"Havana Syndrome": A post mortem

Abstract

Background: Since 2016, an array of claims and public discourse have circulated in the medical community over the origin and nature of a mysterious condition dubbed "Havana Syndrome," so named as it was first identified in Cuba. In March 2023, the United States intelligence community concluded that the condition was a socially constructed catch-all category for an array of health conditions and stress reactions that were lumped under a single label.

Aims: To examine the history of "Havana Syndrome" and the many factors that led to its erroneous categorization as a novel clinical entity.

Method: A review of the literature.

Results/conclusions: Several factors led to the erroneous classification of "Havana Syndrome" as a novel entity including the failure to stay within the limitations of the data; the withholding of information by intelligence agencies, the prevalence of popular misconceptions about psychogenic illness, the inability to identify historical parallels; the role of the media, and the mixing of politics with science.

Keywords: Iatrogenesis; mass psychogenic illness; somatoform disorders.