Multiple Personality, Spirit Possession, Hearing Voices: Psychological and Religious Interpretations of an Ancient, Worldwide, Multicultural Phenomenon.
Spirit Possession
“Spirit possession is a term for the belief that animas, demons, extraterrestrials, gods, or spirits can take control of a human body. The concept of spirit possession exists in many religions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Haitian Vodou, Wicca, Hinduism, Islam and Southeast Asian and African traditions. In a 1969 study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, spirit possession beliefs were found to exist in 74% of a sample of 488 societies in all parts of the world. Depending on the cultural context in which it is found, possession may be considered voluntary or involuntary and may be considered to have beneficial or detrimental effects to host.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_possession
Multiple Personality
“Disruption of identity characterized by two or more distinct personality states, which may be described in some cultures as an experience of possession…In many possession-form cases of dissociative identity disorder [multiple personality]…manifestations of alternate identities are highly overt. Most individuals with non-possession-form dissociative identity disorder do not overtly display their discontinuity of identity for long periods of time; only a small minority present to clinical attention with observable alteration of identities. When alternate personality states are not directly observed, the disorder can be identified by two clusters of symptoms: 1) sudden alterations or discontinuities in sense of self and sense of agency, and 2) recurrent dissociative amnesias [memory gaps]…Such individuals may also report perceptions of voices (e.g., a child’s voice; crying; the voice of a spiritual being). In some cases, voices are experienced as multiple, perplexing, independent thought streams over which the individual experiences no control” (pp. 292-293 in DSM-5, the latest edition of the diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association).
“Disruption of identity characterized by two or more distinct personality states, which may be described in some cultures as an experience of possession…In many possession-form cases of dissociative identity disorder [multiple personality]…manifestations of alternate identities are highly overt. Most individuals with non-possession-form dissociative identity disorder do not overtly display their discontinuity of identity for long periods of time; only a small minority present to clinical attention with observable alteration of identities. When alternate personality states are not directly observed, the disorder can be identified by two clusters of symptoms: 1) sudden alterations or discontinuities in sense of self and sense of agency, and 2) recurrent dissociative amnesias [memory gaps]…Such individuals may also report perceptions of voices (e.g., a child’s voice; crying; the voice of a spiritual being). In some cases, voices are experienced as multiple, perplexing, independent thought streams over which the individual experiences no control” (pp. 292-293 in DSM-5, the latest edition of the diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association).
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