There has been a suggestion that there may be a psychological element involved in the “possession” explanation of human beings, including dissociative identity disorder [DID] The `Psychology Today` website provides the following definition: `DID is a rare condition in which two or more distinct identities, or personality states are present in, and alternately take control of an individual`. This could quite clearly be mistaken as the possession of an individual.
In my opinion, belief in possession is related to psychological trauma and is a way of explaining the symptoms associated with traumatic experiences.
We should also consider neuropathological factors such as Epilepsy and Tourette`s syndrome, which could have been regarded as physical evidence of possession in the past, particularly with the vocal outbursts associated with Tourette`s and the physical seizures of Epilepsy.
Hypnosis: [Sociocognitive factor]. My personal experience of hypnosis involved a past life regression, which was a positive experience for me. However, I fully accept that it can be a harmful experience depending on the ideas absorbed by the person in trance. In my opinion, Hypnosis can be viewed as an intrusion into our mind and can leave us increasingly open to suggestion, and here lies the danger as trance experiences can often involve hallucinations which could be interpreted as demonic possession. We do not have control when we are in a trance like state.
We should also consider schizophrenia [especially nuclear schizophrenia] which is progressive and has a downhill course with poor progress. Schizophrenia literally means `split mind` and is a disorder of the process of thinking and can often include auditory hallucinations.
Roger Mallett
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