In the 19th century, a peculiar illness emerged in North America: Prairie Madness.
Today, we can still find clues about this strange affliction in various works documenting life during that era. In a newspaper from 1893, a reporter noted: “In the new regions, farmers and their wives are experiencing a disturbing amount of madness.“
Prairie Madness or grassland fever is a distressing condition that affected settlers in the Great Plains as they migrated to and settled in the Prairies of Canada and the western United States in the 19th century. Those who moved from urbanized or relatively stable areas in the East faced the risk of mental breakdown due to harsh living conditions and extreme isolation on the prairie.
At that time, people from the United States and some European colonial countries migrated to the Canadian prairies and the western United States, meaning they were leaving behind their previous lives and societies to start anew in a sparsely populated area.
However, they did not anticipate encountering “prairie madness” soon after. Under the powerful feelings of loneliness and poor living conditions, these new residents began to experience widespread depression. Some subsequently suffered from insomnia, feelings of resentment, and many became more violent and suicidal.
Initially, it was believed that this was due to loneliness. In their previous homes, they had rich social lives and could interact with many people, unlike their new lives. But as the reporter noted at the time, on the prairie, the nearest neighbor was about 2 kilometers away, making it difficult to quickly establish trust with strangers.
At the same time, the landscape of the prairie was also very monotonous, which contributed to “many Europeans losing their psychological balance.”
The symptoms of prairie madness include depression, personality changes, and violent behavior. This illness sometimes leads to suicide.
However, there are other reasons contributing to “prairie madness” beyond just unbearable loneliness and difficulty adapting to the environment.
In 2022, the Melcarriere couple, new settlers on the prairie, also encountered “prairie madness.” He wrote online that life on the prairie is “sunny” and “easy,” but “I’m not making this up. ‘Prairie Madness’ is a real phenomenon that happened.”
After moving to the prairie, Melcarriere’s wife found it difficult to endure the howling winds, and the locals conveyed to them that the winds here are very “unusual.”
Initially, he did not believe it, but gradually he felt that these winds were whistling through as if bringing something very frightening, making people feel unpredictable and unstable.
An article published in the journal Historical Archaeology in 2022 explained that the cause of this type of madness comes from “the terrible winds.”
Researchers collected environmental sounds from the prairie (white noise from wind and rain) and sounds from the city (noise from vehicles, pedestrians, etc.).
According to the human auditory curve, we are more sensitive to sounds with frequencies between 1000 and 2000 Hz, with sensitivity dropping sharply at frequencies from 2000 to 3000 Hz, while maintaining stable sensitivity between 3000 and 8000 Hz. Therefore, the residents living in the Great Plains can easily hear any disturbances.
The researchers found that the soundscapes of different cities are quite diverse, with sounds around 5000, 7500, 8000, 11000, and 16000 Hz. This indicates that city sounds do not disrupt your life. In fact, they act as a type of white noise that can diffuse various types of sounds. Meanwhile, on the prairie, there are no sounds to distract from the wind noise, which can become annoying and hard to ignore. Thus, the sound of this type of wind has the potential to cause hyperacusis and misophonia.
Those with hyperacusis cannot tolerate certain sounds and become stressed; after hearing certain sounds, they may feel discomfort, headaches, and anxiety, even developing a psychological disorder known as sound anxiety.
Some individuals cannot stand the sound of dripping water or scratching for various reasons (such as trauma) and end their lives.
On the prairie, feelings of depression caused by loneliness, combined with prolonged exposure to the wind’s howling, can exacerbate the situation, potentially leading to psychological disorders that affect behavior and mental health.
This research also reminds us that in addition to the environment visible to the naked eye, sound is also an important factor affecting our lives. A 2022 report stated that 5% of hospital admissions for heart disease in New Jersey were due to high noise levels in the state, and the rate of heart attacks was 72% higher in areas with higher noise levels.
Although the exact relationship between noise and heart disease has yet to be determined, studies have found that noise pollution can lead to stress, sleep disorders, and mood problems, all related to mental health.
Some people have also begun to imagine that if we migrate to Mars, the thin atmosphere of Mars, which does not transmit sound, could lead to mental disorders similar to prairie madness in the silence.
