Epidemic hysteria and social change: an outbreak in a lower secondary school in Malaysia

The interest in epidemic hysteria has been due to an increased prevalence of the phenomena in Malaysia in recent years. This paper describes the prevalence and characteristics of epidemic hysteria in Malaysia. An outbreak in a rural Malay lower secondary girls' school was described and the factors precipitating the outbreak were studied in detailed. The social interactions, native interpretation and psychodynamic constellations in the microcosm of tensions and interpersonal conflicts leading to the outbreak of hysteria were analysed and discussed. The paper also deals with the problem of social change within a closed-in rural community and how the various key personalities involved grappled with a problem thereby instituting social change.