Teen Girl Mystery Illnesses

Recently in the news, there was a distressing story about a group of teen girls in Upstate New York who seemed to have symptoms of Tourette’s Syndrome. It was baffling. All the girls attend the same high school and were all suffering from severe, uncontrollable ticks. After months of searching for an answer as to why all 12 girls have similar symptoms, a team of neurologists has deduced that they have a rare form of conversion disorder or what is commonly referred to as mass hysteria.  It’s a rare phenomenon but the good news is: these girls will all get better.

There have been several famous novels of mass hysteria in teen girls most notably, The Crucible. Playwright Arthur Miller contended that the Salem Witch Trials were caused by mass hysteria and retribution.  Sometimes I wonder if my 14 year old daughter has read the play as I know it’s no longer required reading in middle school. It was replaced with a newer, more horrific work of fiction: The Hunger Games. I ask myself this question because recently, she’s come down with some mysterious-yet-not-so-serious stomach virus every Tuesday after school.

Yes, the stomach virus appears to attack her only on Tuesdays and only after she’s attended homework club. Her friend Ashley suffers from the same mysterious ailment too. For the past two weeks in a row, Allison has tried to use the ole stomach virus ploy to get out of going to school on Wednesdays. However, it’s not worked once with me. Today, I just flat out asked her what the he** is going on??!! What is she hiding from or avoiding on Wednesdays by staying home?

Turns out Wednesdays are when she has pop quizzes in science class…so does Ashley. Also turns out, they haven’t been studying enough as both of them aren’t doing so well in science. They actually thought that if they stayed home every Wednesday they could successfully avoid these quizzes. Silly rabbit. Tricks are for kids. They actually thought they were going to pull this one off….but they didn't.

Now every Tuesday before school they’re both going for extra help in science class. The treatment for this stomach virus is a practice quiz and studying.

I wouldn’t exactly call this a case of mass hysteria more like two girls faking it. Has your teenager ever faked an illness to get out of taking a test or a quiz? When I was a teen I discovered the many perks of menstruation: it got me out of swimming class! (And they couldn't legally check to see if it was true.) My BFF’s ex-husband faked the flu to get out of taking the Bar Exam. He wound up failing so many times he just gave up on it anyway. She gave up on him years ago. Recently, her 17 year old son feigned an illness because he was too nervous to take his road test. Like father, like son….or is it just a teen thing again?: not being emotionally prepared to say “I’m not prepared.” Please note, I'm in no way suggesting those girls Upstate New York are pretending to be ill. Like I said, they are suffering from Conversion Disorder and the symptoms are very real.

Here are some tips from WikiHow in spotting kids who fake illness to get out of school or any other obligation:

Children often fake sick on the days they have tests, gym class, or anything else they dislike. So when they say they are sick ask what they think they are doing in school that day;

Children will usually fake sickness on Monday or Tuesday because it's the beginning of the week and they want to get a longer weekend.

Here are some tips from WikiHow in dealing with the little faker: check for lingering or residual symptoms; communicate with teachers to see what's really going on; keep a list of excuses used; make sure you watch them when you take their temperature (I used to put mine on the stove to heat it up); and always confront your child with the facts when you believe they're faking.