Historical, Religious, and Medical Perspectives of Possession Phenomenon

ABSTRACT Possession is a cultural-bound phenomenon. Due to differences in cultures and individual religious values, people may regard it as a genuine mental disorder or attribute it solely to spiritual disturbance. While psychiatrists are criticised for not understanding religion well, this paper, in an attempt to achieve a holistic understanding of the problem, reviews possession phenomenon in the historical, religious, and medical perspectives. Keywords: Dissociation; Middle Ages; Possession; Trance "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind"--Albert Einstein. (1) INTRODUCTION Possession (or possession-trance) is usually considered to be a cultural-bound phenomenon. It has been reported in Hong Kong, (2) Singapore, (3) Malaysia, (4) India, (5) Sri Lanka, (6) Japan, (7) and Haiti. (8) While possession is regarded as a mental disorder in most Western countries, it is often taken as a form of spiritual disturbance in societies coloured with polytheism and belief in reincarnation and spirits. (9) As a result, a possessed individual would consult an indigenous healer and go through religious rituals before seeking medical attention. This situation is not uncommon in Hong Kong and may be a cause of delayed medical intervention. Post has commented that "few psychiatrists are trained to understand religion, much less treat it sympathetically." (10) So the psychiatrist's competence, together with his/ her own religious values, will greatly affect the formulation and management of possession phenomenon. This paper attempts to briefly review possession phenomenon from the historical, religious, and medical perspectives, in order to achieve a better understanding of the problem. Various possession types and definitions have been cited in anthropological and psychiatric literature. Sociologists such as Walker differentiated possession into a ritual type and a peripheral (or non-ritual) type. (11) Ritual possession is a temporary, generally voluntary and reversible form. It is central to, and approved by society, and exhibited in the context of religious ceremonies. The peripheral type is a longer-lasting and involuntary phenomenon. It is 'pathological' in nature and an evil spirit is the haunting supernatural agent. In this paper, possession refers mainly to the peripheral type, except in the discussion on glossolalia. Furthermore, the religion discussed here is limited to the Protestant and Catholic Churches' points of view. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE Archaeological and anthropological evidence indicates that as early as the Stone Age, man could have a demon-ridden cosmos and a sorcerous treatment of madness. (12) In different civilisations across the world, mental illnesses were often thought to be due to different types of possession. Priests and shamans were expected to give expert management of possession by enabling the individual to make sense of the experience and helping the family to manage the victim. Interestingly, priests and physicians were often the same person who played a dual function. (13) Such a priest-physician dual role reached its climax when the power of the Catholic Church was at its height. The Church became a centre of religion and knowledge and monopolised medical ideas for a long period of time. It was not until the fifteenth century that medicine and the priesthood went separate ways. MIDDLE AGES Possession was widely described in the Middle Ages. Phenomenologically speaking, it was poorly differentiated from epilepsy and lunacy, although aetiologically, they came from different sources. At that time, mental illness was considered to be a result of sin. (14) A sinner would be subjected to the destructive power of the devil, who in turn was responsible for the afflictions of the mind. (15) Epilepsy, however, was not sin-related, but was regarded as a 'sacred disease', that is, a 'gift of Gods'. …