West Virginia town touts itself as haven for people seeking relief from wireless devices
Larry McShane
September 14th, 2011
Imagine living in a secluded area where there are no cell phones, no television, no lights, no electricity all together. Green Bank, West Virginia is a small village ringing in at one hundred forty three in population and home of the he-man electronics-hating club. Residents of this village have moved here because they believe living around electronic and/or living amongst those who use electronics heavily is a hazard to their health.
Diane Schou is a self proclaimed Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity, a medical condition not recognized by the medical community. The symptoms of Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity are headache, fatigue, stress, sleep disturbance, skin symptoms like prickling, burning sensation and rashes, pain and ache in muscles and many more health problems. She lives in a small village in the Allegheny Mountains that is located in the United States Radio Quiet Zone where wireless is banned across 13,000 square miles. This area was chosen because it has a hilly topography that screens out most incoming radio signals, allowing the Green Bank telescopes to receive signals that are otherwise too low in power to be heard over the normal radio background in North America. She states that moving to this remote village from an Iowa farm "has allowed (her) to be more of a normal person". Nicholas Fox also relocated after she was convinced that her computer was giving off radiation and affecting her well-being.
Five percent of Americans believe that they are being affected with Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity. The World Health Organization has not linked the symptoms with the hazard of being exposed to electronic devices.
Relevance to Class
I believe that these people who are isolating themselves are hypochondriacs. Although they just may feel that the radiation given off electronic devices are harming tem it could very well all be in their mind. It’s a good thing to know that people, or a whole village may I say, exist in the world. Its fascinating to see that the United States actually has an area for them to dwell. Their completely cut off from the world and that’s fine by them.
Key Quote
For Diane Schou, it's almost heaven: A place where she's free from the electromagnetic fields that she believes caused a variety of physical ailments.
"It's a horrible thing to have to be a prisoner," Schou told the BBC News about her Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity (EHS).
"You become a technological leper because you can't be around people. It's not that you would be contagious to them. It's what they're carrying that is harmful to you."
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