hysteria

noun

• exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people:the mass hysteria that characterizes the week before Christmas
• Psychiatry a psychological disorder (not now regarded as a single definite condition) whose symptoms include conversion of psychological stress into physical symptoms (somatization), selective amnesia, shallow volatile emotions, and overdramatic or attention-seeking behavior. The term has a controversial history as it was formerly regarded as a disease specific to women.