Group and Mass Population Disorders

It is not uncommon in medicine to investigate signs and symptoms that are severely disabling to the patient which in the end are not associated with any underlying organic cause. These conditions include sick building syndrome and mass hysteria, conditions that have a close correlation with alteration of the psychological sphere. Difficulty of diagnosis and treatment, as well as the associated stigma, make these conditions complex to manage. In addition, they tend to have a nonnegligible cost, both from a health and social point of view: knowing how to recognize and manage them is key to reducing the associated burden for both patient and community.