15 students in Padada, Davao del Sur taken to hospital for fatigue, hunger

Fifteen students of Southeastern College of Padada in Padada, Davao del Sur were brought to the hospital after a supposed mass hysteria event. 

According to the report of dzBB Super Radyo Davao’s Francis Timbal on Thursday, the local rural health unit said the students experienced fatigue and hunger while preparing for the school’s intramurals. This could have triggered nervousness and emotions among the students, the health unit said. 

Authorities also debunked the false information circulating online that the students were possessed by an "evil spirit."

Health experts noted that mass hysteria is a stress reaction by a group of people due to stress, fatigue, hunger, and worry, the report said.

According to a study published in the US National Library of Medicine, mass hysteria is a social phenomenon triggered by collective anxiety due to a perceived threat, which often manifests into symptoms without any cause.

Furthermore, in a paper, British psychiatrist and and former president of the UK's Royal College of Psychiatrists Simon Wessely described one form of mass hysteria as "mass anxiety hysteria," consisting of episodes of acute anxiety seen in group interactions, "occurring mainly in schoolchildren." 

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa recently urged students and teachers to adapt relaxation techniques to prevent mass hysteria.

Herbosa said that mitigating anxiety must be a practice along with evacuation drills to prevent mass hysteria. — Vince Angelo Ferreras/BM, GMA Integrated News