mass sociogenic illness

American  

noun

Pathology.

1. a condition in which a large group of people report similar physical symptoms that are traceable to social factors, as social interaction within an environment.

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Example Sentences

No biomedical cause was found in either and experts believe they were the result of mass sociogenic illness, Prof Wessely said.

From BBC

Prof Simon Wessely, a psychiatrist and epidemiologist at King's College London, said several "key epidemiological factors" led him to believe these were not a chain of poisonings, but were instead a case of "mass sociogenic illness" - in which symptoms spread among a group with no obvious biomedical cause.

From BBC

In cases of mass sociogenic illness - which used to be described as "mass hysteria" - the symptoms experienced are real, but they are caused by anxiety, not toxic poisoning, Prof Wessely said.

From BBC

Could it be that a great swathe of America is really undergoing what doctors refer to as "mass sociogenic illness" when it comes to gluten?

From BBC