Cuba: the “Havana syndrome” would have been caused by stress and fear

Stop rumors of a secret ultrasound attack. While between 2016 and 2018 American diplomats working in Cuba suffered from hearing and neurological disorders, the reasons for this “Havana syndrome” were still unknown. A sociologist and expert in neurodegenerative diseases believes that he has discovered the causes: fear and stress. Their study is published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Symptoms similar to war trauma

The symptoms of these diplomats are similar to those of a concussion: headaches, dizziness, nausea and fatigue. The State Department described them as “medically confirmed symptoms,” but the various studies conducted since then have been inconclusive, if not contradictory. In addition, Canadian diplomats have, over the same period, experienced the same health problems. For Dr Robert Bartholomew, a sociologist based in Auckland, New Zealand, and lead author of study, the “Havana syndrome” is in fact akin to a trauma of war, to a shock of shells. “One of the characteristic features of the combat syndromes that appeared in the last century is the appearance of a set of neurological disorders caused by an overexcited nervous system, generally misdiagnosed, such as concussions or brain damage”.

Too much stress

In his report, written in collaboration with neurology expert Robert W. Baloh, he says the diplomats fell ill because they lived in an environment seething with stress and uncertainty. These men worked in a country hostile to theirs, where they were under constant surveillance and lived, in a way, the aftermath of the Cold War. In addition, rumors of a possible attack on the American embassy in Cuba were numerous. But “not conclusive”, according to the two authors of the study. “Which is more likely: that the diplomats were targeted by a new secret weapon for which there is no evidence? or that they suffered from symptoms generated by stress? The evidence strongly suggests the latter “, they decide.