Mental Illness Complicated by the Santeria Belief in Spirit Possession

Alonso, Leonardo; Jeffrey, William D.

doi:10.1176/ps.39.11.1188

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…These ritual trance states align with Rodewyck’s (1975) description of possession in that they present observable physical phenomena (gesturing, falling down, body contortions, and so on). Examples to be aware of include the Afro-Catholic syncretism in four religious cults: Candomblé in Brazil (Csordas, 1987); Santeria in Cuba (Alonso & Jeffrey, 1988); Vodou in Haiti (World Health Organization, 2010); and the Maria Lionza cult in Venezuela (Placido, 2001). All of these Afro-Catholic cults share some common characteristics, namely, all have a ceremonial leader and all practice voluntary spirit possession through transient trance states only within the setting of cultic rites.…”

Section: What Is Spirit Possession? Is There a Devil?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Spirit Possession and Deliverance Ministries

Illueca

2018

J Pastoral Care Counsel

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This paper reviews the interdisciplinary clinical and diagnostic aspects of spirit possession phenomena pertinent to the health care and pastoral fields. The empirical data on possession states and deliverance ministries are limited and widely spread across various academic disciplines. This paper provides practical insights that may inform the initial evaluation and management of people seeking professional spiritual or psychological assistance. Further research in this area of inquiry, will benefit from the ongoing collaboration between pastoral and health care specialists.

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Section: What Is Spirit Possession? Is There a Devil?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Spirit Possession and Deliverance Ministries

Illueca

2018

J Pastoral Care Counsel

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“…Another therapeutic intervention which is commonly used in non-western countries and certain sections of western society is religious therapy (e.g., see Alonso & Jeffrey, 1988;Endrawes, O'Brien, & Wilkes, 2007;Razali, 1999;Wijesinghe, Dissanayake, & Mendis, 1976;Witztum et al, 1996). It seems that the efficiency of this treatment results from the psychological power of a religious figure to sabotage the patients' ability to deceive themselves that the symptoms are maintained by supernatural forces beyond their conscious control.…”

Section: Religious Therapy: Sabotaging Self-deceptive Beliefmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conversion Disorder: A Review Through the Prism of the Rational-Choice Theory of Neurosis

Rofé

2013

Eur. J. Psychol.

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Conversion disorder remains a mystery that has only become more complicated with the decline of the scientific status of psychoanalysis (e.g., Piper, Lillevik, & Kritzer, 2008;Rofé, 2008) and recent neurological findings suggest that this behavior is controlled by biological mechanisms (van Beilen, Vogt, & Leenders, 2010). Moreover, existing theories have difficulty explaining the efficacy of various interventions, such as psychoanalysis, behavior therapy, drug therapy and religious therapy. This article reviews research and clinical evidence pertaining to both the development and treatment of conversion disorder and shows that this seemingly incompatible evidence can be integrated within a new theory, the Rational-Choice Theory of Neurosis (RCTN; Rofé, 2010). Despite the striking differences, RCTN continues Freud's framework of thinking as it employs a new concept of repression and replaces the unconscious with self-deception. Moreover, it incorporates Freud's idea, implicitly expressed in his theory, that neurotic disorders are, in fact, rational behaviors.

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“…Possession is not necessarily an illness, but rather a process which is deliberately induced as part of healing rituals [3][4][5][6]. Classical possession states vary widely by culture with the invading spirit variously identified as a deceased ancestor, a god, Satan, or an animal spirit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Demonic Attributions in Nondelusional Disorders

Pfeifer¹

1999

Psychopathology

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Objective: Belief in demonic influence has repeatedly been described as a delusion in schizophrenic patients. The goal of this explorative study was to examine the frequency, as well as the psychodynamic and social functions of such beliefs in a sample of nondelusional patients. Method: The sample consisted of 343 psychiatric outpatients who described themselves as religious. In semistructured interviews they were asked to give their view of demonic causality of their illness. Results: A high prevalence of such beliefs was not only found in schizophrenic patients (56%) but also in the following groups of nondelusional patients: affective disorders (29%), anxiety disorders (48%), personality disorders (37%) and adjustment disorders (23%). Belief in demonic oppression tended to be associated with lower educational level and rural origin, and was significantly influenced by church affiliation. Conclusions: Beliefs in possession or demonic influence are not confined to delusional disorders and should not be qualified as a mere delusion. Rather they have to be interpreted against the cultural and religious background which is shaping causal models of mental distress in the individual.

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Mental Illness Complicated by the Santeria Belief in Spirit Possession

Cited by 11 publications

References 5 publications

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Spirit Possession and Deliverance Ministries

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Spirit Possession and Deliverance Ministries

Conversion Disorder: A Review Through the Prism of the Rational-Choice Theory of Neurosis

Demonic Attributions in Nondelusional Disorders

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