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24 Urban-Legends about Mind, Behavior and Drugs.

April 7, 2019 12:09 pm / Leave a comment

24 urban legends/myths collated from the twitter handle @ULTweets (thanks to @btaylorblake) which are connected to the theme of mind, behavior and drugs. (See another 24 medical legends in another post linked here)

1. Mysterious girl crying in the cemetery

#ForteanFriday follow-up | "The girl is living with her family and reportedly had psychological issues, occasionally escaping from home and visiting the cemetery" | Mysterious crying girl in Çorum cemetery found https://t.co/N562zKdkZ4 via @HDNER
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) May 18, 2018

2. 10% of brain myth

The 10 percent of the brain myth is a widely perpetuated urban legend that most or all humans only use 10 percent (or some other small percentage) of their brains. It has been misattributed to many people, including Albert Einstein. https://t.co/BtvUXEldni
— Will Onyeze 👑 (@Iamwillz2) March 28, 2019

3. Characters in Winnie the Pooh and mental disorders

This seems to have been based on a tongue-in-cheek “study” published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2000: https://t.co/pX8Khz1Mmx. #OhBother https://t.co/QQs1FrZod5
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) August 13, 2018

4. Blue Whale And Momo

Blue Whale and Momo Challenge are urban myths, says one expert https://t.co/d0tjtvnjzf

— Gulf News (@gulf_news) March 7, 2019

5. Parenting

"Hamburg. Rumors of child molesters lurking in schools or day-care centers spread rapidly via Whatsapp or Facebook. Often, hysterical parents are behind it. With stories about child molesters in white vans they create panic and fuel the fear of (the) stranger" https://t.co/XpGR1DiYaL
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) February 6, 2019

6. School Stress

#ForteanFriday "Though the problem was seen in only one or two girls in the first few days, it started spreading gradually. However, no boy has been affected by this disease so far" | Nepal: Mystery disease forces school to remain shut – https://t.co/9IdpyLxb05

— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) February 16, 2018

7. Mass hysteria about child lifting

Contemporary legends in India: "[T]he idea of the child lifter has not emerged out of a void. It is rooted in Indian folklore and legend" | What is driving India’s mass hysteria over suspicions of child lifting? https://t.co/EcyDVOwjgV #FolkloreThursday #UrbanLegend
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) July 12, 2018

8. Braid chopping phenomenon

#ForteanFriday | Mystery of braid chopping; How mass hysteria travelled from Rajasthan to Kashmir https://t.co/R3MgMDIqQB
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) October 20, 2017

9. Depression therapy and satanic panic of the 80s

My mom’s therapist told her that her depression was from repressed Satanic ritual abuse!
— Kingfisher & Wombat (@UrsulaV) February 10, 2019

10. Force of imagination (delusion of blood letting)

From a thread about “what’s a scientific study that strongly affected the way you think, but which later turned out to probably be wrong?” (See thread for more.) https://t.co/NfugSxgN8K

— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) July 8, 2018

As I mentioned earlier, this reminds me of an anecdote that originally appeared in a French publication called "La Caméléon" sometime in the late 18th- or early 19th-c. Here it is as it appeared in a London paper called "The Odd Fellow" (4 January 1840, p. 4). cc: @DanielNothing pic.twitter.com/lztib8XKzB
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) July 8, 2018

11. Suicide Suite

For more on "the Suicide Suite" (and other Wellesley legends), see https://t.co/ga1E2A6Mj1 #FolkloreThursday https://t.co/sJxyqFY7wU

— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) October 27, 2016

12. Gloomy Sunday

As @MummyComic notes, “This might have been based on "Gloomy Sunday", which was popularized in 1941 by Billie Holiday. There is a recurring urban legend which claims that many people have committed suicide while listening to this song. https://t.co/WQxX1QIde3” 1/2 https://t.co/ZxFStlQU7r
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) January 23, 2018

13. Random urine drug test

Sound familiar? See https://t.co/ppWq0K7A9V https://t.co/VITRtG8tao

— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) April 3, 2018

14. Opioid hysteria

"The policy is based in part on the idea that even minuscule amounts of skin exposure to these drugs can be life-threatening. This is patently false ... " | Opioid Hysteria Comes to Massachusetts Courts https://t.co/01TIirk2Rw
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) January 24, 2018

15. Opioid crisis

A short blurb helped cause the opioid crisis. That’s just the start of science’s citation woes: https://t.co/H2gG1I0lff pic.twitter.com/1HzGRDnz3e
— Slate (@Slate) June 11, 2017

16. “The Mad Gasser of Mattoon”: Collective anxiety attack / Transient delusion

On "The Mad Gasser of Mattoon" ... https://t.co/SvwPlroeGy
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) December 21, 2016

17. Havana Syndrome

@ULTweets Mass hysteria? https://t.co/Pg9zcRM6fy

— Derek Bryant (@DerekJohnBryant) January 9, 2019

18. Mandela Effect (false memory)

Fascinating piece on an example of "the Mandela Effect", h/t @MrMoth … https://t.co/pLmyI3JJ3Z

— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) December 21, 2016

19. Marijuana laced with Fentanyl

No, Weed Is Not Tainted With Fentanyl. But That Myth Has Spread All The Way To The White House. https://t.co/znksVrujLN via @dvergano
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) March 27, 2019

20. LSD

My high school’s dress code prohibited headbands, on grounds that they allegedly could be used as a transdermal delivery mechanism for LSD. In other words, we had a real rule that was based on a bullshit urban legend about Jimi Hendrix. https://t.co/X92jke8ZLR
— R.J. Lehmann (@raylehmann) March 23, 2019

21. Halloween candy laced with [meth]

Galion, Ohio: "Police are investigating if a child was given a Halloween candy laced with [meth]. The 5-year-old trick-or-treater was hospitalized Sunday night, but it's still unclear if the candy caused the problem" | 5-year-old tests positive for meth https://t.co/Ftz1UyzW6S
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) October 30, 2018

22. Contaminated food, candy and gum

Contaminated food, candy and gum is a very common contemporary (urban) legend trope. A popular contemporary legend, from about 20 yrs ago, was based on the rumour that Bubble Yum was so chewy because it was secretly filled with spider eggs. @OnTheGoCBC https://t.co/fuKxWQDYE9
— MUNFLA (@MUNFLA_Archive) February 4, 2019

23. Urban legends as expressions of social tension

"In the early 1970s … social tension was expressed in terms of tall tales about evil, candy-adulterating sadists" https://t.co/Mk0St1SCxC

— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) October 15, 2016

24. Collective environmental guilt

Hull? Old Stinker, of course! https://t.co/w53uAXH1n5 cc: @old_stinker

— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) December 19, 2018

24 Medical Urban-Legends.

April 7, 2019 12:08 pm / Leave a comment

24 medical urban legends/myths collated from the twitter handle @ULTweets (thanks to @btaylorblake). (See another 24 legends/myths connected with mind, behavior, and drugs in another post linked here)

1. Surgeon and the boy

This anecdote made quite a splash when it popped up on Twitter a couple of weeks ago. The legend may have roots in a 1925 silent film. See https://t.co/EholeDRnmz for more. https://t.co/z5uf1sXcEM
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) July 22, 2018

2. Welcome to the HIV club

This Manila-specific version of legends involving the intentional infection with HIV and a message of "Welcome to the AIDS club" was quite the thing three years ago, allowing me to follow it on Twitter in real time. See https://t.co/n2sTiQ6xr9. https://t.co/paeylRh1rz
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) May 30, 2018

And my favorite Taglietti, a depiction of the "Welcome to the World of AIDS" legend ... https://t.co/TflrgHgIni
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) November 17, 2018

3. AIDS Mary

We discovered a century-old version of the "AIDS Mary" legend, the woman allededly responsible for several case of AIDS infections. It was about leprosy. An essay by @solincos and Giuseppe Stilo https://t.co/DDfipP5LHA #WorldLeprosyDay #urbanlegends

— Ceravolc – Leggende contemporanee (@Ceravolc) January 25, 2019

4. Organ donor

Remember the urban legend that involves people waking up in a bathtub full of ice, with only one kidney?

That's kind of what happened in Egypt, and 30 people were just convicted for organ harvesting!!! https://t.co/OfVISuvorE

— 93 WIBC Indianapolis (@93wibc) July 13, 2018

5. Surgeon and 300% mortality

From a thread on Scottish surgeon Robert Liston (1794 – 1847) ... https://t.co/bwY3X7WAKy
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) June 1, 2018

6. Cardiologist’s tweet

Last I looked, he hadn't deleted Tweet #1, the incorrect one, either, which says a lot, I think.

"Falsehood flies, and truth comes limping after it, so that when men come to be undeceived, it is too late; the jest is over, and the tale hath had its effect" -- Swift (1710) https://t.co/gv1l2BAK45
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) April 17, 2018

7. HIV needle

a concept: that urban legend about the hiv-infected needle under the movie theater seat but it’s the mmr vaccine instead

— babou the ocelot (@rococo_puffs) March 13, 2019

8. ISIS and HIV

Attention …. If Someone comes to your doorstep and says we are from the medical college want to test your blood sugar for free, don't give the test. call the police immediately. They are I.S.I.S terrorists, they are to inject H. I. V. AIDS virus into your blood. Share

— Rev Roseann Gontijo (@RevRoseann) August 8, 2018

9. Abortion

About those rumors that Girl Scout cookie sales help fund Planned Parenthood, https://t.co/e4mXKcN5CE. #AbortionCookies https://t.co/gviEiqcqXR
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) October 12, 2017

10. IUD (Intra Uterine Device)

"Exclusive: Baby born holding Mirena IUD? Mom sets the record straight" https://t.co/AllKJrtdv0
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) May 4, 2017

11. Sperm bank

https://twitter.com/cathjmag/status/1110857242264420352

12. IVF (Invitro fertilization)

Viral story about 'married couple who found out they were twins through IVF' appears to be fake https://t.co/vYVVi8Taxk pic.twitter.com/V4TBkBq708
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) April 15, 2017

13. Breast implant

H/t @TheFarrierPhil who recalls similar stories about breast implants or inflatable bras exploding at high altitudes (e.g., https://t.co/5aJ0PacEgo) … https://t.co/pBneSJmsuc

— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) February 11, 2018

14. Legend from Cancer

According to the legend, Hello Kitty was created back in the 1970s by a Chinese woman. Apparently, her 14-year old daughter was diagnosed with cancer of the mouth. The doctors told the mom that her child was terminally ill and there was nothing she could do for her.

— hunnny . 💍 (@juicythread) August 10, 2018

15. Radio-waves from cell phone

Because the California Department of Public Health recently issued a warning about body exposure to radiofrequency energy from cell phones, (PDF) https://t.co/bIBRrblgVt https://t.co/5Xu2TstwwF

— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) December 18, 2017

16. Necrophilia

.@girlposts You just read an urban legend ... https://t.co/JsgDo0At07
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) February 8, 2017

17. Menstrual cycle

Think we've known for a while that menstrual synchrony isn't a thing, but this study increases the "n." Article reviews belief in phenomenon https://t.co/G6ckRuLcnE
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) April 10, 2017

18. Unusual Injury

A couple of @Neuro_Skeptic’s followers have mentioned that this case report reminded them of the legend at https://t.co/PuIditHsmK (which includes a mention of a similar-ish clinical report from 2000, though with a different outcome). https://t.co/1N4X5q3FlK
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) February 28, 2018

19. Optogram

In the 1800s, an urban legend suggested that examining the eyes of the dead would allow you to retrieve an image of the last thing they saw. One man set out to determine if this was true—using the eyes of a condemned murderer: https://t.co/noT2DMq9wK

— neurochallenged (@neurochallenged) March 3, 2019

20. Tape worm and bosom serpent

Gotta love a reference to a bosom serpent. H/t @PaulMiil. (For the disgusting tape worm story, see https://t.co/Fx5ipe5US0) pic.twitter.com/IzvDfHdVsz

— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) February 1, 2017

21. X celebrity and semen

i love the urban legend that "X celebrity had their stomach pumped and there was eight different kinds of semen in there". thinking about the processes involved. some guy is bleeding out while an emergency doctor is separating out different strains of cum by colour and viscosity

— Aisling McCrea (@ambientGillian) March 24, 2019

22. Obamacare

Yes, there’s a lot of trolling on this website, but the notion that there are medical codes for types of patient executions (inc. guillotining!) in the Affordable Care Act is a new one for me. Cf. earlier rumors regarding “Death Panels” and the Affordable Care Act. pic.twitter.com/h4O6hTX1zu

— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) February 16, 2019

I’m betting @shelbygrossman is alluding to this conspiracy theory, https://t.co/tPRsf0YHoi and it’s probably this episode she’s referring to, https://t.co/GMVmElJYh6 https://t.co/9WnfdBDXC9
— It's an Urban Legend (@ULTweets) January 17, 2018

23. Rib removal for auto-fellatio

Another urban legend that made the rounds: Marilyn Manson allegedly had some of his ribs removed so he could blow himself. How did we accept this universal truth quite literally worldwide before the internet as we know it existed?! PRE-TWITTER. INSANE.
— Hell On Heels (@HellOnHeelsGirl) February 17, 2019

24. Doctor

https://twitter.com/JoeTheDough/status/933356460066725889