S2 E5: Devastated in the Wake of Your Delusions

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[2] I'm Dan Tversky.

[3] In 2011, something strange began to happen at a high school in upstate New York.

[4] A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms, and spreading fast.

[5] What's the answer?

[6] And what do you do if they tell you it's all in your head?

[7] Hysterical.

[8] A new podcast from Wondry and Pineapple Street Studios.

[9] binge all episodes of hysterical early and ad -free on Wondery Plus.

[10] This podcast is intended for mature audiences and could be triggering to some.

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[21] Here's where it all goes terribly, terribly crazy wrong.

[22] She says she has to go have her other over -react at Stanford.

[23] Interesting.

[24] Okay.

[25] That's what's happening.

[26] That's what's happening.

[27] Well, the day she's supposed to be going and getting her over a yacht, you know, I'm off for the day, and I know Jason's taking her to Stanford, and then I expect to hear in the next few days how everything's going.

[28] Well, my phone rings, and it's Jason, and he says, do you know where Sylvia is?

[29] I go, well, you're supposed to be taking her to Stanford.

[30] And he goes, she told me you were taking her to Stanford.

[31] She told me you were taking her.

[32] And then right then, it was back in the day of call waiting.

[33] call waiting and I was like hang on just a second because work is calling me and he goes okay so I put him on hold as the practice manager and she says T something is really wrong and I don't know what to do and I was afraid to call you but I have to call you I said what's going on and she goes Sylvia was just here and she looked terrible she looked drugged out she was wobbly and I asked her, I said, hey, I thought you were going to Stanford today to, you know, and she goes, I am.

[34] And she said, okay.

[35] She goes, do you need a ride?

[36] Like, what's happening?

[37] And she goes, no, no. So the practice manager went back up front to help a client.

[38] And when she came back down the hall, she saw her, Sylvia, closing her purse.

[39] And then, walking out the door.

[40] What she was doing at the hospital, we don't know, but something was wrong.

[41] She said, I'm not sure what's happening, but something is really wrong.

[42] I think we all suspected that she was taking medical supplies.

[43] She was where the scopples and syringes and suture were.

[44] The medications are locked up in a cupboard.

[45] You can't really get those.

[46] But basic supplies, you can access.

[47] anyone could access.

[48] It works there.

[49] But medications are locked in a cupboard.

[50] So you couldn't get those.

[51] And she didn't look right too.

[52] So I clicked back over on the call waiting to Jason and I tell him what's happened.

[53] He goes, what the fuck is going on?

[54] I said, I have no idea.

[55] But my stomach hurt like instantly.

[56] And I go, what do you think is happening?

[57] And he goes, I really don't know.

[58] And then I got to phone with him and I called my hospital back and I said, what are you think is going on?

[59] We're all like something is wrong.

[60] Two hours later, I get a phone call.

[61] It's the young gal that lives next door to her and she says, Sylvia just called me. She's at a hospital in town.

[62] She's asked me to pick her up.

[63] She said that she had her over -removed and that she was AMA, which is against medical advice, signing a waiver because she wants to go home.

[64] And I go, you can't go home after you have your ovary removed.

[65] that's just dumb and she said, I know, but that's what she's doing.

[66] And she goes, Dee, I think something is wrong.

[67] Yeah, I think something is wrong too.

[68] So I tell her what's going on what's happened in the morning time.

[69] All we know is like fire bells are going off and all of our heads, but nobody can figure out what's happening.

[70] Okay, I want you to know that.

[71] Nobody, we still have no idea.

[72] This is such a strange thing.

[73] Like, we're still all just like stand there with our mouth open, like trying to figure out what the hell can be going on.

[74] well we find out what the hell's going on and let me tell you something we could not have dreamed what was going on we could never in a million years have believed what's going on the young gal calls me and she said are you sitting down I said what the hell is going on please tell me what's happening I am sick and she said it went to pick her up she was in the waiting room in a wheelchair she looked like hell she said I was furious like how can they be releasing this woman she said I wheeled her to my car and I picked her up and I put her in my front seat and as I was turning to go Sylvia said where are you going where are going and she was taking the wheelchair back it's not your wheelchair it's the hospital and she was okay so she rolls the wheelchair into the emergency room entrance and she said how on earth are you guys discharging this person who can barely walk who looks like she is going to die right now how can you release her I mean she was furious with the nurse she was furious and the nurse goes she wasn't here for her over removal she got fluids so at this point now the firebells are going off in this gal's head too she drives her home she puts her in the bed and then Sylvia gets out of the bed and she goes, I have to go to the bathroom.

[75] She's in there like 15, 20 minutes, and she comes out.

[76] And when she's crawling back into the bed, the friend notices, because her shirt comes up, right?

[77] So she's getting in the bed, crawling into bed, and her t -shirt rises up.

[78] And she sees a bandage that was not there when she picked her up because she knows because she helped her in the car.

[79] So the shirt rose then to.

[80] So she knew that wasn't there.

[81] So she confronted her.

[82] And she said, what the hell is going on?

[83] What is going on?

[84] And right then in there, Sylvia said, it's all been a lie.

[85] I don't have cancer.

[86] I just cut myself open and sewed myself back up so that you guys would think I had my over -removed.

[87] She said, I'm not sick.

[88] And I started telling a lie and I didn't know how to stop.

[89] And it's out of control and I don't know what to do.

[90] Yeah.

[91] It was just unfathomable to me. that someone could do this and I was just I mean I remember being angry and sad and shocked and I just I didn't even know how to process it I think I was just like in complete shock I had never ever heard of anything like this happening before my mom's my best friend so it's just hard to see someone you love go through such heartbreak and loss blown away I felt Sad for tea, because she loved solving like a daughter and took care of her.

[92] She was educated enough to know what she was doing and how to present it to everybody.

[93] We found out that the reason somebody dropped her off and somebody would pick her up because she really wasn't going in and getting treatments done.

[94] But she'd go into a bathroom stall and cut herself or shave her head or those kind of things go, I didn't really comploid.

[95] Then after Sylvia fell asleep, she called me, the neighbor.

[96] And I said, okay, we need to call her mom.

[97] We need to get her mom here.

[98] And we did.

[99] She said, it's going to take me a day and have to get there.

[100] She's in Canada.

[101] She couldn't leave till the next morning.

[102] She said, you have to act like nothing's wrong until I get there.

[103] And I'll take her to the hospital and we'll 50 -150 or and we'll go from there.

[104] Okay.

[105] Did the neighbor girl swear to secrecy?

[106] Yeah, absolutely.

[107] She was like, please don't tell anyone?

[108] Absolutely.

[109] And the girl convinced her that I'm going...

[110] Yeah, I'm on your side.

[111] It's going to be okay.

[112] So I have to keep with the routine, right?

[113] It was my day and the next day.

[114] So, as you can imagine, I was up all night long, stomach upset, At talking to all the people at my place of work, talking to my husband, I go over the next day.

[115] I walk in the front door and it smells like a weed factory, just gunga.

[116] So I walk in and I was like, oh, God.

[117] I mean, I cannot tell you how much weed had to have been smoked for that house to be like that.

[118] And I look in on her and she's passed out.

[119] Well, I would assume so because she clearly had smoked her brains out.

[120] Probably stressed out, right?

[121] I just did what I was supposed to do that day.

[122] I came in, I cleaned.

[123] I left her a note saying I was there, and I taped it to the bedpost, but she never woke up or she didn't.

[124] She used to act like she was awake, and I'm really grateful for that.

[125] And then I walked out that door, and I never saw her again.

[126] Her mom came.

[127] They told her they were taking her to the hospital because she was running a fever or something like that.

[128] They convinced her to go to the emergency room, and then they 51 -50ed her.

[129] But this girl is so smart and so convincing and so compelling that she was out in 48 hours.

[130] She did not even get the 72 -hour hold.

[131] She was out.

[132] And I talked to her mom and her sister were both there.

[133] And I went to the mental hospital and I talked to the mom and the sister that day.

[134] And we were all just kind of like in support of one another.

[135] like, this is, but you have to remember she's sick.

[136] And we were all kind of had that mentality.

[137] Like, she's really sick.

[138] Something, you know, this was terribly wrong.

[139] How did this happen?

[140] Was nothing true?

[141] We're not even positive.

[142] Is nothing true?

[143] Did she have nothing?

[144] Like, well, it turned out she did not have cancer.

[145] It turned out that she had cut herself open for all those procedures and sewed herself back up.

[146] It turned out that she was, she had injections.

[147] that she was giving herself at home and then asking other people to give her injections into her stomach or saline, which is water.

[148] None of it was true.

[149] She wasn't sick.

[150] She didn't not have cancer.

[151] She was not getting chemo.

[152] She was not getting radiation.

[153] She did not have brain surgery.

[154] She didn't need a wheelchair.

[155] She was mentally ill. Do you think her son was actually sick?

[156] No, I think she was doing much house on bioproxy.

[157] I do.

[158] I absolutely do.

[159] Do you think she was making him sick?

[160] Yep.

[161] I sure do.

[162] I think she was, if you give somebody medications, it can cause seizures, because that's what she did to herself.

[163] She did have a seizure.

[164] I was there.

[165] I saw her have a seizure, but she made herself have a seizure with medications.

[166] She's lucky she didn't kill herself.

[167] So I believe that she was giving her son medications that made him sick.

[168] She also probably never had West Nile virus.

[169] Correct.

[170] Mm -hmm.

[171] Never had pregnancies that failed?

[172] No, just probably the one abortion that was that I went there for.

[173] Yeah, the rest of all.

[174] And you do believe she actually was having an abortion?

[175] Yeah.

[176] Okay.

[177] Yeah.

[178] Yeah, she told me she was pregnant all those times and then lost the baby.

[179] I think that was all lies for attention.

[180] There were stuff.

[181] several times in this time period where she was sexually promiscuous and I doing research that's part of the illness as well and I knew about those I was actually probably supportive go you're nine you go you go you have fun girl what was the response like of the doctor and your co -workers better shock and hurt betrayal but I would say shock number one all of us that the day we found out I go to bed early I always do go to bed 8 o 'clock and yeah when he called me at 10 .30 because he couldn't sleep the doctor I knew I was like yeah I can't sleep I cannot fathom this and of course my instant thing was how could she do this to me how could she hurt me how could she lie to me how could she betray me like you know when you're taking care of someone to that extent and you're bathing them and you're cooking for them and you're caring for their children and you are sacrificing your family for her.

[182] This went on the whole time span, I'd say from beginning to end, was like almost four years.

[183] And telling your children you're sick, telling your children that you're dying, to the point where your children need therapy.

[184] So she's 5150, but not really.

[185] Not really.

[186] Yeah.

[187] And did she have no contact with you?

[188] Within the first week of finding out Doc and I got the same email.

[189] I had saved it for many years and it got lost I had saved some things and some things he saved so we're able to put together but the email that we got said something like I know I've lied and betrayed you I have come to find out that I never had cancer that I never had all the treatments that I had a cancerous mass or I had a cancerous spot in my ovary in 2001 or 2000 and it was removed on an outpatient basis and I never had cancer.

[190] I want you to believe that, and I remember this email very vividly, so it was pretty gushed down close to reading it to you.

[191] I really believed that all of my treatments at Stanford were true.

[192] I can picture myself laying on the steel pool table.

[193] I can picture myself getting painful procedures.

[194] I thought that I did have chemo and radiation.

[195] I know that I have betrayed and lied to you.

[196] You know, you'll probably never be able to forgive me. I hope someday that you can.

[197] I'm still learning that what I have is called fictitious disorder, and I'm going to get help for it was the crux of the letter.

[198] The Mayo Clinic defines factitious disorder as a serious mental disorder in which someone deceives others by appearing sick, by purposefully getting sick or by self -injury.

[199] Factitious disorder can also happen when family members or caregivers falsely present others such as children as being ill, injured, or impaired.

[200] Factitious disorder symptoms can range from mild, slight exaggeration of symptoms, to severe, previously called Munchausen syndrome.

[201] The person may make up symptoms or even tamper with medical tests to convince others that treatment, such as high -risk surgery, is needed.

[202] Factitious disorder is not the same as inventing medical problems for practical benefit, such as getting out of work or winning a lawsuit.

[203] Although people with factitious disorder know they are causing their symptoms or illnesses, they may not understand the reasons for their behaviors or recognize themselves as having a problem.

[204] Factitious disorder is challenging to identify and hard to treat.

[205] However, medical and psychiatric help are critical for preventing serious injury and even death caused by self -harm, typical of this disorder.

[206] People with factitious disorder go to great lengths to hide their deception, so it may be difficult to realize that the symptoms are actually part of a serious mental health disorder.

[207] They continue with deception even without receiving any visible benefit or reward when faced with objective evidence that doesn't support their claims.

[208] Factitious disorder signs and symptoms may include clever and convincing medical or psychological problems, extensive knowledge of medical terms and diseases, vague or inconsistent symptoms, conditions that get worse for no apparent reason, conditions that don't respond as expected to standard therapies, seeking treatment from many different doctors or hospitals which may include using a fake name, reluctance to allow doctors to talk to family or friends or to other healthcare professionals.

[209] Frequent stays in the hospital.

[210] eagerness to have frequent testing or risky operations.

[211] Many surgical scars or evidence of numerous procedures, having few visitors when hospitalized, and arguing with doctors and staff.

[212] Because people with factitious disorder become experts at faking symptoms and diseases or inflicting real injuries upon themselves, it may be hard for health care professionals and loved ones to know if illnesses are real or not.

[213] People with factitious disorder make up symptoms or cause illnesses in several ways, such as exaggerating existing symptoms.

[214] Even when the actual medical or psychological condition exists, they may exaggerate symptoms to appear sicker or more impaired than is true.

[215] Making up histories, they may give loved ones, healthcare professionals, or support groups a false medical history, such as claiming to have had cancer or AIDS.

[216] Or they may falsify medical records to indicate an illness.

[217] They may fake symptoms such as stomach pain, seizures, or passing out.

[218] They may make themselves sick, for example, by injecting themselves with bacteria, milk, gasoline, or feces.

[219] They may injure, cut, or burn themselves.

[220] They may take medications such as blood thinners or drugs for diabetes to mimic diseases.

[221] They may also interfere with wound healing, such as reopening or infecting cuts.

[222] They may manipulate medical instruments to skew results such as heating up thermometers, or they may tamper with lab tests, such as contaminating their urine samples with blood or other substances.

[223] People with factitious disorder may be well aware of the risk of injury or even death as a result of self -harm or the treatment they seek, but they can't control their behaviors and they're unlikely to seek help.

[224] Even when confronted with objective proof, such as videotape, that they're causing their illness, they often deny it and refuse psychiatric help.

[225] The cause of factitious disorder is unknown.

[226] However, the disorder may be caused by a combination of psychological factors and stressful life experiences.

[227] Several factors may increase the risk of developing factitious disorder, including childhood trauma such as emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, a serious illness during childhood.

[228] Loss of a loved one through death, illness, or abandonment.

[229] Past experiences during a time of sickness and the attention it brought.

[230] A poor sense of identity or self -esteem.

[231] Personality disorders.

[232] Depression.

[233] Desire to be associated with doctors or medical centers and work in the health care field.

[234] Factitious disorder is considered rare, but it's not known how many people have this disorder.

[235] Some people use fake names to avoid detection.

[236] Some visit many different hospitals or doctors, and some are never identified, all of which make it difficult to get a reliable estimate.

[237] People with factitious disorder are willing to risk their lives to be seen as sick.

[238] They frequently have other mental health disorders as well.

[239] As a result, they face many possible complications, including injury or death from self -inflicted medical conditions, severe mental health problems from infections or unnecessary surgery or procedures, loss of organs and limbs from unnecessary surgery, alcohol or other substance abuse, significant problems in daily life, relationships, and work, abuse when the behavior is inflicted on another.

[240] Conversely, malingering is the purposeful production of falsely or grossly exaggerated physical and or psychological symptoms with the goal of receiving a reward.

[241] This reward may include money and insurance settlement, drugs, release from incarceration, or the avoidance of punishment, work, jury duty, the military, or some kind of service.

[242] Malingering is not a psychiatric disorder.

[243] It is similar to, but distinct from, fictitious disorder.

[244] Malingering is also separate from somatic symptom disorder in which a person experiences real psychological distress from imagined or exaggerated symptoms.

[245] Malingering can lead to abuse of the medical system with unnecessary tests being performed and time taken away from other patients.

[246] Scammers are best known for living the high life until they're forced to trade it all in for handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit once they're finally caught.

[247] I'm Sachi Cole and I'm Sarah Haggy and we're the host of scam influencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery, that takes you along the twists and turns of some of the most infamous scams of all time, the impact on victims and what's left once a facade falls away.

[248] We've covered stories like a Shark Tank certified entrepreneur who left the show with an investment, but soon faced mounting bills an active lawsuit followed by Larry King and no real product to push.

[249] He then began to prey on vulnerable women instead, selling the idea of a future together while stealing from them behind their backs.

[250] To the infamous scams of real housewife stars like Teresa Judici, what should have proven to be a major downfall only seemed to solidify her place in the Real Housewives Hall of Fame.

[251] Follow scam influencers on the Wendry app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[252] You can listen to Scamfluencers early and ad -free right now on Wondry Plus.

[253] She struck him with her motor vehicle.

[254] She had been under the influence and she left him there.

[255] In January 2022, local woman Karen Reid was implicated in the mysterious death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O 'Kee.

[256] It was alleged that after an innocent night out for drinks with friends, Karen and John got into a lover's quarrel and route to the next location.

[257] What happens next depends on who you ask.

[258] Was it a crime of passion?

[259] If you believe the prosecution, it's because the evidence was so compelling.

[260] This was clearly an intentional act.

[261] And his cause of death was blunt force trauma with hypothermia.

[262] Or a corrupt police cover -up.

[263] If you believe the defense theory, however, this was all, cover -up to prevent one of their own from going down.

[264] Everyone had an opinion.

[265] And after the 10 -week trial, the jury could not come to a unanimous decision.

[266] To end in a mistrial, it's just a confirmation of just how complicated this case is.

[267] Law and crime presents the most in -depth analysis to date of the sensational case in Karen.

[268] You can listen to Karen exclusively with Wondery Plus.

[269] Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcast.

[270] or Spotify.

[271] And she had her stories so good.

[272] Like most people could not have pulled this off.

[273] You have to remember how smart she was.

[274] Like she was brilliant because she kept everybody in a box so that none of us intersected.

[275] Like her husband didn't intersect with me. She made it to where we were all segregated and separate and that nobody knew what the other person knew.

[276] And I believe that she had a whole separate thing with Jason.

[277] a whole separate set of lies, a whole separate set for me. She probably had told her mom a whole separate set.

[278] She probably just telling her children a whole separate set.

[279] I believe that she had all of these balls in play.

[280] And somehow she masterfully juggled them, masterfully.

[281] How do you think she was getting all of the medications?

[282] Do you think she was just doctor shopping, like going to a bunch of different doctors?

[283] Well, I don't know what she could have gotten in the nursing when she was doing nursing.

[284] Because she may have had access to meds.

[285] And in the prison, I'm not sure.

[286] But yeah, I do definitely think that she was shopping around.

[287] And I think she will go to this doctor for this med. And she was smart enough to know what to ask for.

[288] So she would research and find out what medication asked for.

[289] And I believe that she was doing munchausen.

[290] Like, I believe she was taking medication to make herself vomit.

[291] I believe she was taking laxatives.

[292] Because you saw her vomiting.

[293] Right.

[294] I believe she gave herself laxatives to have diarrhea.

[295] because then you're dehydrated.

[296] And when you're dehydrated, you look bad.

[297] You have the rings under your eyes.

[298] You have the sallow look.

[299] You're lethargic.

[300] And I believe that she did.

[301] She didn't fake her symptoms so much.

[302] I believe she was having those symptoms.

[303] She was creating them.

[304] Absolutely.

[305] So she did damage to herself.

[306] There you go, because there's the mental illness aspect where you almost can't be too mad because she harmed her.

[307] herself.

[308] So it wasn't that she just lied and said she had brain surgery.

[309] She cut the back of her head open and sewed it up.

[310] So yeah, are you mad because she lied to or are you mad because she had mental illness?

[311] It's a fine line.

[312] And as a human, compassionate human being, you try juggle that inside your body.

[313] I'm trying to figure that out.

[314] It's hard to figure out, like, what the hell was actually going on.

[315] So I wrote her a letter, which you have in front of you.

[316] Do you want to read it?

[317] Sure.

[318] So I wrote this letter to her because I did not talk to her and I made myself not call her.

[319] I really wish I would have gotten an answer to this letter.

[320] I think it would have helped me, but I did not get an answer to this letter.

[321] Nothing.

[322] Nothing.

[323] I know she got it because I did talk to the neighbor girl on and off for the first year afterwards.

[324] And she did keep in contact with her and she did talk to her.

[325] and she did tell her that she got my letter.

[326] Okay, so I wrote this on November 14th, 2007.

[327] Dear Sylvia, after speaking with you a few weeks ago, I realize I do have a few questions that I would like answered.

[328] Remember, all I really know is what this attached brief email was sent shortly after you were hospitalized.

[329] You said you were really ill when you were having the seizures in front of your daughter.

[330] Do you remember taking 10 to 20 pills by the handful?

[331] several times a day.

[332] I believe that this led to your seizures.

[333] I don't know if you remember what all has transpired in the past four years, since neither you nor your doctor have asked me any questions about what I witnessed while you were ill and delusional.

[334] How do you know what is fact and what are delusions?

[335] If your view of reality was so cloudy, then how can you properly heal without the information?

[336] When talking to you, you seem not to have remorse.

[337] But, you are stunned to find out people have abandoned you.

[338] I do not detect guilt or sorrow for what you have put others through.

[339] The comment you made about why you should tell the doctor or me how you are or what you are doing to get help.

[340] Why would I do that?

[341] For your curiosity, how about you do something unselfish, something for the others that have been devastated in the wake of your delusions?

[342] because you were sick does not negate the devastation you have caused everyone in your life.

[343] I don't understand how two months ago you were in a wheelchair wearing diapers and thinking you were dying.

[344] And now, because you know this is untrue, you just snap into reality.

[345] I feel you are downplaying what has happened to you.

[346] I know you are in therapy.

[347] I am glad.

[348] However, I am not sure that that is enough.

[349] You are working and taking care of your child while you're fighting for custody of your other child.

[350] I think you should be focused on fighting for your mental health.

[351] Questions I need answers to.

[352] One, are you sorry for what you have done?

[353] Two, do you know what you did was wrong?

[354] Three, are you telling the truth now?

[355] Are you telling the truth to your counselors?

[356] Four, what were you injecting into your body?

[357] Five, do you remember taking handfuls of pills, taking things to make yourself vomit?

[358] Six, did you ever have cancer or treatment?

[359] If so, what, when, and where?

[360] Seven, when you would come by work after a doctor's appointment crying and devastated, you had to have come from home and done a great acting job.

[361] Is it like two personalities, the sick Sylvia and the planning Sylvia to make the sickness real?

[362] Where did you go when you were supposed to be at Stanford getting brain surgery?

[363] what are you doing to get better?

[364] Do you or did you ever love all of us?

[365] I can tell you that we truly cared about you.

[366] The abandoning from all is a self -protection for all of our mental well -being.

[367] You have hurt all of us so badly.

[368] How can we put ourselves out there to a pathological liar with severe mental illness?

[369] What if you lie or hurt us again?

[370] Can you understand that?

[371] especially since you have done nothing to reassure us or make any kinds of amends.

[372] We are not even sure if you are truly sorry for what you have done.

[373] You know that I absolutely love you.

[374] No way could any person go through what I chose to go through with you without love.

[375] I have been devastated and hurt deeply by all of this.

[376] I feel abandoned by you, by your family.

[377] I took care of you on my own free will for years.

[378] cleaned your toilet, cooked for your kids, laid in bed with you with my dying friend.

[379] I moved you five times.

[380] I was there for you.

[381] I wanted to be there for you.

[382] At the end of the day, all I got was, I'm mentally ill. Sorry, I'll be in touch.

[383] Great.

[384] What am I supposed to do with that?

[385] Your illness faked and real has ripped so many people.

[386] Can you at least answer my questions and tell me what?

[387] and how you are feeling.

[388] I do miss you, and I hope the best for you.

[389] If ever your counselors want to speak with me, I would be open to that.

[390] I do love you, Sylvia.

[391] T. Yeah, that's hard to even read now.

[392] Yeah.

[393] So you never got answers to those questions.

[394] I do know that she, because she talked to the gal that lived next door that she had told her that, you know, we abandoned her, and how could we do that when she was mentally ill?

[395] And that's where I knew, you know, how I know all of that.

[396] but yeah how selfish even then yeah maybe we're fucking tired yeah after doing this for four years with you and how like the audacity of someone to be mad because we abandon you are you fucking kidding me like for real right it's astounding isn't it's astounding next time like i did talk to the daughter after she was found out um i believe was it before she passed away or after she was before she passed say.

[397] Something Was Wrong is written, recorded, edited, and produced by me, Tiffany Reese.

[398] All of the music by Gladrags, hear their album, Wonder Under on iTunes.

[399] Follow the hashtag Something Was Wrong pod on Instagram.

[400] You can now purchase something was wrong merch at www .spreadless .com.

[401] The books referenced on this show can be found linked in the show notes.

[402] If you or someone you know is being abused, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1 -800 -799 -safe.

[403] That's 1 -800 -799 -7233.

[404] Thank you.

[405] If you'd like to help support the show, please consider leaving a five -star review on iTunes and sharing the podcast with your family and friends.

[406] And neighbor, in Garbage Man, and Gynaecologist, and record producer and ex -boyfriend.

[407] No, don't do that.

[408] Yeah, just like everyone you know.

[409] That would be cool.

[410] Thank you.

[411] I love you, bye.

[412] If you like something was wrong, you can listen early and ad -free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[413] Prime members can listen ad -free on Amazon music.

[414] Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondery .com slash survey.

[415] I'm Dan Tiberski.

[416] In 2011, something strange began.

[417] to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York.

[418] I was like at my locker and she came up to me and she was like stuttering super bad.

[419] I'm like, stop fucking around.

[420] She's like, I can't.

[421] A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms and spreading fast.

[422] It's like doubling and tripling and it's all these girls.

[423] With a diagnosis, the state tried to keep on the down low.

[424] Everybody thought I was holding something back.

[425] Well, you were holding something back.

[426] Intentionally.

[427] Yeah, yeah.

[428] Well, yeah.

[429] No, it's hysteria.

[430] It's all in your head.

[431] It's not physical.

[432] Oh my gosh, you're exaggerating.

[433] Is this the largest mass hysteria since the witches of Salem?

[434] Or is it something else entirely?

[435] Something's wrong here.

[436] Something's not right.

[437] Leroy was the new date line and everyone was trying to solve the murder.

[438] A new limited series from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios, Hysterical.

[439] Follow Hysterical on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[440] You can binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad -free right now by joining Wondry Plus.