Despite new revelations on the content of a report done by licensed psychologist Ms. Kathleen Siepel, and the Catholic Church’s stand that the mystery illness is psychological, residents of Moruka maintain that the issue a paranormal one.

Since the medically undiagnosed ailment resurfaced in February, after it first struck three years ago, over 67 victims between the ages of 13 and 18 have been afflicted, in the Santa Rosa Mission community.

Tests done by health personnel were unsuccessful in ascertaining the cause, with no obvious genetic or other links and no long-term physical consequences.

Siepel was brought in by the Roman Catholic Church upon requests from Moruka and stayed there for four days.

The Roman Catholic body in Moruka maintains firmly that the illness is a psychological one.

In an invited comment, Father Oscar Barraza noted that from the inception it was perceived to be a physiological problem.

When asked why he had hosted a three day mass if the Church believed the problem to be psychological not spiritual, he simply said, “It is a medical problem but we still pray.”

Still, despite this belief, many residents hold the position that the mystery illness is just that, a mystery concerning the spiritual.

However, after 22 interviews with affected girls, this belief was once more discounted by Siepel who said the problem is one of mass hysteria or mass contagion.

Theoretically, mass hysteria or mass contagion is described as the spread of a behaviour pattern, attitude, or emotion from person to person or group to group through suggestion, propaganda, rumor, or imitation. It is a harmful, corrupting influence and has the tendency to spread, as of a doctrine, influence, or emotional state.

According to the report, cases of mass hysteria or mass contagion occur in “Isolated vulnerable populations of females who have greater stresses than their social support system, if any, can bear.”

Seipel noted that the incidents of “acting out” were informally diagnosed as a problem with evil spirits or the devil, and with this label affixed to the problem, the number of cases only increased.

According to the psychologist’s evaluation, the incidents began with changes to the social fabric of Moruka for the youth, two specific ones being the departure of a well known teacher and that of a Roman Catholic Priest.

Siepel said, “The losses were significant for many of the girls.”

The psychologist cited other problems as issues of physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, parental alcoholism, frank neglect, outright rejection, incest, pressure to sit the CXC examinations without adequate resources, and lack of emotional stability.

She also, in her report, pointed out oral reports from some girls to support the conclusion that the problem is one of mass hysteria or mass contagion, since many of them experienced basic health problems.

These she said included digestive problems and one case of anemia; problems that she said “may be contributing to the vulnerability of the population.”

Siepel affirmed, “This is a psychological problem, a mental health issue, a cry for help and a wake-up call to this community to look at their mental health needs.”

She discounted the original reports of black arts being practiced in the community and those of a black arts book, reportedly originating from neighbouring Venezuela.

In her report she said, “Despite isolated reports of various other events rumored around the same time period such as the ‘black man’ and the ‘black arts book’ supposedly circulated throughout the school, the specific changes highlighted verifiably happened.”

Among her recommendations were:

* One or two persons see to the matter of the girl’s safety needs and all others remove themselves from the scene entirely and immediately;

* When at church, the girls be seated in the last row of the church so that they can be removed, at the first sign of display, as far as it takes to get them out of earshot;

* During the episode the girls should not be held down, since it is suspected that their movements are not entirely involuntary; and

* Praying, while it could be done, should not be done at the time of an episode.

According to Siepel, the recommendations made to the community at large had a lot to do with “reducing the amount of psycho-dramatics surrounding each episode and increasing the quality and quantity of support to be given to the girls in the balance of their lives.”

The psychologist said the mystery illness, or rather what is evaluated by her to be mass hysteria or mass contagion, will end “when it becomes less rewarding to have an outburst and when other forms of attention and support take the place of what is currently happening.”

However, she acknowledged that she did not interview all the affected girls nor did she interview unaffected girls or contact non-Catholic priests, who were also involved in helping those affected cope with the mystery illness.

To this end, one non-Catholic religious leader, Pastor Winston Connelly, of the Faith Deliverance Pentecostal Church, pointed out that the psychologist could not within four days understand the environment, the culture or the customs of the people in the North West District.

The pastor, who is often called on to aid the affected girls, added that the situation is a technical one and cannot be looked at through one eye or from one perception.

Connelly acknowledged that the girls are affected psychologically by the strain of events but maintained that the problem is a spiritual one.

“There may be pressures facing the girls, but they are nor acting because they suffer for hours on end and they do not get a reward from it,” he explained.

Connelly further explained that in a society where there is good there must be evil, as that is the natural balance of things, and simply believing that black magic does not exist does not make it less real or mean that it is not present in communities like Moruka.

In speaking to some of the residents about the mystery illness, the Guyana Chronicle learned that there were variations in the responses to the problems that the psychologist highlighted as factors affecting the social fabric of the community.

As it relates to physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal abuse, parental alcoholism, frank neglect, outright rejection, incest, pressure to sit the CXC examinations without adequate resources and lack of emotional stability, the residents concurred that these were not problems that would lead to the current state of things.

Responding to another finding by Siepel that the loss of a teacher impacted the girls greatly, Mrs. Graciann La Rose, the teacher’s mother, said her daughter was missed but not to the extent where she would be a factor that triggered mass hysteria.

This was said from experience as the teacher, Ms. Marlee Wilson, is the older daughter of Mrs. La Rose and her younger daughter, 15-year-old Ms. Mollyann La Rose, is a victim of the mystery illness.

“Mollyann misses her sister but not to the extent where she would become a victim of hysteria. The problem is spiritual and while in her state she experiences unexplained things like seeing visions of people whom she does not know, and more importantly, who are dead,” Mrs. La Rose explained.

Another parent, Ms. Anita Vansluytman, stated that the condition of her 17-year-old daughter, Ms. Duanna Heyliger, does not exactly fit into the areas that the psychologist highlighted to conclude that the problem was mass hysteria.

“I think it is spiritual but I also know that it has psychological effects,” she said.

Mr. Troy Abrahams, brother of another victim, 17-year-old, Ms. Fiona Abrahams, said his position is firm that his sister is affected by something in the spiritual realm.

“There is no pretending, when she is attacked and we restrain her from trying to hurt herself she gets this burst of strength that even I cannot match and I am much stronger than she is,” he said.

To add another perspective to the issue, Medex Lalita Rebeiro responded to Seipel’s finding of factors that she said “may be contributing to the vulnerability of this population.”

Rebeiro said that as it relates to problems of digestive problems and the one case of anemia highlighted by the psychologist, there was no such problem reported to the hospital.

She added that even if there were cases where no reports were made, the fact that it was, according to Siepel, a problem affecting the majority, increased the probability for a report to be made with the hospital.

In seeking another viewpoint on the matter, Minister within the Ministry of Education, Dr Desrey Fox, stated that the she too is of the opinion that the matter is not one of mass hysteria or mass contagion.

“It is unfortunate, but I do not concur that it is a psychological and neither do I understand why it is being called mass hysteria,” she posited.

She added that a multi-faceted approach must be taken on the issue as there are many factors to be considered, primarily that of the culture and customs of the community.