Is Havana Syndrome Real? Here’s What History Can Tell Us

By Paul Rogers

In 2016, CIA officers successful Havana, Cuba, started having unexplained wellness issues. They reported a persistent piercing dependable followed by symptoms including headaches, nausea, vertigo, occupation concentrating, and representation loss. Was it a caller condition? Or was it the latest incidence of the centuries-old improvement of wide psychogenic illness, formerly called wide hysteria?

Since 2016, hundreds of incidents of what is present dubbed “Havana syndrome” person been recorded by U.S. quality and Foreign Service unit successful a increasing database of planetary locations, including Russia and China. As astir were moving successful hotbeds of espionage, surrounded by accepted U.S adversaries, galore successful the American authorities and media soon began to fishy foul play.

Others are skeptical, theorizing that wide psychogenic unwellness (MPI) is truly down Havana syndrome. “Mass hysteria is an outbreak of a carnal unwellness successful a radical that appears to person an integrated oregon physiological cause, but really stems from intelligence causes, often from anxiety,” says Gary Small, MD, prof of psychiatry astatine UCLA.

The question is acold from settled. But MPI is not a caller phenomenon; examples popular up passim history. And portion the symptoms, patients, and locations differ, immoderate trends clasp steady: these illnesses are often calved of stress, and they dispersed similar wildfire among adjacent societal networks. No 2 “epidemics” are precisely alike, but past whitethorn shed immoderate airy connected the contiguous murky situation: If Havana syndrome is different MPI, however does it comparison to MPIs successful the past? Can humanities instances of wide psychogenic unwellness lend to a amended knowing of this elusive aesculapian enigma?

Dancing Mania, 1518

MPI has been recognized since the Middle Ages. Dancing mania was archetypal reported successful 7th-century Europe and reappeared crossed that continent until the 17th century, comprising immense crowds dancing erratically for sometimes days astatine a time. A notable 1518 outbreak began with the feverish cavorting of a lone pistillate successful the streets of Strasbourg successful modern-day France. Theories arsenic to wherefore groups of up to 400 radical followed suit see stress-induced psychosis resulting from wide illness and famine successful the region.

Salem Witch Trials, 1692

The infamous Salem, MA, witch trials of 1692-1693 were a effect to galore girls having outlandish, inexplicable fits. The origin of these convulsions and their mentation arsenic grounds of witchcraft are inactive debated. But corporate hostility resulting from caller epidemics and posttraumatic accent upset from the ongoing King William’s War, from which galore of the affected girls were refugees, person been cited arsenic factors.

“You thin to spot patterns,” says Small. “People affected often are successful isolated situations. There’s immoderate benignant of accent that the radical is experiencing without immoderate means of resolving it.”

Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic, 1962

The 1962 Tanganyika laughter epidemic began astatine a mission-run girls’ boarding schoolhouse successful Kashasha, Tanzania. Starting with 3 students, fits of laughter lasting up to respective days dispersed passim the school, forcing its closure. The epidemic past dispersed to a colony to which respective students had returned.

Boston School Play Incident, 1979

Small co-authored a study of a 1979 incidental astatine a Boston simple schoolhouse when, portion performing successful an end-of-year play, an influential lad became dizzy and fell, bleeding profusely. This triggered psychogenic responses including dizziness, hyperventilation, and abdominal symptom successful one-third of the pupil body.

“There are a fig of intelligence stressors among those kids, fto unsocial conscionable the show anxiousness they’re experiencing,” says Small, whose findings suggested a narration betwixt puerility loss, specified arsenic parental divorcement oregon household death, and susceptibility to MPI.

West Bank Fainting Epidemic, 1983

In 1983, an outbreak of wide fainting and nausea affected 943 Palestinian girls and a fewer pistillate Israeli soldiers successful the occupied West Bank. Israel and Palestine traded allegations of chemic warfare, but yet a section wellness authoritative concluded that portion the archetypal 20% of cases were astir apt caused by an unidentified gas, the remainder were fundamentally psychosomatic, according to Time magazine.

Santa Monica Illness, 1989

A UCLA investigation of a 1989 incidental successful which 247 pupil performers, astir of them female, became violently sick astatine Santa Monica Civic Auditorium likewise noted that children who saw a person go sick were the astir apt to make symptoms, which were frankincense transmitted done societal networks.

Mexico City Leg Pain Incident, 2006

Hundreds of girls astatine a boarding schoolhouse adjacent Mexico City experienced unexplained limb pain, nausea, and fever during 2006-2007. It was a closed community, with students denied entree to tv oregon radio. The resulting astir familial bonds betwixt them whitethorn person contributed to what psychiatrist Nashyiela Loa Zavala, who investigated the case, has termed the “audiovisual contagion” of MPI.

How Havana Syndrome Compares

Commonalities beryllium betwixt astatine slightest immoderate Havana syndrome cases and humanities MPI outbreaks. MPI usually begins among a small, cohesive radical of radical of higher status, successful a stressful situation, and past spreads.

“The engagement of 4 [CIA agents] from the aforesaid presumption is simply a defining diagnostic of wide psychogenic illness, which is known to travel societal networks,” says New Zealand-based aesculapian sociologist Robert Bartholomew, PhD.

Most Havana syndrome cases are unit isolated acold from location successful overseas embassies, not dissimilar the boarding students progressive successful galore MPI outbreaks. They are bonded by a stressful enactment environment, nether changeless surveillance, and apt cognizant of Russia’s alleged anterior usage of microwave transmissions to disrupt U.S. intelligence. Yet for reasons of nationalist security, they are typically incapable to stock related anxieties with household oregon “civilian” friends.

Some symptoms antecedently attributed to MPI, including headache, dizziness, and nausea, person been associated with Havana syndrome. Bartholomew suggested that “reframing” of these communal complaints by those affected, to bespeak what doctors and authorities authorities are telling them, could lend to the phenomenon. In different words, radical mightiness beryllium experiencing generic symptoms communal successful MPI and beryllium susceptible to sinister explanations -- without immoderate grounds for them.

Havana syndrome outbreaks are separated by sometimes thousands of miles, which ostensibly eliminates audiovisual contagion. But the net has redefined the conception of “community” to present transcend geographical proximity. Social media and online quality undoubtedly made U.S. diplomats and quality officers good alert of graphic descriptions of Havana syndrome symptoms from peers astir the world, immoderate of whom would beryllium personally known to them from anterior postings.

However, Havana syndrome does not conscionable each communal MPI criteria. Small noted “a preponderance of symptoms [of MPI] successful girls oregon women compared with boys oregon men.” Indeed, MPI disproportionately affects young girls much than immoderate different demographic. Yet the bulk of Havana syndrome cases person been middle-aged men.

There is nary statement connected the origin of Havana syndrome. Theories scope from the mating telephone of crickets to a sonic weapon. Some experts support that aboriginal cases of Havana syndrome contiguous unambiguous grounds of neurological harm accordant with vulnerability to microwave radiation. Yet they stay unfastened to contributing psychosocial factors successful astatine slightest immoderate instances.

“We recovered [microwave radiation] to beryllium astir plausible successful explaining a subset of the cases, not each cases,” says David Relman, MD, a Stanford University microbiologist who headed the National Academy of Sciences survey of Havana syndrome. Relman said that this subset comprised unit of the American embassy successful Cuba and astatine the U.S. consulate successful Guangzhou, China, which was the 2nd determination to study symptoms.

James Giordano, PhD, prof of neurology astatine Georgetown University and advisor to the Pentagon, said that the archetypal cases astatine the Havana embassy “had nonsubjective features -- clinically relatable, objectifiable, and valid and evidentiary signs -- that were indicative of immoderate signifier of neurological trauma oregon insult.” But helium noted that lone a fraction of the worldwide incidents to day person been verified arsenic gathering the full, nonsubjective objective criteria for the benignant of anomalous wellness incidental known arsenic Havana syndrome.

After 5 years, hundreds of cases connected aggregate continents, and continuous, inconclusive investigation, determination whitethorn ne'er beryllium a definitive reply to whether Havana syndrome is carnal oregon psychogenic. But past whitethorn bring much clarity than Cold-War-era spycraft. Havana syndrome has immoderate large differences from MPI epidemics of the past, but successful galore ways it’s much akin than not -- and paranoia successful the American quality assemblage would hardly beryllium unprecedented.

Paul Rogers is simply a British-born writer based successful Los Angeles. A postgraduate of the School of African and Asian Studies astatine the University of Sussex, his enactment has appeared successful the Los Angeles Times, National Geographic Traveler, LA Weekly, and galore others.