Heathrow incident 8/9/25 claimed to be mass psychogenic illness

[SNT Gatchaman]

Guardian (8/9/25) Mass psychogenic illness’ plausible cause of toxic substance alert at Heathrow, says scientist

Guardian (9/9/25) Man arrested on suspicion of bringing teargas to Heathrow airport

Police were called to Heathrow late on Monday afternoon when 21 people fell ill in Terminal 4. Initial reports suggested a hazardous material could be involved and part of the airport was evacuated. But when the emergency services conducted a thorough search, no trace of any adverse substance was found.

A source within the Metropolitan police subsequently suggested the event could be something quite different – a case of mass hysteria. And some experts agree.

“What happened at Heathrow is almost certainly an episode of mass psychogenic illness that is anxiety-based,” said Dr Robert Bartholomew, a University of Auckland sociologist who is an expert on the subject.

He said anxiety-based cases were typically triggered by the sudden perception of a toxic agent – such as an unfamiliar smell. “Common symptoms include headache, overbreathing, dizziness and fainting,” he said, noting episodes tended to come out of the blue with victims often recovering within minutes.

Bartholomew stressed the illness was not a mental disorder and victims were not psychologically disturbed.

Prof Sir Simon Wessely of King’s College London, who was part of the team, said it was “a bit early” to come to judgments about the Heathrow event and it was unclear whether there was an unusual odour or what investigations were done to eliminate other causes. But he added: “If all these come to nothing, then yes, this may be an episode of what we now call mass sociogenic illness.”

Wessely said there was nothing unusual about the events at terminal 4 on Monday: “It happens all over the world every day, particularly in crowded spaces like schools, concerts, crowds, factory floors etc. The only reason this made the news was because of the fact it was at Heathrow and led to major flight disruptions.”

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"One Day Later"

Police have arrested a man on suspicion of bringing teargas into Heathrow airport, which caused Terminal 4’s check-in area to briefly shut down.

The check-in area at the UK’s main international airport was evacuated for around three hours on Monday evening as emergency services probed a “potential hazardous materials incident”.

A Metropolitan police spokesperson said a 57-year-old man had been arrested after urgent inquiries on suspicion of possession of a firearm (CS spray) and “causing a public nuisance”.

After searching the area, Met officers located a canister of “what is believed to be CS spray”, which was “thought to have caused a reaction to those within the airport,” the police said.

CS spray is a riot control agent, also known as teargas, which can cause a burning sensation to the eyes, throat, lungs and skin.

A source in the Met Police initially suspected that the incident could have been a case of “mass hysteria” before the canister was located, after officers scoured the area and were unable to find the source of the hazardous substance passengers had reported.

 

[SNT Gatchaman]

An article was even published in The Conversation: Mass hysteria at Heathrow airport – how social contagion works

Somewhat ironically this was written by a member of IndieSAGE, and included this passage on misinformation —

One only has to look at the pervasive spread of disinformation throughout the COVID pandemic to see the damage that dangerously incorrect ideas – overstating the potential harms of effective vaccines, underplaying the risks of contracting COVID and falsely claiming the effectiveness of unproven treatments– can do.

The viral spread of such falsehoods through social media means they can reach far and wide in virtually no time – and are, consequently, extremely difficult to counter. We underestimate the snowballing of these pervasive myths at our peril.

 

[V.R.T.]

Guardian (8/9/25) Mass psychogenic illness’ plausible cause of toxic substance alert at Heathrow, says scientist

Guardian (9/9/25) Man arrested on suspicion of bringing teargas to Heathrow airport













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The juxtaposition of these two headlines says everything that needs to be said about the psychobehavioral school.

 

[SNT Gatchaman]

“What happened at Heathrow is almost certainly an episode of mass psychogenic illness that is anxiety-based,” said Dr Robert Bartholomew, a University of Auckland sociologist who is an expert on the subject.

Previous mentions of Bartholomew on S4ME here and here.

 

[EndME]

How does "recovering within minutes" fit their same narrative for ME/CFS given that this is clearly not occuring?

 

[hotblack]

A supposed expert pushing their own personal agenda and narrative before evidence is available to support it. Check.
Journalists lapping it up. Check.
No correction in the original article (well it is the Guardian). Check.
Wessely. Check.

If any of these people would take a more cautious approach we’d be in a better place wrt public perceptions of science and susceptibility to misinformation.

 

[BrokenBeaktheBrave]

I'm actually nearly embarrassed for them. How hilariously humiliating.

 

[V.R.T.]

I'm actually nearly embarrassed for them. How hilariously humiliating.

It is a spectacular own goal. And handy for us as an illustration of their utter uselessness.

 

[Sean]

Not to mention their recklessness.

As to Wessely being a little more cautious, it has only taken him nigh on 40 years. Which is, you know, waaaaaay too late.

 

[ukxmrv]

Part of 'the team'

 

[rvallee]

I'm actually nearly embarrassed for them. How hilariously humiliating.

Seriously. The level of mediocrity in mental health care is appalling.

“What happened at Heathrow is almost certainly an episode of mass psychogenic illness that is anxiety-based,” said Dr Robert Bartholomew, a University of Auckland sociologist who is an expert on the subject.

"Almost certainly" is not something a serious person would say about something that has a tiny off-chance of being a plausible explanation. It literally explains nothing. This entire discipline needs to be defunded and destroyed.

 

[rvallee]

Not to mention their recklessness.

As to Wessely being a little more cautious, it has only taken him nigh on 40 years. Which is, you know, waaaaaay too late.

He always does that. He says all the possible things, from asserting high certainty to being non-committal, this way whatever the outcome he can point to one of the many contradicting things he said as if it's the one he meant all along.

It shouldn't work but when it's easy to get away with fraudulent nonsense, when it's richly rewarded, people just naturally do that. Why wouldn't they? It's a permanent cheat code, and humans almost always cheat when they can get away with it.

 

[Adam pwme]

Posts moved from Who is Simon Wessely?
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[Kalliope]

Trial by Error by David Tuller
"Mass Psychogenic Illness" at Heathrow Airport-NOT!

quote:

“Mass psychogenic illness,” or sometimes “mass sociogenic illness,” is the term that has mostly replaced what was formerly called “mass hysteria.” (The diagnosis and concept of “hysteria” has fallen into disfavor as stigmatizing and misogynistic.) This incident is a classic example of how quickly those with authority will turn to psychiatric or psycho-sociological assumptions to explain unusual medical phenomena–assumptions that are often asserted as definitive rather than speculative.

 

[Hutan]

Thanks David.

Copying the bit in David's blog about the New Zealand 'expert' in mass hysteria so that his name is searchable on the forum:

“Police were called to Heathrow late on Monday afternoon when 21 people fell ill in Terminal 4. Initial reports suggested a hazardous material could be involved and part of the airport was evacuated. But when the emergency services conducted a thorough search, no trace of any adverse substance was found.

“A source within the Metropolitan police subsequently suggested the event could be something quite different – a case of mass hysteria. And some experts agree.

“‘What happened at Heathrow is almost certainly an episode of mass psychogenic illness that is anxiety-based,’ said Dr Robert Bartholomew, a University of Auckland sociologist who is an expert on the subject.”

**********

Professor Sir Simon Wessely weighs in

Of course, the UK’s most renowned psychiatrist, Professor Sir Simon Wessely, was also asked to weigh in. In fact, he and Dr Bartholomew co-wrote a 2018 article on this issue for the British Journal of General Psychiatry. The article was called “The protean nature of mass sociogenic illness: From possessed nuns to chemical and biological terrorism fears.” Even so, Sir Simon was more cautious in his comments to The Guardian than his colleague, although he fully endorsed the possibility.

 

[Deanne NZ]

Thanks David.

Copying the bit in David's blog about the New Zealand 'expert' in mass hysteria so that his name is searchable on the forum:

Robert Bartholomew’s rapid effort to redeem himself in Psychology Today.

Mystery Illness at Heathrow Airport

A "mystery illness" at Heathrow Airport may have been mass suggestion.

www.psychologytoday.com

KEY POINTS​

• The sudden outbreak of mysterious symptoms at Heathrow Airport have key hallmarks of mass psychogenic illness.
• The detection of an unfamiliar odor is the number-one trigger of psychogenic episodes.
• Occasionally suspected outbreaks of mass psychogenic illness turn out to be false alarms
• Psychogenic illness outbreaks need to be thoroughly investigated

The flaw in this last point is that these events should be thoroughly investigated BEFORE they are described as Psychogenic.

 

[BrokenBeaktheBrave]

Robert Bartholomew’s rapid effort to redeem himself in Psychology Today.

Mystery Illness at Heathrow Airport

A "mystery illness" at Heathrow Airport may have been mass suggestion.

www.psychologytoday.com

KEY POINTS​

• The sudden outbreak of mysterious symptoms at Heathrow Airport have key hallmarks of mass psychogenic illness.
• The detection of an unfamiliar odor is the number-one trigger of psychogenic episodes.
• Occasionally suspected outbreaks of mass psychogenic illness turn out to be false alarms
• Psychogenic illness outbreaks need to be thoroughly investigated

The flaw in this last point is that these events should be thoroughly investigated BEFORE they are described as Psychogenic.

“A substantial minority of chemical incidents may be mass psychogenic illness,” they concluded.
So not only did Robert Bartholomew think the incident at Heathrow was "almost certainly an episode of mass psychogenic illness that is anxiety-based" but he also has the temerity to suggest that actual incidents involving chemical exposure are instead mass psychogenic illness.

I'm particularly happy that SW was also quoted in the same article (even if he was more circumspect in assigning cause) as he's coloured by the company he keeps. Watching these pseudoscientists hurt their own credibility really is a lovely way to start the weekend.

 

[Peter T]

• The sudden outbreak of mysterious symptoms at Heathrow Airport have key hallmarks of mass psychogenic illness.
• The detection of an unfamiliar odor is the number-one trigger of psychogenic episodes.
• Occasionally suspected outbreaks of mass psychogenic illness turn out to be false alarms
• Psychogenic illness outbreaks need to be thoroughly investigated

If the detection of an unfamiliar odour is the number one trigger of psychogenic episodes, why do school trips of inner city kids in the countryside and of kids from rural schools into the city not regularly result in such episodes. My cousin used to take groups of children from very deprived inner city areas into the countryside, with children that had never been out of city, had never seen sheep or cattle before, why did they not regularly collectively get ill? Why do groups travelling to unfamiliar countries not regularly report such mass hysteria. My first journey out of Europe was with a minibus of people into parts of China and Tibet normally closed to foreigners, we experienced a number of unfamiliar smells as well as high altitude but did not experience mass hysteria. The most unusual powerful unfamiliar smell I have encountered has been that of penguin colonies, however I am not aware of group ill health particularly associated with people visiting Antarctica, unless you count seasickness crossing the Drake Passage.

I do not have the data, but I suspect the cooccurrence gas induced health issues and unfamiliar smells is considerably more likely that any demonstrable smell triggered mass psychogenic illnesses the existence of which is unverifiable. (The absence of proof is not proof of absence.)

 

[rvallee]

The sudden outbreak of mysterious symptoms at Heathrow Airport have key hallmarks of mass psychogenic illness.

Notice how their own arguments are incoherent and completely fluid based on what conclusions they want to promote. It actually does not. And things looking similar to one another is all perfectly normal, and one of the most common arguments our detractors make is to assert how our illness looks like many other illnesses, and that means it's invalid.

But when they want their own favorite conclusion to be true, then it's a positive point in its favor. Somehow. Even though mysterious noises in a mysterious house heard by people who are looking for signs of ghosts really are "key hallmarks" of ghost presences. Except it means nothing, and psychosomatic ideologues know this, but apply exactly the same corrupt reasoning to their own, oblivious that they are doing exactly the same thing as what other people they find ridiculous do, for the exact same reasons.

Psychogenic illness outbreaks need to be thoroughly investigated

And there is exactly one and only one way to actually do this: find the cause. Because there is no such thing as positive evidence of this. Every single thing in their ideology is just a different version of "god works in mysterious ways". If you can't understand it, then it must be not just magic, but this specific magic.

I don't care that these people are completely unserious. It's the fact that the rest of the profession is failing massively at it. This junk nonsense belongs in the 19th century, and it still goes on as strong as ever. Because magic. Freaking magic. So useless, and yet so beloved.

 

[Peter T]

This junk nonsense belongs in the 19th century

I would say this is unfair on the 19th century, that it rather belongs in the Middle Ages.