The Witchcraft Trials In Salem: A Commentary

A legitimate cause for the accusations may result from a mental disorder. In the article The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: A Commentary, it is acknowledged that, “The cause of her symptoms may have been some combination of stress, asthma, guilt, boredom, child abuse, epilepsy, and delusional psychosis” (Linder). Many of the possible symptoms may have caused the outbreak, yet delusional psychosis is more sensible. The form of a mental disorder causing the symptoms is a probable cause. The people of Salem were completely oblivious to the additional causes of the accusations. Salem could have avoided several lives may have been saved if some form of common knowledge was used. An additional cause of the accusations in Salem may have started from the existence of hysteria. In the article Hysteria in Four Acts, it is suggested that, “When psychiatrists use the term, they mean to identify something more specific: namely, a perverse human behavior in which individuals act in ways that imitate actual physical or psychological disorder” (McHugh 2). Hysteria potentially existed in Salem based on the ideas in this text. The behavior exemplified by the victims of false accusations complies with the symptoms of hysteria.
Specifically, the isolation from others diminishes the quality of one’s mind. In the article Mass Hysteria at Old Salem Village, the author mentions “Outbreaks of mass psychogenic illness typically occur in closed social settings” (Bartholomew 12). While Salem was not completely isolated, individuals in the town were. The accused witches, who were imprisoned, were isolated from the others in the village. The lack of social interaction most likely played a role in the weakening of the mind. The conditions that were endured potentially caused the accusations to continue. Those who were mistreated in the Salem Witch Trials not only suffered physically, but also