Secular nomenclature for an Orthodox-diagnosed demonic phenomenon
Recently, those who follow the accomplished and celebrated minds in the field of medicine have noticed the identification of what they term "mass formation" or more commonly called "mass formation psychosis." It is being described as a general widespread anxiety that is provoked by some stimulus to foster a reaction that is not a rational (and obviously not prayerful) decision-making process. This is the rough idea behind it. Those attentive to the spiritual life and the writings of the neptic (watchful) fathers in our Orthodox Tradition will recognize the demonic methodology clearly in such a phenomenon. "Anxiety," "provocation," "irrational" these are words describing demonic thoughts and temptations. Now, since COVIDism entered into our lives at the beginning of 2020, holy men in our Church (and the Orthodox Ethos proliferating their words and sharing the experience of the Holy Fathers) have explained the demonic methodology at work, not as something new, but a well-known experience of temptation and demonic machination in the history of the Church.
Fr. Peter did such a podcast in May of 2020. In Lesson 3 (August 13, 2020) of Fr. Peter's Orthodox Survival Course, he speaks of the "Mystery of Iniquity and Apostasy." In January of 2021, Orthodox Ethos shared the excellent explanation of Fr. Elpidios Vagianakis on the "Devil's Weapon" of fear to explain to "subjugate." I wrote a post here to expand on this problem in the Church (which has never really gone away). This is the wisdom of our Fathers that truly sharp and somewhat discerning scientists are beginning to realize and identify in their secular terminology. With all that said, this is a beneficial secular explanation of a spiritual phenomenon serving as a potentially important bridge to lead those secular thinkers in our lives to understand the spiritual realities that battle in our world.