Exorcism??

I wish I could have seen the program you are talking about. When did you see it? Psych patients, especially those with active psychosis (hallucinations, delusions, etc) can appear "possessed," but demons don't respond to medications and psychotic people do. According to the Bible, a person can be possessed by demons, but in the 18 years I've worked with the chronic mentally ill, I've only seen one patient who claimed to be demon possessed. He also had an Axis II dx of borderline, loved to be the center of attention, and according to the attending psychiatrist, performed quite a drama of exorcising himself.

I once admitted a woman to our inpatient unit, and during the assessment, she reported she had been seen recently by her primary provider who told her she had a demon in her legs. On physical exam, she had swelling in her lower legs and laughed when I explained the medical term "edema."

A difficult subject to deal with in a forum. I have nursed 3 'jesus christs' at the same time on the same ward ( each thought the other two were mad )

I am not worried if 'you' are 'possessed' or not, I am more worried if you are a danger to yourself or others.

there are many 'out there' who have weird ideas, that are not a danger to others... so be it.

If the condition you ave is a danger to you or others then it needs to be dealt with.

if it isn't then there is no problem.

I wish I could have seen the program you are talking about. When did you see it? Psych patients, especially those with active psychosis (hallucinations, delusions, etc) can appear "possessed," but demons don't respond to medications and psychotic people do. According to the Bible, a person can be possessed by demons, but in the 18 years I've worked with the chronic mentally ill, I've only seen one patient who claimed to be demon possessed. He also had an Axis II dx of borderline, loved to be the center of attention, and according to the attending psychiatrist, performed quite a drama of exorcising himself.

I once admitted a woman to our inpatient unit, and during the assessment, she reported she had been seen recently by her primary provider who told her she had a demon in her legs. On physical exam, she had swelling in her lower legs and laughed when I explained the medical term "edema."

Love your response Morgan, I've always wondered this myself. I believe that both holds true. There are demon possessed people and there are psychotic people and there are psychotic people who are demon possessed. Why close the door to any of the possibilities I say...

While I dont doubt that some people have the belief that demonic possession is possible, I don't believe there is a place for that in a clinical setting.

If you acknowledge demonic possession as a possibility, then you either acknowledge every other religion's versions of 'demonic possession' or you are infact invalidating any non-christians religious belief's. That could be a big problem in a multicultural society where as a clinician you will inevitably have to deal with someone who has differing religious views than yourself.

I personally have never met anyone who was 'possessed', but I have met a few who felt they were, but only until they recieved treatment and their psychosis resolved.

regards StuPer

I know a woman who is claims to be pocessed by the spirit of mother mary, she really beleives it to. Her boyfriend is the reincarnation of jesus, He beleives it to. They are both under psych treatment, meds and therapy. and actually mostly function in life.

I dont beleive they are really posseced by anything, but do suffer delusions. You can talk to them about delusions and what that means, but "that isnt what has happened to me" and if someone smirks or smiles when they are talking about it they will say "It's not funny either"

I agree with your statement. I have a lot of stories as I was appointed to provide spirituality groups to the child/adolescent population in both inpatient and partial hospitalization settings. One day a particularly disturbed boy from the partial program needed to be in the locked seclusion room after an explosive rage episode which included sexually graphic body movements and verbalizations. This boy was practically foaming at the mouth as he gyrated and leaped almost super-humanly in the locked room. He was screaming and laughing hysterically. I whispered, "in the name of Jesus Christ, let that boy go". There was no way the boy could have heard me. He abruptly stopped mid-leap, stared at me, cowered and sat down, and was immediately docile. I released him and he was fine the rest of the day. I have no other explanation for this than a spiritual warfare event.

edorn

This posting emphasizes the importance of assessing (both our own and our patient's) ethnic/cultural beliefs because of their significant impact on health care practices.

"Patient" referring to an individual, family, community, etc.