Social media suspected to be behind spread of twitching disorder | Florida Statesman

Social media suspected to be behind spread of twitching disorder

Florida Statesman (ANI) Saturday 4th February, 2012

A strange outbreak of twitching disorder in upstate New York may be spreading through social media as a kind of subconscious mimicry, say experts.

Doctors treating the case of nearly 20 teenagers with the disorder say the symptoms may be spreading faster through the girls' own use of Facebook and other forms of social media.

Experts have diagnosed the problem as a form of mass hysteria in which an individual, usually a young woman, becomes ill during a period of stress, and others in the same community, school or workplace begin to show the same physical symptoms.

Last fall, several girls in the small town of LeRoy, NY, began complaining of involuntary facial and body twitching that resembled Tourette's syndrome. Since then, a dozen girls from 13 years to 18 years old have been affected, as well as one boy.

In the past week, four new cases have been presented for a total of 19 patients, according to Dr Laszlo Mechtler, chief of neurology at the Dent Neurologic Institute in Buffalo. MSNBC has reported that a 36 year-old woman in the town has also come down with the twitching.

"When one has a symptom, it can be reinforced and magnified with other individuals with similar symptoms," Discovery News quoted Dr Mechtler as saying.

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