Tanganyika laughter epidemic

The laughter epidemic began on January 30, 1962, at a mission-run boarding school for girls in Kashasha. It started with three girls and spread throughout the school, affecting 95 of the 159 pupils, aged 12–18. Symptoms lasted from a few hours to 16 days, averaging around 7 days. The teaching staff were unaffected and reported that students were unable to concentrate on their lessons. The first outbreak in Kashasha lasted roughly 48 days. The school was forced to close on March 18, 1962. When it reopened on May 21, a second phase of the outbreak affected an additional 57 pupils. The all-girl boarding school reclosed at the end of June. ==Causes and symptoms==

Symptoms of the Tanganyika 'laughter epidemic' included laughter and crying, beside general restlessness and pain, as well as fainting, respiratory problems, and rashes. Many of the symptoms experienced were stress-induced due to various external factors. The stress and anxiety that provokes mass hysteria outbreaks are reactions to perceived threats, cultural transitions, instances of uncertainty, and social stressors. ==External factors==

Linguist Christian F. Hempelmann has theorized that the episode was stress-induced. In 1962, Tanganyika had just won its independence, he said, and students had reported feeling stressed because of higher expectations by teachers and parents. Mass Psychogenic Illness (MPI), he says, usually occurs in people without a lot of power. "MPI is a last resort for people of a low status. It's an easy way for them to express that something is wrong." ==Connected events==

The laughter epidemic was one of three sequential behavioral epidemics that occurred in the vicinity of Lake Victoria. As with the hysteria epidemic in Tanganyika, these "manias" are attributed to the radically shifting culture that began to stray away from the traditional cultural beliefs of local tribes and communities. "We must not, however, think for one moment that this is peculiar to Africans. There is much historical evidence to prove that emotional upheavals associated with hysteria occur whenever a people's cultural roots and beliefs become suddenly shattered" -Benjamin H. Kagwa ==See also==