LeRoy, N.Y., is gaining a lot of attention. Since October at least 19 people have been diagnosed with a disorder that causes verbal and physical twitches and tics but with no physical cause. What could be happening in this small town?
One adult and numerous teenagers began to have body twitches and verbal tics like stuttering in October. Each received medical tests including CAT scans, MRIs and blood tests but all tests came back normal. Neurologists have diagnosed them with conversion disorder caused by stress.
Conversion disorder is a blanket term used when neurological symptoms are not explainable by physical reasons. The disorder, though psychological in origin, can sometimes be spread to others. This is a lot like when you live in a foreign country for a while and you pick up the accent of those around you simply because you are around it so often. It is unintentional mimicking that goes unnoticed and can be hard to shake. The problem with this diagnosis is that this means there is no physical reason, as doctors can see, as to why these people should be behaving this way. The 36 year old woman’s ailment may be unrelated to the teenagers as she was known to have suffered abuse as a child-which is a common cause for conversion disorder.
All of the teens attend the same high school which is turning heads. On Saturday Feb. 3rd a town meeting was held in the high school about environmental testing to be performed around the school. Though school officials say there is no need for the tests they have felt pressure to prove the school is safe. Someone looking for soil samples on behalf of Erin Brockovich was denied samples last week. In 1970 a railroad accident resulted in somewhere between 30,000 and 35,000 gallons of trichloroethylene (TCE) and 1 ton of cyanide spilled near the school. Brockovich suspects this is the cause of the current issue, although the Environmental Protection Agency denies this as a possibility.
If you have had a U.S. history class this story may remind you of The Salem Witch Trials. In Massachusetts in 1962, eight young girls all suffered convulsions, hallucinations, and trances. Residents blamed witchcraft when no other reason was available and killed and jailed anyone behaving suspiciously. Ergot poising has since been blamed for the behavior but at one point it was speculated that the girls had ‘created’ their scenario so they wouldn’t get in trouble for participating in fortune telling by a local slave.
Testing is still being done on the environment, school, and sufferers to find the definite cause of the illness. School officials ask that the media allow residents time to heal while they find the reason behind this strange occurrence.