Tara Doraiswamy
Clinical psychology and the modern understanding of mental disorders are very recent developments. Throughout history, the discourse around mental illness has involved long periods of faulty explanations and attributions that have stemmed from various cultural contexts. A particularly interesting period for this discourse was during the Middle Ages in Europe. Modern historical and psychological scholarship has led to the consensus that the recognition of mental illness as stemming from biological and sociocultural factors was absent for the most part. Instead, the influence of religion, especially Christianity in Europe, held particular prominence. During this period, people who displayed symptoms that are described to resemble symptoms of what is understood as schizophrenia,Tourette’s syndrome, mania, etc. were said to have been possessed by the devil.
Demonic possession is the “supposed invasion of the body by an evil spirit or devil that gains control of the mind or soul, producing mental disorder, physical illness, or criminal behaviour” (APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2020). The symptoms described include changes in voice, distorted movement, scattered thoughts and speech, and the expression of thoughts that differ from characteristic personality and experiences of the person. As these behaviours were inexplicable by the scientific awareness at the time, patients were often described to be governed by a different soul, or inhabited by a different personality.
Despite the lack of scientific validity to these claims, Kemp and William’s paper (1987) prompted further thought on certain aspects of this period in the history of mental illness. When demonic possession is mentioned in this context, peripheral possession in particular is being referred to. The other form, central possession was accepted as a ritualistic form concerned with saints and nobles (Kemp, 1987). This is interesting as both involved abnormal behaviour, but the former was usually seen in marginalised groups and women (Al-Adawi et al., 2019). They were considered dangerous and blasphemous, and became outcasts in society (Hospital, 2020). Thus, abnormal behaviour was also used as a sociopolitical tool by those in power to marginalise certain groups, or reinforce societal stratification. The influence of politics and religion can further be seen in the supposed treatment to possession, which lay in exorcisms by the saints under the Catholic Church. In fact, the ability to exorcise, and the number of exorcisms performed, by a priest were considered as markers of a saint (Kemp, 1987). The torturous exorcisms provided no real cure to the condition of the patients, and may even have led to trauma. In an attempt to terrorise the devil that was said to inhabit the individual, the conditions that individual may have been struggling with were left unaddressed and perhaps aggravated. Although other cultures may not have used processes like exorcisms, the means remained torturous. A technique called trephination was used by the Incas in Peru, which entailed drilling a hole in the head of the individual to let evil spirits out of the body (Kelly, 2019).
In their paper, Kemp and William make an important argument that deviates from much of the consensus regarding the medieval period that is seen amongst modern scholars. They argue that the extent of attribution of mental disorders as “demonic possession” can be a difficult one to assess, and has possibly been overstated by some studies. When considering the medieval period, interpretation of textual evidence of mental disorders relating to possession can become difficult as it can be confusing to ascertain whether the the devil and possession are being mentioned descriptively or as a causal factor (Kemp, 1987). Kroll and Bachrach are of a similar notion due of the selectivity and lack of detailed evidence (1984).
Further, there have barely been any mentions of demonic possession being responsible for mental illness in legal enquiries (Kemp, 1987). Opposing the paradigm that is popularised about the backwardness of the era, naturalistic explanations were suggested by courts. This may indicate an attribution of an individual’s state to demonic possession as opposed to a mental illness stemming from biological issues, relied vastly on who was making the diagnoses. These aspects are important to consider in tandem with these widespread beliefs in possession at the time, so as to prevent an oversimplification of the period.
In the present day, where biological and psychological knowledge has progressed exponentially, many communities continue to believe in spirit possession and associate mental illness with such supernatural phenomenon. Along with many tribal communities, the Christian influence on this notion is incredibly pervasive to this day, as is seen in Pfeifer’s study (1994). The study demonstrated widespread belief in spirit possession and its association with mental disorder, in psychiatric patients in out-patient facilities in Switzerland. This indicates how entrenched the association of mental illness with possession or the supernatural is, and the extent to which it remains misunderstood by society, not just in backward, tribal regions, but in progressive countries as well. When considering the progress that has been made in the field of clinical psychology, we must tread carefully by accounting for the fact that historically biased and unscientific beliefs about psychological disorders persist globally.
Works Cited
Al-Adawi, S., Al-Kalbani, Y., Panchatcharam, S. M., Al-Zadjali, M. A., Al-Adawi, S. S., Essa, M. M., & Qoronfleh, M. W. (2019). Differential executive functioning in the topology of Spirit possession or dissociative disorders: an explorative cultural study. BMC Psychiatry, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-019-2358-2
APA Dictionary of Psychology. (2020). Https://Dictionary.Apa.Org/Demonic-Possession. https://dictionary.apa.org/demonic-possession
Hospital, B. R. B. (2020, April 2). The Surprising History of Mental Illness Treatment. Baton Rouge Behavioral Hospital. https://batonrougebehavioral.com/the-surprising-history-of-mental-illness-treatment/#:%7E:text=In%20the%20middle%20ages%2C%20mentally,ideas%20did%20not%20stop%20there
Kelly, E. (2019). Mental Illness During the Middle Ages | Encyclopedia.com. Https://Www.Encyclopedia.Com/Science/Encyclopedias-Almanacs-Transcripts-and-Maps/Mental-Illness-during-Middle-Ages. https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/mental-illness-during-middle-ages
Kemp, S., & Williams, K. (1987). Demonic possession and mental disorder in medieval and early modern Europe. Psychological Medicine, 17(1), 21–29. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291700012940
Kroll, J., & Bachrach, B. (1984). Sin and mental illness in the Middle Ages. Psychological Medicine, 14(3), 507–514. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291700015105
Pfeifer, S. (1994). Belief in demons and exorcism in psychiatric patients in Switzerland. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 67(3), 247–258. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8341.1994.tb01794.x
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