An epidemic disease is defined as one that “is prevalent among a people or a community at a special time and produced by some special causes not generally present in the affected community.” As the commoner epidemics are caused by the spread of viruses, bacteria, or parasites, there is a tendency to forget that abnormal emotional behavior may spread from person to person and so take on an epidemic form.
In the literature on laughter, reference is often made to an instance of a ‘laughter epidemic’ that is reported from Tanganyika. It seems that laughter isn’t just a joyful noise; it can be a signal of distress, spurred by anger or sadness or intertwined with mania. The most famous example of a laughter epidemic happened in Tanzania (then Tanganyika) in 1962, but this kind of psychological behavior happens on a weekly basis around the world, particularly among populations experiencing chronic stress.
Origin of Laughter epidemic
The disease commenced on 30th January, 1962, at a mission-run girls’ middle school at Kashasha village, 25 miles from Bukoba. Three girls began laughing, possibly in response to a joke, and couldn’t stop. Soon, the fit of giggles spread to their classmates, until nearly 60 percent of the students were experiencing a rare collection of symptoms. The students were restless, alternating between uncontrollable bouts of laughter and sobbing that lasted from a few minutes to a few hours at a time. Some of the girls experienced other symptoms like physical pain, respiratory problems, fainting, and rashes.
Psychologists, doctors, and scientists were called in, all of them at a loss for an explanation for what was happening; no toxins or environmental factors seemed to be causing the laughter epidemic, and all the girls’ lab tests came back normal.
Spread of Laughter epidemic
By March, the school officials gave up and requested that parents take their daughters home. But as the girls fanned out into their respective communities around the country, their families and people in their villages started laughing, too. Other schools became infected. In all, hundreds of people were infected over the course of 18 months. Mostly young people, and primarily girls, but older people and men came down with the laughing sickness, too. There were no fatalities.
Course of the disease
Symptoms have lasted from several hours in a few cases up to a maximum of 16 days. During this time, the patient is unable to perform her normal duties and is difficult to control. Laughing continuously for more than 20 seconds can lead to fainting and respiratory issues due to disrupted breathing. Some victims experienced rashes and uncontrollable flatulence. The laughter, though uncontrollable, often left people distressed rather than amused. The majority of those affected have had more than one attack separated by a period of normality. The maximum number of attacks was four. No serious sequelae have been reported. However, school teachers state that for several weeks after recovery, the girls are unable to attend well to their lessons.
Possible reasons behind this epidemic
The Tanganyika ‘laughter epidemic’ is a case of motor-variant mass psychogenic illness. According to the report, to exclude potential physical causes, selected subjects were tested for food poisoning and signs of toxic substances, with negative results. No known form of the virus is assumed to account for the symptoms. Investigators later attributed the phenomenon to mass psychogenic illness (MPI), a condition where psychological distress manifests in physical symptoms. In this case, anxiety stemming from recent independence and academic pressure likely triggered the laughter outbreaks.
References
Hempelmann, C. F. (2007). The laughter of the 1962 Tanganyika ‘laughter epidemic’.
Provine, R. R. (1992). Contagious laughter: Laughter is a sufficient stimulus for laughs and smiles. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 30(1), 1-4.
Provine, R. R. (1996). Laughter. American scientist, 84(1), 38-45.
Hennefeld, M. (2016). Death from laughter, female hysteria, and early cinema. differences, 27(3), 45-92.