Concepts such as mass hysteria have historically used by the privileged to discredit political dissent. This happens in both politics and academia, where powerful figures blame those with grievances rather than acknowledging societal injustices. The psychologising of illness is a frequent example, such as when long COVID has been dismissed as a ‘psychologically driven condition’, a form of mass hysteria, despite evidence to the contrary. Attributions of hysteria serve to maintain the status quo. The psychologising of illnesses like long COVID is attractive to conservative politics because it allows the state to deflect from the need for social welfare and wealth redistribution.