St. Vitus Dance

What began as a baffling public spectacle — bodies moving without permission, collapsing in exhaustion — would echo through centuries of history under a single unsettling name: St. Vitus’ Dance.In this episode of Messy Minded, Jess traces how a medieval dancing plague became a medical diagnosis… and how that same name resurfaced generations later in her own family, attached to a childhood illness, a period of restraint, and a very unexpected form of therapy.This is a story about what happens when bodies refuse to behave — and how, when language fails, we reach for meaning wherever we can find it.https://open.spotify.com/show/3htrTJx4ORepBRYxJ7ZGPv?si=6e5942d7bf1746bdhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/messy-minded-podcast/id1819603605@MessyMindedPodMusic by: SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", Nikita Kondrashev for "Cosy, Quirky, Comedy", Vibehorn "French France Music (See their website at vibehorn.com)St. Vitus’ DanceDancing Plague of 1518Strasbourg dancing plagueMedieval mass hysteriaMass psychogenic illnessChoreaSydenham’s choreaMedical historyHistory of medicineMedieval EuropeSaints and superstitionSaint VitusJohn the BaptistReligious belief and illnessMind–body connectionAutoimmune disordersPre-antibiotic medicineChildhood illness historyUnexplained historical phenomenaTrue history podcastWeird historyMedical mysteriesPsychology and culture Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.