PSYCHIC EPIDEMICS AND THE CONCEPT OF DEGENERATION IN RUSSIA AT THE TURN OF THE 19TH–20TH CENTURIES: ON THE HISTORY OF MEDICAL IDEAS ABOUT MASS PSYCHOSES

Kravtsova Elena Sergeevna, Levchenko Elena Vadimovna

The aim of the study is to identify the role of the concept of “degeneration” in the interpretation of the phenomenon of “psychic epidemics” in the Russian Empire at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries and to compare it with modern digital analogues of mass psycho-emotional behavior. The methodological basis of the research includes the comparative-historical method, discourse analysis, and a cultural approach, which together make it possible to comprehensively examine both medical and sociocultural aspects of mass psychic reactions. The article analyzes the development of ideas about “psychic epidemics” in Russian psychiatry of the late 19th – early 20th centuries (I. P. Merzheevsky, P. I. Kovalevsky, S. S. Korsakov, V. M. Bekhterev), traces the influence of the degeneration narrative on the formation of social and medical interpretations of mass phenomena, and reveals structural parallels with modern digital forms of collective behavior (virtual panics, flash mobs, online trauma). The scientific novelty lies in the interdisciplinary comparison of historical and contemporary forms of “psychic epidemics”, which makes it possible to demonstrate the persistence of basic mechanisms of psycho-emotional contagion and the transformation of explanatory models — from the biological concept of degeneration to the theories of “collective trauma” and “information-psychological influence”. The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of applying its results in the study of the history of Russian psychiatry, as well as in the development of media literacy and psychoprevention strategies aimed at reducing mass anxiety and increasing social resilience to destructive reactions.

Keywords:psychic epidemics, theory of degeneration, mass psychology, digital culture, collective trauma.