Psychogenic Illness and the ADAAA

As reported in the New York Times, 1,200 Chinese employees of a textile mill recently fell ill, experiencing nausea, headaches, numbness, dizziness, convulsions, breathing difficulties, vomiting and temporary paralysis. So many were hospitalized that there were two in every hospital bed. The workers believed their conditions were caused by aniline, a highly toxic chemical produced by a neighboring chemical plant. Though two dozen workers remain hospitalized, the Chinese government has concluded that the employees suffered from psychogenic illness, otherwise known as mass hysteria.

There is such a thing as psychogenic illness. It’s usually triggered by a bad smell or a rumor. When one person gets sick, others begin to feel sick. The condition is compounded by the anxiety and stress accompanying the belief that some terrible disease has struck.

The Chinese workers may never know what happened. Chinese businesses produce a lot of stuff that results in environmentally dangerous, if not toxic, conditions inside and outside the workplace. The Chinese government lacks credibility. Experts in the west say that if it is a case of mass hysteria, it would be the largest instance of workplace psychogenic illness on record. As I considered this Chinese event, It got me to thinking about our new world with the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act (ADAAA).

As I’ve previously noted (click here, here and here), the ADAAA could make virtually any mental or physical condition a disability under the Act. Until we’ve had enough court decisions on the subject, it’s hard to know how broad the ADA is. Based on the language of the ADAAA, however, it seems to me that psychogenic illness is covered. It’s not just in an employee’s head. There are real signs of sickness that aren’t just imagined, like the symptoms experienced by the Chinese workers. Sounds like a new disability to me.