Shownotes Transcript
When's the last time you've talked publicly about this? Publicly? When it happened. So it's been a while. It's been a while. In 2011, something strange began to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York. There was a lot going on with these girls having outbursts.
Wow.
A mystery illness, and spreading fast. And then next thing you know, they're going, and their arms are swinging. With a diagnosis the state tried to keep on the down low. So by then, everybody thought I was holding something back. Well, you were holding something back intentionally. Yeah, well, yeah. And when it finally comes out, feels positively Looney Tunes. It's called mass hysteria. Especially for a woman. It's used when doctors don't know the diagnosis. Something's wrong here.
something's not right. Is this the largest mass hysteria since the witches of Salem? It's like, no, that just does not fit. That's not it. I know it's not. Or is it something else entirely? What's the common denominator here? I remember hearing at some point, it must be a bad batch of tampons. Nationally known environmentalist, Erin Brockovich, sent a team to Leroy yesterday. Leroy was the new dateline and everyone was trying to solve the murder. Something happened.
And I think what happened to you happened to me. Who's susceptible? Just how often is this happening? And what do you do when they tell you it's all in your head? The idea that this is somehow psychogenic, psychosomatic, mass hysteria, I mean, that just doesn't apply to me. People are just so tired of being called liars that they won't talk about it anymore. I don't fault anybody for believing it at the time. I was one of them.
I'm Dan Taberski, and this is Hysterical, a new limited series from Wondery, Pineapple Street Studios, and the team that brought you 912, Running from Cops and Missing Richard Simmons. Like, am I going crazy? Is this really happening? Follow Hysterical on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Hysterical early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
