Randomly accusing innocent people of being evil and atrocious witches is extremely far-fetched and unusual for people today. However, in 1690s Salem, Massachusetts, it was an everyday occurrence. After seeing people doing strange things in those days, people got scared and accused them of witches to get rid of them, send them to prison and eventually kill them. Worse yet, the accusers may have been sick or crazy, or they might have been faking it to get revenge on their enemies. Why would these people randomly accuse innocent people of being witches? Something must have caused all the mass hysteria that led to the Salem witch trials. One way these accusers could have suffered from mass hysteria is post-traumatic stress disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a form of anxiety in which a person feels guilty or becomes insane after an act of violence or death. These accusers may have lived during the Indian Wars and may have witnessed acts of violence. When Mercy Lewis was sixteen years old, it is said, "Lewis's parents were killed (perhaps right before his eyes) in another battle with the Indians" (Shanzer 68-69). The Indians also practiced voodoo or believed in multiple gods, and since the people of Salem were Puritans who believed in only one God, they hated what the Indians did. Mercy Lewis finally said, “She thought the Indians were devils. » Lewis then accused a man who threatened to kill her if she did not sign the Devil's Book (Shanzer 69). Another possible reason the accusers may have suffered from mass hysteria was that if a person was afraid of witches, it's human nature to say "I." I'm afraid of witches too! Some accusers had good reason to believe that certain people could be witches. Tituba, the slave... middle of paper ... whether it's the Indian War or believing you have something just because someone else has it, the chances of this strange disease occurring randomly are very unusual. . The Salem witch trials were very unusual and incredibly unreasonable, but they were a serious and unfortunate event. Innocent lives have been taken due to a form of mass hysteria, so mass hysteria is no laughing matter. Works Cited In Search of History: The Salem Witch Trials. A&E Networks, 1998. Schanzer, Rosalyn. Witches! : The absolutely true story of the disaster in Salem. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2011. Print. “Why are more than a dozen girls in upstate New York shaking?” » Slate Magazine. Internet. April 3. 2014. .