Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria By: Robert E. Bartholomew, Robert W. Baloh

Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria By: Robert E. Bartholomew, Robert W. Baloh

A scientific detective story and a case study in the social construction of mass psychogenic illness. The authors provide dozens of examples of kindred episodes of mass hysteria throughout history, in addition to psychosomatic conditions and even the role of insects in triggering outbreaks.

It is one of the most extraordinary cases in the history of science: the mating calls of insects were mistaken for a “sonic weapon” that led to a major diplomatic row. Since August 2017, the world media has been absorbed in the “attack” on diplomats from the American and Canadian Embassies in Cuba. While physicians treating victims have described it as a novel and perplexing condition that involves an array of complaints including brain damage, the authors present compelling evidence that mass psychogenic illness was the cause of “Havana Syndrome”.

This mysterious condition that has baffled experts is explored across 11 chapters which offer insights by a prominent neurologist and an expert on psychogenic illness. A lively and enthralling listen, the authors explore the history of similar scares from the 18th-century belief that sounds from certain musical instruments were harmful to human health, to 19th-century cases of “telephone shock”, and more contemporary panics involving people living near wind turbines that have been tied to a variety of health complaints. The authors provide dozens of examples of kindred episodes of mass hysteria throughout history, in addition to psychosomatic conditions and even the role of insects in triggering outbreaks.

Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria is a scientific detective story and a case study in the social construction of mass psychogenic illness.

 

©2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Havana-Syndrome-Psychogenic-Illness-Hysteria/dp/B0954TKJCJ/ref=sr_1_1

Details

Listening Length 9 hours and 3 minutes
Author Robert E. BartholomewRobert W. Baloh
Narrator George Newbern
Audible.com Release Date September 28, 2021
Publisher Blackstone Publishing
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B0954TKJCJ
Best Sellers Rank #142,730 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#142 in Medicine History & Commentary
#929 in History of Medicine (Books)
#1,683 in Psychiatry (Books)