Theories of the Salem Witch TrialsThe Salem witch trials and their causes are very debatable. Some theories lead to rye poisoning from bread, even in people who fake it. The most credible claim is that people were faking it. Everyone had a motive and they all just wanted to get away. It was a time when people were selfish and only cared about themselves. This time in Salem, it was an unsettling time, which made it seem like Satan was active (Linder). It is believed that the townspeople suffered from a strange psychological condition known as mass hysteria (Wolchover). Mass hysteria is a condition affecting a group of people, characterized by excitement or anxiety, irrational behavior or beliefs, or unexplainable symptoms of illness. This is known to cause all sorts of problems from skin rashes to high blood pressure and heart disease. Adults would likely ask girls if the people who tormented them with witchcraft were those whom adults in the community considered most likely to be allied with the devil: outcasts or political rivals. Some of the girls, under this intense questioning, might have come to believe they were bewitched, while others knowingly lied to please the adults and found themselves trapped in their own lies (Krystek). If the girls believed someone had bewitched them, it would have created enough stress in their minds to cause physical symptoms. Most of the girls' symptoms were almost identical to a condition called hysteria. If the girls simply believed they had been bewitched, this might have been enough to produce the physical effects observed (Krystek). The next theory about the cause of the Salem witch trials concerns weather conditions. The Salem Witch Trials took place...in the middle of the newspaper......and asked leading questions or interrogated over and over again (Krystek). One theory suggests that to get revenge on the Porters, the Putnam family had their daughters accuse everyone in the community allied with the Porters of being witches. There is evidence of this, as almost all of the "bewitched" girls came from families related to the Putnams (Krysteks). Old quarrels between the accusers and the accused gave rise to accusations of witchcraft (Linder). Although we have some evidence to support theories of the Salem witch trials, the most logical theory is that the people of Salem were just putting on an act. Everyone had a motive to either hurt someone they despised or had quarrels with, or to simply run away. The other theories can be supported just as well. But everyone has their own opinion. We may never know the true cause of the Salem witch trials.