Two medical experts offer a convincing explanation of the mysterious illness afflicting US embassy personnel in Cuba and similar outbreaks throughout history.

This is the story of how much of the world came to believe in something that never happened. In August 2017, the American State Department announced that their embassy staff in Havana, Cuba, had been attacked by a sonic weapon that left diplomats with brain damage and other health problems. Though these embassy officials and their families experienced real symptoms of illness, in fact there was no attack, nor any mysterious "sonic weapon." Incredibly, the strange sound reported by embassy personnel was probably the buzzing of cicadas nearby.
In this in-depth investigation, a medical sociologist and a neurologist provide convincing scientific evidence that this incident is just the most recent example of mass psychogenic illness, formerly called mass hysteria. The authors explain that psychogenic illness is best thought of as a collective stress response, the opposite of the placebo effect. Just as a belief that one will recover from an illness can aid the process of recovery, a negative belief about an alleged hazard can induce illness. The condition is real and should never be dismissed as "all in their heads."
The authors go on to show how "Havana Syndrome" fits into a pattern of similar illnesses that have occurred in many places throughout history. There are precedents for acoustical scares, such as "telephone sickness" and "wind turbine syndrome." There are also documented cases of psychogenic reactions to insects. And social contagion is as old as the "dancing manias" of the Middle Ages.
This is a fascinating study of social psychology, demonstrating the subtle and intricate connection between mind and body.

Foreword by: Keith Petrie