By Madonna Virola
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:20:00 09/03/2008
CITY OF CALAPAN ? A psychiatrist from the National Center for Mental Health believes that the occurrences of seizure attributed to ?evil spirits? among 26 high school students in a public school in Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro are ?culture-bound and could be traced to deep-seated psychological problems among the victims.?
?The victims have weak personalities and hold pent-up anxieties, and their psychological distress is channeled into physical symptoms like general weakness, nausea, dizziness, headaches, and shortness in breath,? Dr. Maria Arlene Briones said of the ?possessed? students of the Pedro Panaligan Memorial National High School.
The belief of older people, like grandparents and teachers, on supernatural beings also influences the thinking of the youths.
Briones said mass hysteria or collective delusion was prevalent in intolerable social situations, during religious conflicts, or in a very strict home and school setting where discipline is excessive.
?It?s like a melodramatic rebellion where there is a ?secondary gain? of getting people?s attention,? she said.
Briones explained that the symptoms included a trance-like state, melodramatic act of rebellion known as histrionics, and ?psychomotor agitation? in which pent-up anxiety built over a long period of time results in disruptions to the nerves or neurons that send messages to the muscles, triggering temporary bouts of twitching, spasms and shaking.
What made the case sensational was that 26 students were involved.
Those with weak personalities easily believe a schoolmate who says he or she can see supernatural beings (dwarfs, kapre), Briones said.
According to her, the media could have also influenced the mass hysteria with the stigma attached to ?888,? just what happened on Aug. 8, 2008, when many students were ?possessed by the evil spirits.?
She added that teachers could not always monitor the conversations of students on supernatural events, which are easily believed by those of weaker personality.
Asked why students from different classrooms speak of the same thing, Briones said the campus was too small for victims to talk. ?Things are going on in the mind of the ?victim? before the trance-like state,? she said.
What to do?
?First, we have to educate the public so that it doesn?t become afraid. If ?possessed,? let the student rest for 1-2 days and get her/him back to school,? Briones said.
She advised the public to stop saying ?umaarte (acting)? and ?sinapian (possessed)? to the ?victims? because it did not help.
?Now we know that what?s happening is more than culture, but mostly, it?s because the students are anxious.?
While Briones emphasized that culture was hard to break, the best approach was to talk with the ?victims? and ensure that they didn?t fall.
The team from the national office of the Department of Education met the teachers and students-victims to explain what was going on and advise them on what to do.
Fr. Bar Fabella, (not Fr. Ed Fabella as earlier reported), president of the Divine Word College of Calapan, said he appreciated the helping environment when he said Mass on Aug. 8 at the school and ?attacks? by alleged spirits took place.
He suggested that experts of different fields get into the picture because it could not just be about problematic students. One of the ?victims? is his goddaughter with whom he talks when her parents are away.
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