How Do Know if You Are Possessed by a Demon
Summary
This article focuses on jinn possession and mental disease in Islam. Subsequently discussing spirit possession mostly and its classification in DSM-five, we present an overview of several studies examining the role of jinn in mental distress in Muslims in the Uk. A case study which exemplifies jinn possession is presented and the clinical implications of the findings are discussed. Nosotros argue for collaborative working relationships between Islamic religious professionals and mental wellness professionals. Finally, nosotros talk over potential areas for time to come research.
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The possibility of spirits inhabiting human bodies is adequately universal across cultures and is documented in many ethnographic studies. Reference Cohen1 Khalifa & Hardie Reference Khalifa and Hardie2 assert that possession states can be understood merely through a combination of biological, anthropological, sociological, psychopathological and experimental perspectives. Psychiatrist and anthropologist Roland Littlewood Reference Littlewood3 sees possession as the belief that an private has been entered past an conflicting spirit or other parahuman force, which so controls the person or alters that person'southward actions and identity. In his classic, Ecstatic Organized religion: A Report of Shamanism and Spirit Possession, anthropologist I. M. Lewis speaks of 2 types of possession: central and peripheral. Reference Lewis4 Central possession, highly valued past some, supports prevailing political, moral and religious beliefs, and views spirits every bit sympathetic to these. Such states are feature of religious ceremonies worldwide and are non considered pathological. Peripheral possession indicates an invasion of evil spirits, undesirable, immoral and dangerous. In the peripheral cults possession is typically open up to all participants, whereas in the central religions such possession is reserved for the religious elite.
Possession worldwide is found more than commonly in women and marginalised groups and may be a vehicle through which they can express their complaints in a context in which they can exist heard. Spirit possession more often than not occurs in cultural contexts in which the self is more probable to exist fragmented. Whether or not possession is itself seen as pathological is dependent on the cultural context in which it occurs; by no means are all cases of possession seen as signs of illness. For case, during Zar ceremonies in Egypt and Sudan, women become possessed by Zar spirits who speak through them. Such experiences in the West would likely be deemed pathological.
Anthropologist Emma Cohen further notes that spirit possession concepts fall into broadly 2 varieties: one that entails the transformation or replacement of identity (executive possession) and one that envisages possessing spirits as the cause of illness and misfortune (pathogenic possession). Reference Cohen1 In executive possession the afflicted individual acts as though their identity has been displaced by that of the possessing spirit, whereas in the pathogenic blazon, possession by a spirit is an caption for aberrant behaviour while the identity of the supposed afflicted individual remains intact. In the latter type, spirit possession is merely incidental to the psychopathology rather than a cardinal symptom.
Spirit possession and mental illness
Existence possessed by demons or evil spirits is ane of the oldest ways of accounting for bodily and mental disorders. The thought that spirit possession and mental disease are related has a long historical legacy. Throughout history mental illness has been attributed to demonic possession; the oldest references to demonic possession derive from the Sumerians, who believed that all diseases of the torso and listen were acquired past 'sickness demons' chosen gidim or gid-dim. The Gospels report Jesus regularly exorcising evil spirits. During the center ages of Europe, possession (and witchcraft) was considered as one of several causes of mental illness. Astrological theories prevailed during this catamenia of history, in improver to the humoral theories of medicine. In improver, distinctions were made between eccentricity, madness and religious visions and revelations. A large number of the alleged witches and possessed persons who were burned had probably had mental disorders. Reference Høyerstenfive
Although this article focuses on jinn and mental disease amongst contemporary British Muslims, it is important to notation that this close affinity between spirit possession and mental illness is not unique to Islam and like beliefs are held in Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism. Reference Halliburton6-Reference Greenberg and Witztum8 Amongst contemporary Evangelical Christians, demonic possession is considered to be one possible cause of mental illness, with those displaying symptoms of possession being field of study to deliverance. Information technology is recognised that a certain percentage of psychotic and less severely disturbed individuals attribute their symptoms to the devil. Reference Pfeifer9
Spirit possession in the DSM-five
In many not-Western cultures the most important dissociative disorders involve trance/possession. Although the DSM-4 acknowledges the existence of dissociative trance and possession disorders, simply named dissociative trance disorder, it asks for farther studies to assess its clinical utility in the DSM-5. Possession and possession trance are listed under the diagnosis dissociative disorder not otherwise specified. The DSM-Four-TR definition includes 'possession trance, a single or episodic amending in the land of consciousness characterized past the replacement of customary sense of personal identity by a new identity. This is attributed to the influence of a spirit, power, deity, or other person'. 10
Possessed individuals sometimes showroom symptoms similar to those associated with mental illnesses such every bit psychosis, hysteria, mania, Tourette syndrome, epilepsy, schizophrenia or dissociative identity disorder; this includes involuntary or uncensored behaviour. Since possession is not normative in Western cultures, information technology is the cultural context which determines the distinction betwixt psychosis and the spiritual. Spirit possession is a culturally specific way of displaying symptoms of psychosis, dissociation, social anxiety, etc. and is a fairly global idiom of distress. That is, whereas a person with psychosis in the Westward may believe he is being controlled by a computer, a member of a community that believes in spirit possession may believe his body to be taken over by a demon.
Cardeña et al Reference Cardeña, van Duijl, Weiner, Terhune, Dell and O'Neileleven argue that the diagnostic criteria for possession states are a nosological imperative for DSM-five in club to facilitate recognition of these disorders by mental health professionals, to encourage programmatic research on them, and to assistance devise culturally sensitive ways of treating them. It has been proposed that DSM-v should include social harm in dissociative identity disorder to help differentiate normative cultural experience from psychopathology. Information technology is farther proposed that dissociative trance disorder, a diagnosis nowadays in DSM-Four, will be merged with dissociative identity disorder for DSM-5. The mention of possession is intended to make dissociative identity disorder a more globally acceptable diagnosis, replacing dissociative trance disorder and possession in the DSM-Four. The recently published DSM-v makes possession part of dissociative identity disorder and so provides for possession to not be considered a disorder if information technology is 'a normal office of a broadly accustomed cultural or religious practise'. 12
Jinn and misfortune in Islam
Islamic texts discuss diverse classes of beings that populate the universe: jinn (spirits), shaytaan (satanic beings), marrid (demons), bhut (evil spirits) and farista (angels). The origin of the jinn is rooted in pre-Islamic Arab societies, even prior to the arrival of Judaism and Christianity in the Arab peninsula. Infidel Arabs would refer to jinn as demon-like creatures, because them to be lower in ranking than angels, or even lesser deities. The word jinn derives from the Arabic root Jann which conveys the idea of protecting, shielding, concealing or veiling. Jinn are one of the creations of Allah. The basic divergence between a human being beingness and jinn lies in the substance they are fabricated of. Co-ordinate to the Qur'an the jinn are fabricated of a 'smokeless and scorching burn' and they accept the physical property of weight. Like human beings, they exhibit moral and mortal attributes. The jinn can be expert, evil or neutrally chivalrous. They alive and die. Among jinn, at that place are also believers and non-believers. Typically, they are held to attack individuals who are weak of volition, lack self-confidence, struggle for self-identity and acceptance by others, or are greedy for more and more pleasures of this earthly existence and desire ability and command. Individuals can protect themselves from jinn through keeping their obligations to Islam (prayer, fasting, enjoining correct and forbidding wrong), and prayer from reading the Qur'an and Sunnah - the traditions of the Prophet. 13-Reference Al-Jibaly15
Well-nigh Islamic scholars accept the possibility that jinn tin can possess people. Some scholars, however, disagree and assert that jinn tin only influence mankind and cannot literally have up concrete infinite within a human's body - that is, they cannot possess individuals. Both groups, however, would concur that there are articulate criteria which need to be applied before concluding that a jinn has had a function in an individual'south state of affairs, whether through possession or influence. Various passages in the Qur'an and Hadith (the collective body of traditions relating to Muhammad and his companions) support the thought that jinn can cause erratic behaviour in one'due south words, deeds and movements: 'Those who eat Ribaa volition not stand up [on the Twenty-four hours of Resurrection] except like the standing of a person beaten by shaytaan [Satan] leading him to insanity' (Al-Baqarah, Qur'an, 2: 275).
Attribution of misfortune to malevolent forces including jinn, witchcraft and the evil middle is widely described in the anthropological literature on Islam. Reference Lewis4,Reference Boddy16-Reference Messingnineteen This includes mental disorder which is often treated by exorcism of jinn spirits. Reference Littlewoodiii,Reference Al-Ashqar14,Reference Younisxx,Reference Dein, Alexander and Napier21 Jinn are frequently held to crusade both madness (janun) and epilepsy, ideas which go back to pre-Islamic Arabia. For many Islamic communities in the UK, particularly South Asian Muslims, a belief in the malevolent effects of possession is tied to persistence in demand for traditional healers to resolve treatment problems associated with spirit possession and the evil eye. Reference Aslam22-Reference Weiss, Desai, Jadhav, Gupta, Channabasavanna and Doongaji25
Studies exploring jinn possession
There have been a few studies documenting the relationships betwixt jinn possession and mental illness among contemporary Muslims. El-Islam Reference El-Islam26 reported that symptoms such as morbid fears, forgetfulness and lack of energy are ordinarily attributed to jinn in the Arab world. In relation to jinn possession in the Britain, Dein et al Reference Dein, Alexander and Napier21 interviewed twenty members of the east London Bangladeshi community aged xviii-80, including students, shopkeepers, eatery workers, elderly day centre attendees and imams (ten male, 10 female). The interviewer was a White British anthropologist and psychiatrist who regularly visited the community between the years 2005 and 2008 alongside a Sylheti speaking interpreter, who was also present at the interviews. Participants were recruited through a snowballing technique. That study asked about the causes of misfortune more often than not, and more specifically most the role of jinn and witchcraft in this process. The researcher (South.D.) also spent time as a participant observer at the Due east London Mosque, documenting prayer and ritual, interviewing an exorcist, and attention meetings held by imams discussing the relation between spirit possession and mental health. Additionally, he collated adverts in newspapers for traditional healers to examine the types of problems they dealt with. Reference Dein, Alexander and Napier21
The report found behavior in jinn, the evil eye and witchcraft to be prevalent in this sample, especially amid older and less educated Bangladeshi individuals. A study of beliefs related to jinn possession comparing Bangladeshi Muslims in Dhaka and in Leicester revealed similar education-related effects, namely a higher prevalence amongst women who were less educated. Reference Khalifa, Hardie and Mullick27 Thus, as Dein et al have argued, Reference Dein, Alexander and Napier21 Western education may diminish the prevalence of beliefs concerning jinn possession, although they are non totally eradicated. In Dein et al's study, Reference Dein, Alexander and Napier21 frequent resort was fabricated to traditional healers in the context of physical and mental illnesses, particularly when jinn possession or witchcraft was suspected. Faith healers typically employed a range of religious interventions to treat affliction by jinn, of which the near widely used were ruqyah (seeking refuge with Allah by reciting sure verses from the Qur'an), Footnote a dhikr (remembrance and invocation of Allah), and reciting the Qur'an over water and instructing the individuals to drink information technology after. Alternatively, they may recite the Qur'an over water and accident into information technology, then they tell the sick person to wash with this h2o.
A second semi-structured interview report looked at understandings of mental illness and care pathways among a sample of 30 Bangladeshi mental health service users and 30 of their carers attention a day centre in Tower Hamlets, an eastward London civic. The service users had all received psychiatric help and had been diagnosed with a range of conditions: schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety. Although family members oftentimes held jinn possession and witchcraft responsible for their illnesses, the service users and carers themselves were oft sceptical about these explanations and frequently invoked 'Western' psychological explanations such equally stress and marital discord instead. About had, yet, consulted traditional healers at some stage in their disease. Well-nigh unanimously all reported the efficacy of reading the Qur'an and prayer in helping them cope with their illnesses. Near expressed satisfaction in relation to their professional psychiatric treatment. Reference Dein, Piedmont and Village28
Khalifa et al Reference Khalifa, Hardie, Latif, Jamil and Walker29 examined Muslims' beliefs about jinn, blackness magic and the evil eye in Leicester, UK. Using a cocky-written report questionnaire they asked their sample of 111 individuals aged over eighteen years whether they believed affliction by these supernatural entities could cause concrete or mental health problems and too whether doctors, religious leaders or both should care for this. The majority of the sample believed in the beingness of jinn, black magic and the evil eye, and approximately half of them stated that these could cause physical and mental health bug and maintained that these problems should exist treated past both doctors and religious figures. Reference Khalifa, Hardie, Latif, Jamil and Walker29
Hither nosotros present a example report which exemplifies the relation between jinn possession and mental illness. Details take been inverse to preserve anonymity.
Case report: jinn possession
Ayesha is a fifty-year-old legal secretary. She was born in Islamic republic of pakistan and has lived in London for the by twenty years. She and her husband Jamil attended an Islamic healer, a raqi (person who performs ruqyah). Ayesha recounted the following story.
Over several months, her husband had get increasingly withdrawn, slept poorly and was tearful and agitated following bug at work. Small irrelevant matters started to carp him, consuming much of his free energy and time and significantly affecting the marital relationship; at times he became violent towards his wife. Very soon he started to have nightmares which used to wake him up later on midnight; he used to dream of strange creatures of all sizes and shapes and at times felt every bit if somebody was choking him by sitting on his chest; he would wake upward screaming in perspiration. The couple had been married for 30 years and had 4 children together. Before his troubles began, Jamil had been an outgoing and optimistic man from a religious and well-to-do family, with a memorable childhood wherein he excelled in all fields.
Ayesha became convinced that this was a spiritual problem. Post-obit months of prayer, Allah revealed to her in a dream Namaze istekhara (the special guidance prayer) that Jamil's bug had something to practice with Satan and jinn. She remarked that her husband had become agitated and developed jerking movements after reading the Qur'an, a sign of jinn possession. At the same fourth dimension, her twin sons started crying after midnight for no reason and screaming inconsolably. Information technology so happened that an Islamic scholar brash her to recite item verses of the holy Qur'an and and then to accident them in a mug of water and instructed the entire family unit to drink from it for 7 days, as he felt that the symptoms could exist the mischief of the jinn in the house, which could be creating mischief at dark too.
Following consultation with their general practitioner her husband was prescribed a class of paroxetine. He improved but slightly, and it was after this that Ayesha took him along to the raqi who confirmed jinn possession and the malevolent influence of witchcraft perpetrated by his cousin in Pakistan. He recommended that Jamil ingested olive oil. Through reciting verses of the Qur'an to him the spirit revealed himself and finally, after some time, agreed to get out him. This procedure was repeated several times. Both Ayesha and Jamil reported subsequent improvement in his mental state.
This case written report illustrates several features. From a Western psychiatric perspective, the patient experiences an anxiety state or depressive disorder. His symptoms have been attributed to jinn possession. From an Islamic perspective, his acrimony acquired by hearing recitation of the Qur'an reinforces a diagnosis of jinn possession. The recitation of Qur'anic verses (ruqyah) and ingestion of olive oil are typical treatments for possession by jinn spirits.
Clinical implications
This commodity has examined the relationship between jinn possession and mental disease among British Muslims. Resort to traditional explanations of mental disease appears to be commonplace among some groups of Muslims in the UK. More than work is needed to establish the contexts in which jinn are invoked at times of illness and more information is required virtually the backgrounds of those who deploy such explanations.
The findings of empirical studies on jinn and mental health cited in this article have significant clinical implications. Mental health professionals should be aware of the explanatory models adopted by their patients and there is a need for these professionals to collaborate with imams in the provision of holistic mental healthcare which incorporates biological, psychological and spiritual factors. Whereas mental health professionals can teach imams to recognise mental disease, Islamic religious professionals can in turn educate health professionals about the importance of religious factors in psychiatric disorders. Clinicians must be careful to distinguish between culturally sanctioned belief in spirit possession and obvious psychotic symptoms lest the patient be treated unnecessarily with antipsychotics. On the other hand, clinicians must practise caution and not assume that all unusual beliefs in a patient from an unfamiliar culture are culturally sanctioned lest psychosis goes undetected and untreated. Members of the patient'south own religious community should exist consulted in relation to these issues. Furthermore, it is important to distinguish spirit possession equally an altered land with the replacement of identity from psychopathological weather that include the individual's belief that the disorder is acquired by a spirit or in which beliefs most spirits are role of a larger condition. Nosotros emphasise the importance of embracing the service user's rationale of affliction for them to accept medication. Embracing complimentary treatment options such every bit ruqya will help engagement, cyclopedia and mayhap enhance the service user's well-beingness.
Time to come piece of work in this area should involve psychological, biological and anthropological approaches to ascertain the psychological predispositions to dissociate, exist suggestible/accept unusual experiences, their neurological correlates and the ways in which sociocultural factors shape them. Furthermore, as Cardeña et al ask, Reference Cardeña, van Duijl, Weiner, Terhune, Dell and O'Neileleven information technology is worth exploring whether people with dysfunctional possession experienced more trauma and attachment bug (both predisposing factors to dissociation) than those with controlled organised possession. Another outcome is why some people become more easily possessed than others. There are several further questions for future enquiry. In what ways do rituals heal those who are perceived to be possessed by spirits and to what extent are such rituals efficacious? Of particular importance are phenomenological comparisons of specific forms of psychopathology such as schizophrenia and various forms of spirit possession with a specific focus on agency which is disturbed in both instances.
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How Do Know if You Are Possessed by a Demon
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