One girl thought she felt a prick, and suddenly 3,300 teenagers panicked

For the third time in a week, panic broke out at an event after a possible injection incident. Wednesday evening the youth festival We R Young in Hasselt had to be shut down after panic broke out and 24 girls became unwell. “A typical case of a ‘contagious thought’”, says Mattias Desmet, professor of clinical psychology at Ghent University who specializes in fear and mass formation. The chief doctor at Jessa Hospital is now arguing for a field hospital at larger summer festivals. “Because if such a panic breaks out there too, the emergency services risk being overrun.”

ttn-3