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Social Transmission in Acute Somatoform Epidemics

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Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

This chapter considers the social origins of acute somatoform illnesses, such as so-called hysterical epidemics and mass psychogenic illnesses. For the purposes of this chapter, somatoform illnesses are clusters of one or more complaints from individuals and typically accompany bodily, or somatic, illness—that is, in the disease model, symptoms—and one or more behaviors that typically accompany physical illness—that is, in the disease model, signs. There is evidence for social and psychological causes in these clusters (as is true in many, or even most, somatic illnesses), but they are distinct in combining the social and psychological causation with an absence of obvious physical cause.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mental Hygiene, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA

    William W. Eaton

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  1. William W. Eaton
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095-1772, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Carol S. Aneshensel

  2. Division of Sociomedical Sciences, School of Public Health, Columbia University, 10032, New York, New York, USA

    Jo C. Phelan

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Eaton, W.W. (1999). Social Transmission in Acute Somatoform Epidemics. In: Aneshensel, C.S., Phelan, J.C. (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-36223-1_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-36223-1_20

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-32516-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-36223-6

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