Collective hysteria

In Psychiatry collective hysteria is the name given to a phenomenon due to the manifestation of the same hysterical symptoms by more than one person. It normally begins when an individual shows a hysteric manifestation in front of others who "contagiously" acquire the same symptoms. As examples can be cited cases of accident in which people act "irrationally", screaming, running in the wrong direction, etc; cases in which a person who is suspected of a crime is caught by a crew and one of the members throws a stone or gives the first kick, and the rest joins the action; etc. See also hysteria.