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Havana Syndrome

posted by Fnord666 on Friday July 10 2020, @11:58AM   
from the overworked-and-underpaid dept.

AnonTechie writes:

Authors of the new Springer book identify mass psychogenic illness as the likely cause of Havana Syndrome, a mysterious condition affecting American and Canadian diplomats stationed in Cuba between 2016 and 2019.

Dozens of embassy staff reported an array of complaints that have baffled the medical community, the most prominent being concussion-like symptoms without head trauma. U.S. Government physicians have promoted the theory that the diplomats and their families were the victims of a sonic attack. Studies of the embassy patients have been inconclusive. In their book Havana Syndrome: Mass Psychogenic Illness and the Real Story Behind the Embassy Mystery and Hysteria, the authors Robert W. Baloh and Robert E. Bartholomew observe that the outbreak is notably similar to the appearance of 'shell shock' and other combat syndromes. The two medical experts conclude that neurological complaints from an overstimulated nervous system have been misdiagnosed as concussions and brain damage when the real cause is stress.

Havana Syndrome

[Source]: Springer Book

However, I think this mystery is far from solved. For example: Why were diplomats & embassy staff, predominantly from the US and Canada, affected?, Why not other American citizens? Why only between the years 2016 and 2019? Why not before or after? What do you guys think about this?

[Ed Note: Fixed date in last paragraph. Thanks c0lo!]

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Original Submission

• Already debunked Already debunked (Score: 3, Interesting) by Samantha Wright on Friday July 10 2020, @06:55PM (2 children)

  by Samantha Wright (4062) on Friday July 10 2020, @06:55PM (#1019188)

  In 2017, 2018, and 2019 sociologist Robert Bartholomew[52][53][54] and some neurologists wrote that the attacks represent episodes of mass psychogenic illness.[15][55][56][57][49] However, the co-lead author of the 2019 study published in JAMA, Ragini Verma of the University of Pennsylvania Perlman School of Medicine, considered a "wholly psychogenic or psychosomatic cause" to be very unlikely, given the researchers' findings,[6] and State Department medical director Dr. Charles Rosenfarb testified that the department had "all but ruled out 'mass hysteria" as a cause.[53][58][59]

  Stress wouldn't cause brain damage, as others have pointed out. The same thing also happened in China in 2018.

  Personally I'm in favour of the 'misplaced or misconfigured listening devices' hypothesis, in which said devices caused hypersonic interference with each other. It's the only theory that actually makes sense in an embassy between former Cold War rivals.

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+2
  Interesting=2, Total=2
  Extra 'Interesting' Modifier		0
  Total Score:		3

• Re:Already debunked Re:Already debunked (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 10 2020, @10:07PM (1 child)

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 10 2020, @10:07PM (#1019246)

  I hope you meant ultrasonic. Hypersonic implies exploding Russian nuclear powered missiles

  Anyway, I think these people just tried to commit suicide by sticking their heads in the microwave

  Parent

  • Re:Already debunked (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 11 2020, @01:23AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 11 2020, @01:23AM (#1019314)

    "Anyway, I think these people just tried to commit suicide by sticking their heads in the microwave"

    It's not that easy.

    I think all of the " clean" ways of doing this are no longer available, like secobarbitol.

    Determined people still do it, but it's messy... But then it also gives them one last chance to even the score with the ones who drove them to do this.

    Parent