This paper reports an atypical hysteria epidemic in a tribal village of the State of Tripura, India. Twelve persons, eight female and four male, were affected in a chain reaction within a span of ten days. The cardinal feature was an episodic trance state of 5 to 15 minutes duration with restlessness, attempts at self-injury, running away, inappropriate behaviour, inability to identify family members, refusal of food and intermittent mimicking of animal sounds. The illness was self-limiting and showed an individual course of one to three days duration. Sociocultural aspects of the epidemic are discussed.
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