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Doctor: Teens’ mystery symptoms are psychological

TODAY
Doctors are looking into a medical mystery that’s left 12 girls at a New York school with Tourette-like symptoms, while an investigation at the school in December found no health hazards. TODAY’s Amy Robach reports.

>> half hour with details on a story we told you about on tuesday. 12 girls at the same high school struck with debilitating symptoms similar to tourette's. amy robach has the latest on the story from leroy , new york. good morning.

>> reporter: ann , good morning. 12 girls here at leroy high school in upstate new york say they have been suffering from severe tics, almost like tourette's syndrome. for three months the girls and their parents have been searching for answers and now they are finally getting some with newly released test results from the school district . what's going on at leroy high school ? that's what many students and parents want to know after 12 teenaged girls started suffering from body movements, tics and outbursts. brook dupont said she has the symptoms.

>> it's frustrating because when i get nervous or anxious or anything that's when it comes out more.

>> reporter: sara sanchez is a senior at the school and says her symptoms are so bad she can no longer go to class. she shared her story with ann tuesday on "today."

>> there was nothing going wrong and then i just woke up and that's when the stuttering started. i want an answer. a straight answer.

>> reporter: now some possible answers in two newly released reports by the school district . a private company did environmental testing at the school in december. the reports found that no substances were detected within the school building that might be expected to cause any health issues in the student or staff population. dr. meschel and his team at dent in new york are treating brook and many of the other girls . he told nbc news they have a rare form of conversion disorder or mass hysteria , a psychological problem that can happen in groups like female teenagers.

>> it's happened before all around the world in different parts of the world. it's a rare phenomena. physicians are treegeintrigued about it. the bottom line is these teenagers will get better.

>> reporter: some parents aren't satisfied including brooke's dad.

>> not all of us are accepting this is a stress thing and our kids didn't all get sick by coincidence. it's heart-wrenching. you fear your daughter won't be able to have a normal life .

>> reporter: brooke is feeling better, showing no symptoms when we spoke with her but constantly worries about her next outburst.

>> it's frustrating. i want an answer. i would like to know why this is happening and i'd like to fix it. i don't want it to happen anymore.

>> reporter: all the girls with symptoms have seen their own doctors and are getting treatment. the school district did not want to be interviewed for our story but issued this statement saying, in part, that all the girls -- these symptoms are real and that the girls are being treated with the best care possible and they hope all the girls get back to normal soon. ann , back to you.

>> amy, thank you very much for your reporting on this.

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