hysteria

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…he/she was in fact a witch, then they would be killed for actually being one. Without a doubt, the mass hysteria that developed in Salem in 1692 was very serious and tragic. It was a group of crazy maniacs who killed innocent people to try to come up with an explanation for unexplainable events. This is a great example of the consequences hysteria can lead to, and how dangerous of a disease it really is.