Name: FUNDAR, ARABELLA B.

Course/Year Level: BS PSYCHOLOGY III

Subject: PSY 311 Abnormal Psychology

REACTION PAPER ON WHAT HAPPENED TO THE GIRLS IN LE ROY?

In 2012, young girls in Le Roy were suddenly developing seizures and ticks similar to those
diagnosed with Tourette syndrome or epilepsy. It started with Katie, who woke up from a nap
and had suddenly developed these symptoms. Two weeks later, Lydia had the same
symptoms. Every week, more girls were developing these symptoms, most of them
cheerleaders. This strange disease or syndrome seemed random, sudden and was
spreading every week. No one could explain it. Most doctors and specialists attributed the
girls’ condition to stress or, more likely, conversion disorder. According to the Mayo Clinic,
conversion disorder and their symptoms occur with no medical understanding or explanation.
It can be triggered by stress or trauma but not always. Some people believed that because
there were cheerleaders who were affected first that people developed a conversion disorder
as a result of stress and emulation of the girls who were of a higher social status at their
school. Using Durkheim’s theories, light can be shed on how the social climate of Le Roy
was affected and why the population acted and changed as a result.

The article discusses the stress and multiple diagnoses of many high school aged girls who
go through a rough plague of the tics in the city of Le Roy, NY. Dominus lays out how the
stress starts with the young girls and their families and spreads to the school and into the
community. It becomes national news which puts even more stress on all three social
networks. Dominus shows how fast an outbreak can affect an entire community in multiple
ways. A number of girls come down with the same symptoms: quick spasms, twitching,
fainting, and more. Dominus explains how one diagnosis relates the breakout of spasms and
jerks as conversion disorder, which meant the girls were unknowingly converting stress into
physical symptoms. Because many were involved it can also be considered mass
psychogenic, which is like saying mass hysteria. It also discusses how the doctors arguing
the diagnosis of mass psychogenic (mass hysteria) argues that the symptoms got worse and
more cases emerged once the appearances on televisions shows like Dr. Drew and the
Today show made the story bigger and increased the anxiety and stress in the community.
She expresses many times how frustrated the parents of the young girls were getting with
each diagnosis. They felt their daughters weren’t stressed out. They were great girls with
great grades, they had no reason to be stressed out or have anxiety at such a young age.

Rules will have their places in life, and peer pressure can ruin it. So, keep your eyes closed, or
life will get back at you. Peer pressures and societal pressures are huge influences to human
decision making as shown in the article “What Happened to the Girls in Le Roy”. there was a
time of hysteria; everyone was accusing everyone, and no one could defend themselves.
What the accusers didn’t realize, was that that they all had a common motive behind their
accusations, and that was power.

REFERENCE
The New York Times, 620 Eighth Avenue, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10018.
The e-mail address is magazine@nytimes.com.
What Happened to the Girls in Le Roy - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

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