“Havana Syndromeâ€: A post mortem

Robert E Bartholomew and Robert W Baloh

International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2024, vol. 70, issue 2, 402-405

Abstract: Background: Since 2016, an array of claims and public discourse have circulated in the medical community over the origin and nature of a mysterious condition dubbed “Havana Syndrome,†so named as it was first identified in Cuba. In March 2023, the United States intelligence community concluded that the condition was a socially constructed catch-all category for an array of health conditions and stress reactions that were lumped under a single label. Aims: To examine the history of “Havana Syndrome†and the many factors that led to its erroneous categorization as a novel clinical entity. Method: A review of the literature. Results/Conclusions: Several factors led to the erroneous classification of “Havana Syndrome†as a novel entity including the failure to stay within the limitations of the data; the withholding of information by intelligence agencies, the prevalence of popular misconceptions about psychogenic illness, the inability to identify historical parallels; the role of the media, and the mixing of politics with science.

Keywords: Iatrogenesis; mass psychogenic illness; somatoform disorders (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:70:y:2024:i:2:p:402-405

DOI: 10.1177/00207640231208374

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