The Causes Of Dancing Mania

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Dancing Mania is one of the strangest plagues to ever appear on Earth, causing many deaths and theories to why it had occurred. The plague goes by many names and has a few different theories of what causes it. There were numerous vicious symptoms that resulted in death or serious injuries. It also has a dark and unbelievable history that almost seems like it is made up. Experts have many theories to what causes it, from Ergot poisoning to mass hysteria. Dancing Mania was one of the most mysterious plagues civilization has ever experienced; the unfathomable nature of the disease, the calamitous symptoms that can drive the victim to death, the unimaginable history that it holds, and the mass amount of theory’s that still cannot explain the truth…show more content…
Chorea develops gradually but leads to scary symptoms. The victim becomes very sensitive, anxious, and notices small things. They start to have trouble with simple things such as writing, walking, and have loose coordination (Gill). These symptoms are not life threatening, but they are the small warning signs that start the process. They later become even more uncoordinated, and start to twitch in the face and limbs, these movements are completely unintentional (Gill). This is where the symptoms become dangerous and lead to the scary dancing. The uncontrollable limb movements can start to almost be as if they victim is dancing, and therefor creates Dancing Mania. Chorea symptoms last two to four months and are treated with sedatives. These patients need to maintain a nutritious diet, stay in bed, and avoid fatigue (Gill). Not all cases of Chorea lead to crazy dancing and death, some just come and go like a normal sickness. Chorea is not the only disease that causes people to dance until they drop dead. Chorea can also be closely referred to as Tarantism, a similar disease involving people to dance uncontrollably. Tarantism was more of a choice to dance, than being forced to by a condition. People believed that once they were bitten by a spider, they had to dance to release its venom from their blood stream. According to Barthelomew, the symptoms of tarantism are “… headache,…show more content…
The first reported account occurred in 1374, but it continued to effect people till the 17th century (Oakes). With the age that the plague imposes, it would most likely be hard to find information on such a strange event, however there are many documented tales about what happened when the attacks occurred. According to John Waller, the story tells of 18 people gather outside of a church in Kolbigk danced wildly and uncontrollably and could not stop when the priest asked them to. “The enraged priest, recorded a local chronicler, cursed them to dance for an entire year… not until the following Christmas did the dancers regain control of their limbs… they fell into a deep sleep. Some of them never awoke.” This is what is referred to as the first known case of the plague and would lead to many more outrageous events. In another event, “citizens in the German city of Aachen started to pour out of their houses into the streets where they began to writhe and whirl uncontrollably. This was the first major outbreak of dancing plague or choreomania and it would spread across Europe in the next several years.” The disease went on to spread to Liege, Utrecht, Tongres, throughout Belgium and the Netherlands, and along the Rhine river (Fessenden). The strange events continued to happen for centuries to follow. Another popular and strange event occurred on a bridge over the Moselle River in

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