No one has been able to say for sure whether Havana syndrome is a true condition. How does it compare to psychogenic illnesses of the past? Here's what to know:
of a 1989 incident in which 247 student performers, most of them female, became violently ill at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium similarly noted that children who saw a friend become sick were the most likely to develop symptoms, which were thus transmitted through social networks.Hundreds of girls at a boarding school near Mexico City experienced unexplained leg pain, nausea, and fever during 2006-2007. It was a closed community, with students denied access to television or radio.
Some symptoms previously attributed to MPI, including headache, dizziness, and nausea, have been associated with Havana syndrome. Bartholomew suggested that “reframing” of these common complaints by those affected, to reflect what doctors and government authorities are telling them, could contribute to the phenomenon. In other words, people might be experiencing generic symptoms common in MPI and be susceptible to sinister explanations -- without any evidence for them.
There is no consensus on the cause of Havana syndrome. Theories range from the mating call of crickets to a sonic weapon. Some experts maintain that early cases of Havana syndrome present unambiguous evidence of neurological damage consistent with exposure to microwave radiation. Yet they remain open to contributing psychosocial factors in at least some instances.