Mass hysteria? Classes suspended after some students collapse

By: Glazyl Y. Masculino

BACOLOD City – Classes were suspended at Fr. Gratian Murray Integrated School in Barangay Granada here on July 9, 2019 after more than 10 female Grade 8 and Grade 9 students suddenly collapsed.

According to head teacher Ariel Sablaon, the first incident happened last Monday afternoon, wherein a Grade 8 student collapsed around 3:30 p.m. inside a classroom building located at the back of the school which was built in 2016.

Sablaon said he assisted the student, who allegedly sounded like a male adult, informing him about a fatal accident involving a family in 2016 at the said village.

He brought her to the clinic and to the chapel, until her parents fetched her.

However, one of her classmates who helped her and two others also suffered the same.

The following day, the students were praying rosary at a field near a big tree when some of them also fainted.  It prompted the school officials to suspend the classes.

“Their bodies weakened, and they were ‘hysterically’ shouting,” Sablaon said.

About 10 of them were brought to a hospital for proper medical attention. The elementary and kinder pupils were not affected.

Meanwhile, City Health Office (CHO) head Dr. Carmela Gensoli and Dr. Grace Tan arrived at the school for an ocular inspection.

Dr. Joeanne Marie Jomalesa, psychologist III of CHO-Mental Health Division, said she was told that the incident was like mass possession but they have to verify it first because they don’t know if it’s related to a spiritual aspect or a psychiatric case.

“It could be a mass hysteria, but we need to get into the details first before we evaluate and proceed with the intervention,” she added.

Mass hysteria is a condition affecting a group of persons, characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behavior or beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms of illness.

Jomalesa said they will start their assessment with the child who started the alleged “hysteria” to also hear her side about what happened, and they will conduct a room to room evaluation.

She said they will create a team for the intervention phase so that they can start talking to the children next week.

She also noted that they can work hand in hand with the church to also determine if it has an effect on the spiritual aspect.

This is a sensitive case, we will give the students a psycho-social intervention talk to also ease their trauma about the incident, she said.

For his part, school principal Dionisio Lindugan said they already informed the Department of Education (DepEd) about what happened.

They also immediately called for a priest to address the situation after it was initially reported as a case of possession. He, however, said that the priest claimed the students were not possessed.

This is the first incident that happened in the school, Lindugan said.

He advised parents to understand the situation as the authorities are already on top of the situation.