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UNDER THE MICROSCOPE:THE SKIN-COVERING ordinarily reserved for rational social behaviour is surprisingly thin – remember the “moving statues” phenomenon in the summer of 1986. The latter is commonly explained as a form of mass hysteria. But history provides many examples of far more serious mass outbreaks of bizarre behaviour, apparently precipitated by a mixture of distress and pious fears. There is now compelling evidence that these outbreaks were instances of mass psychogenic illness. The story of this bizarre behaviour is described by John Waller in The Psychologist, in July.

In 1374 hundreds of Rhine Valley villagers were seized by a compulsion to dance for days in succession, scarcely pausing to eat. This dancing mania spread to north-eastern France and to the Netherlands, lasting for several months. Sporadic outbreaks of dancing mania occurred in the 1400s throughout Europe and an explosive instance occurred in 1518 in Strasbourg involving 400 people, causing dozens of deaths.