officer Jitendra Saxena reached the school.

There are 82 girls and 69 boys studying in Ramak GIC of Pati block. The school administration says since the last week of November, many girl students from Classes VI to XII have suddenly started running away after crying and shouting, complaining of a headache. Every day after school recess, at least five girl students have suffered such a bout.

“A team led by medical officer-in-charge Dr Gursharan Kaur has been sent to the school. The team has conducted a counselling camp. It has prima facie found that a lack of communication with symptoms of behavioural disorder is a major reason for the problem,” said Champawat CMO Dr KK Aggarwal.

“However, the people of the village call it an outbreak of the deity’s wrath,” said Aggarwal. Speaking to this paper, Dr Divya Ghai Chopra, MD, an expert in the field of psychiatry and women’s mental health, said, “Victims generally experience symptoms like chest pain, dizziness, headaches, fainting, shaking and twitching. A partial paralysis, unstoppable laughing or crying can affect the speech pattern.”

She says it eventually turns into a mass hysteria, which is a type of conversion disorder or dissociative disorder that involves emotional or mental stress or physical symptoms induced by stress,” said Dr Divya. She said another important factor that triggers such a situation is taboos about menstruation that exist in rural society and its impact on a girl’s emotional state. “Sometimes, this leads to low self-esteem, anxiety and depression,” she added.

“This kind of condition usually starts verbally and visually. Therefore, people who see or hear about someone with symptoms often start experiencing the same symptoms themselves,” says Dr Divya. In July this year, many girl students started screaming at the Government Girls Junior High School at Raikholi in Bageshwar.  The health of eight students deteriorated over the course of four days, sources said.