A Case Study of Possession and Trance Disorder in Salai Jin Ritual: Etiology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics

Abstract

The 10th and 11th editions of the WHO Classification discuss the possession trance disorder (PTD) chapter on dissociative disorders. ICD-11 defined the concept as "a significant alteration in the individual's state of consciousness and sense of personal identity replaced by an external identity 'possession' in which the possessed agent controls the individual's actions or movements." Moreover, salai is defined as a form of dance and jin as spirit, which means salai jin is dance worship of jin as creatures kept by a person or certain community groups to fulfil promises or intentions. This study focused on a 28-year-old woman with possession trance disorder after attending a salai jin event in Tidore. After two weeks of the event, the woman was often possessed and re-turned to normal in between these possessions. She also admitted to having a psychosocial stressor after being left by her boyfriend to marry another woman. In this case, it was reported that a possession trance disorder occurred after the salai jin ritual. Etiologically, this could be caused by a psychosocial stressor from the patient accompanied by acculturation problems.