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Andrea E Cavanna - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • epileptic seizures and Spirit Possession in haitian culture report of four cases and review of the literature
    Epilepsy & Behavior, 2010
    Co-Authors: Andrea E Cavanna, Stefano Cavanna
    Abstract:

    Epileptic seizures have historically been associated with religious beliefs in Spirit Possession. These attitudes and misconceptions about epilepsy still flourish in developing countries as byproducts of specific sociocultural environments. This article presents a case series of four Haitian patients with epilepsy whose seizures were initially attributed to Voodoo Spirit Possession. All patients reported ictal experiential phenomena (epigastric aura, ictal fear, depersonalization, and derealization symptoms) followed by complete loss of consciousness. Electroclinical investigations revealed a temporal lobe focus. We review the existing literature on attitudes toward seizures within the Haitian culture and discuss the link between religion and epilepsy, highlighting the possible detrimental influence of specific traditional belief systems on the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of patients with epilepsy.

  • Epileptic seizures and Spirit Possession in Haitian culture: Report of four cases and review of the literature
    ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE, 2010
    Co-Authors: Andrea E Cavanna, Cavanna S, Cavanna A
    Abstract:

    Epileptic seizures have historically been associated with religious beliefs in Spirit Possession. These attitudes and misconceptions about epilepsy still flourish in developing countries as byproducts of specific sociocultural environments. This article presents a case series of four Haitian patients with epilepsy whose seizures were initially attributed to Voodoo Spirit Possession. All patients reported ictal experiential phenomena (epigastric aura, ictal fear, depersonalization, and derealization symptoms) followed by complete loss of consciousness. Electroclinical investigations revealed a temporal lobe focus. We review the existing literature on attitudes toward seizures within the Haitian culture and discuss the link between religion and epilepsy, highlighting the possible detrimental influence of specific traditional belief systems on the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of patients with epilepsy. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Joop T V M De Jong - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • unravelling the Spirits message a study of help seeking steps and explanatory models among patients suffering from Spirit Possession in uganda
    International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 2014
    Co-Authors: Marjolein Van Duijl, Wim Chr Kleijn, Joop T V M De Jong
    Abstract:

    As in many cultures, also in Uganda Spirit Possession is a common idiom of distress associated with traumatic experiences. In the DSM-IV and -5, Possession trance disorders can be classified as dissociative disorders. Dissociation in Western countries is associated with complicated, time-consuming and costly therapies. Patients with Spirit Possession in SW Uganda, however, often report partial or full recovery after treatment by traditional healers. The aim of this study is to explore how the development of symptoms concomitant help-seeking steps, and explanatory models (EM) eventually contributed to healing of patients with Spirit Possession in SW Uganda. Illness narratives of 119 patients with Spirit Possession referred by traditional healers were analysed using a mixed-method approach. Treatments of two-thirds of the patients were unsuccessful when first seeking help in the medical sector. Their initially physical symptoms subsequently developed into dissociative Possession symptoms. After an average of two help-seeking steps, patients reached a healing place where 99% of them found satisfactory EM and effective healing. During healing sessions, possessing agents were summoned to identify themselves and underlying problems were addressed. Often-mentioned explanations were the following: neglect of rituals and of responsibilities towards relatives and inheritance, the call to become a healer, witchcraft, grief, and land conflicts. The results demonstrate that traditional healing processes of Spirit Possession can play a role in restoring connections with the supra-, inter-, intra-, and extra-human worlds. It does not always seem necessary to address individual traumatic experiences per se, which is in line with other research in this field. The study leads to additional perspectives on treatment of trauma-related dissociation in Western countries and on developing effective mental health services in low -and middle-income countries.

  • are symptoms of Spirit possessed patients covered by the dsm iv or dsm 5 criteria for Possession trance disorder a mixed method explorative study in uganda
    Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2013
    Co-Authors: Marjolein Van Duijl, Wim Chr Kleijn, Joop T V M De Jong
    Abstract:

    Introduction and aims As in many cultures, Spirit Possession is a common idiom of distress in Uganda. The DSM-IV contains experimental research criteria for dissociative and Possession trance disorder (DTD and PTD), which are under review for the DSM-5. In the current proposed categories of the DSM-5, PTD is subsumed under dissociative identity disorder (DID) and DTD under dissociative disorders not elsewhere classified. Evaluation of these criteria is currently urgently required. This study explores the match between local symptoms of Spirit Possession in Uganda and experimental research criteria for PTD in the DSM-IV and proposed criteria for DID in the DSM-5.

Michael Lambek - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • kinship as gift and theft acts of succession in mayotte and israel
    American Ethnologist, 2011
    Co-Authors: Michael Lambek
    Abstract:

    When kinship is viewed through the lens of succession rather than reproduction, conflict between siblings becomes salient and the gift of kinship can be experienced as theft. Developing an approach to kinship as ethically constituted through acts, I draw on the biblical story of Jacob and Esau to frame an account of succession in Mayotte that transpires in the register of Spirit Possession. This account follows the lives of two sisters I first described in this journal in 1988.

  • how to make up one s mind reason passion and ethics in Spirit Possession
    University of Toronto Quarterly, 2010
    Co-Authors: Michael Lambek
    Abstract:

    What does it mean to know one's own mind, to make up one's mind, or to be of two minds? The paper explores some of the assumptions Westerners make about mind and confronts them with elements from the ethnography of Spirit Possession among Malagasy speakers. It challenges the assumption that a unified state of mind, exemplified by pure reason as opposed to passion, is the necessary basis for sound ethical judgment and action.

  • the sakalava poiesis of history realizing the past through Spirit Possession in madagascar
    American Ethnologist, 1998
    Co-Authors: Michael Lambek
    Abstract:

    Using a broadly Aristotelian framework I propose poetic form as a means for distinguishing historicities. I analyze Sakalava performances of Possession by royal ancestors as the creative production of a kind of history, distinguish it from a dominant occidental model of history, and elaborate the chronotope on which it is based and the heteroglossia and historical consciousness it enables. I argue that Sakalava Spirit Possession has a strongly realist bent and suggest the interest of poiesis for anthropological analysis and comparison more generally, [historical production, historicity, Spirit Possession, mimesis, poiesis, Aristotle, Madagascar]

  • knowledge and practice in mayotte local discourses of islam sorcery and Spirit Possession
    Anthropologica, 1994
    Co-Authors: Lesley A Sharp, Michael Lambek
    Abstract:

    How might anthropologists understand the cultural basis of knowledge? This is Michael Lambek's task in this detailed and often engrossing study from Mayotte, an island of the Comoro archipelago in the Indian Ocean, between East Africa and Madagascar. Based on careful field research spanning approximately 20 years, Lambek argues for an understanding of the interrelatedness of three traditions, each with its own conception of knowledge: Islam, cosmology and Spirit Possession. These traditions may be viewed, at times, as interlocking or even indistinguishable; at others they compete with or contradict one another. Key issues concern the question of knowledge as power and whether Islam is hegemonic in self-proclaimed Muslim communities. In turn, a unifying theme is: how does one obtain knowledge and who has access to it? Can we speak of a morality of knowledge? Sociologist Alfred Schutz provides a helpful framework: there are varying degrees of knowledge, represented by the expert, the "well-informed citizen" and "the man on the street" (or what Lambek refers to as "the person on the path"). Levels of knowing in Mayotte are best understood in times of crisis (most often sickness), where the "master, scholar, [or] expert" (p. 3) for all three traditions is the fundi, whose clients fall into Schutz's two other categories.In part 1, "Introductions," Lambek explores the historical roots of knowledge on Mayotte, showing how the three traditions were brought by seafarers of many origins. French colonization further complicates the picture; thus Lambek gives a brief-yet-in-formative recent history of Mayotte, as well as an overview of village social structure. The remainder of the book is divided into three sections, each focussing on one of the traditions. A central theme is whether knowledge is embedded in texts or embodied, and this is reflected in the three respective section headings: "The Social Organization of Textual Knowledge," "Counterpractices: Cosmology and the Ins and Outs of Sorcery" and "Embodied Knowledge and the Practice of Spirit Mediums."As Lambek explains early in this work, Islamic knowledge is open to all members of Mayotte society, but mastery is another question altogether. Children begin learning to recite the Qur'an at a young age by sounding out Arabic letters (a task that was given to, and frustrated, Lambek early in his field work, when he expressed his desire to learn about local culture). Boys and girls who show promise are sent to other villages to study with fundis who specialize in 'Ilim fakihi, knowledge of Islam's sacred texts and rituals. Learning proves difficult, for the inquisitive student is quickly frustrated by the lack of instructional texts or teachers well-versed in Arabic. Here Lambek reveals an important dimension of Islam: words, when uttered, are sacred; but, when translated, they lose their power. Furthermore, being Muslim in Mayotte is a performative experience: it is through such actions as recitation, prayer and fasting that one asserts Muslim identity.In contrast, knowledge associated with 'Ilim dunia, the cosmologer's art, hinges on the ability to read (that is, translate) and interpret a host of astrological texts. I found this section to be the most compelling, for the cosmologer is simultaneously a valued healer and a potentially dangerous sorcerer. For example, through this knowledge one can predict auspicious times to hold important rituals, as well as to harm one's adversaries. Thus, cosmology defines a spectrum of healers and sorcerers, whose work may be viewed as good or evil. Much of this knowledge is secretive and is acquired only through apprenticeships with established masters that span decades. …

  • knowledge and practice in mayotte local discourses of islam sorcery and Spirit Possession
    1993
    Co-Authors: Michael Lambek
    Abstract:

    On the East African island of Mayotte, Islam co-exists with two other systems of understanding and interpreting the world around its inhabitants: cosmology and Spirit-mediumship. In a witty, evocative style accessible to both the specialist and non-specialist reader, Michael Lambek provides a significant contribution to writing on African systems of thought, on local forms of religious and therapeutic practice, on social accountability, and on the place of explicit forms of knowledge in the analysis of non-western societies. The "objectified" textual knowledge characteristic of Islam and of cosmology is contrasted with the "embodied" knowledge of Spirit Possession. Lambek emphasizes the power and authority constituted by each discipline, as well as the challenge that each kind of knowledge presents to the others and their resolution in daily practice. "Disciplines" are defined as an organized body of practitioners or adepts, a concept precise and useful when applied to the contexts of Lambek's own research and equally so in the study of comparable environments elsewhere. Essential reading for those interested in the comparative study of Islamic societies, Lambek's argument directly contributes to the main anthropological arguments of the day concerning the social and cultural basis of systems of knowledge and ethnographic strategies for depicting them.

Marjolein Van Duijl - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • global mental health and trauma exposure the current evidence for the relationship between traumatic experiences and Spirit Possession
    European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2015
    Co-Authors: Tobias Hecker, Lars Braitmayer, Marjolein Van Duijl
    Abstract:

    Background : We present a literature review on trauma exposure and Spirit Possession in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite the World Health Organization’s objective of culturally appropriate mental health care in the Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2020, and the recommendations of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee to consider local idioms of distress and to collaborate with local resources, this topic still receives very little attention. Pathological Spirit Possession is commonly defined as involuntary, uncontrollable, and occurring outside of ritual settings. It is often associated with stigmatization, suffering, and dysfunctional behavior. While Spirit Possession has been discussed as an idiom of distress in anthropological literature, recent quantitative studies have presented support for a strong relationship between traumatic experiences and pathological Possession states. Objective : The aim of this review was to investigate this relationship systematically in LMICs, in view of the debate on how to address the mental health gap in LMICs. Methods : Twenty-one articles, published in peer-reviewed English-language journals between 1994 and 2013, were identified and analyzed with regard to prevalence of possessive trance disorders, patients’ sociodemographic characteristics, and its relation to traumatic experiences. Results : The review and analysis of 917 patients with symptoms of possessive trance disorders from 14 LMICs indicated that it is a phenomenon occurring worldwide and with global relevance. This literature review suggests a strong relationship between trauma exposure and Spirit Possession with high prevalence rates found especially in postwar areas in African countries. Conclusions : More attention for possessive trance disorders in mental health and psychosocial intervention programs in humanitarian emergency settings as well as in societies in transition in LMICs is needed and justified by the results of this systematic literature review. Keywords: Spirit Possession; possessive trance disorder; trauma exposure; trauma-related disorders; dissociative disorders; PTSD; mental health gap (Published: 19 November 2015) Responsible Editor: Marianna Purgato, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public, USA. For the abstract or full text in other languages, please see Supplementary files in the column to the right (under ‘Article Tools’). Citation: European Journal of Psychotraumatology 2015, 6 : 29126 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ejpt.v6.29126

  • unravelling the Spirits message a study of help seeking steps and explanatory models among patients suffering from Spirit Possession in uganda
    International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 2014
    Co-Authors: Marjolein Van Duijl, Wim Chr Kleijn, Joop T V M De Jong
    Abstract:

    As in many cultures, also in Uganda Spirit Possession is a common idiom of distress associated with traumatic experiences. In the DSM-IV and -5, Possession trance disorders can be classified as dissociative disorders. Dissociation in Western countries is associated with complicated, time-consuming and costly therapies. Patients with Spirit Possession in SW Uganda, however, often report partial or full recovery after treatment by traditional healers. The aim of this study is to explore how the development of symptoms concomitant help-seeking steps, and explanatory models (EM) eventually contributed to healing of patients with Spirit Possession in SW Uganda. Illness narratives of 119 patients with Spirit Possession referred by traditional healers were analysed using a mixed-method approach. Treatments of two-thirds of the patients were unsuccessful when first seeking help in the medical sector. Their initially physical symptoms subsequently developed into dissociative Possession symptoms. After an average of two help-seeking steps, patients reached a healing place where 99% of them found satisfactory EM and effective healing. During healing sessions, possessing agents were summoned to identify themselves and underlying problems were addressed. Often-mentioned explanations were the following: neglect of rituals and of responsibilities towards relatives and inheritance, the call to become a healer, witchcraft, grief, and land conflicts. The results demonstrate that traditional healing processes of Spirit Possession can play a role in restoring connections with the supra-, inter-, intra-, and extra-human worlds. It does not always seem necessary to address individual traumatic experiences per se, which is in line with other research in this field. The study leads to additional perspectives on treatment of trauma-related dissociation in Western countries and on developing effective mental health services in low -and middle-income countries.

  • are symptoms of Spirit possessed patients covered by the dsm iv or dsm 5 criteria for Possession trance disorder a mixed method explorative study in uganda
    Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 2013
    Co-Authors: Marjolein Van Duijl, Wim Chr Kleijn, Joop T V M De Jong
    Abstract:

    Introduction and aims As in many cultures, Spirit Possession is a common idiom of distress in Uganda. The DSM-IV contains experimental research criteria for dissociative and Possession trance disorder (DTD and PTD), which are under review for the DSM-5. In the current proposed categories of the DSM-5, PTD is subsumed under dissociative identity disorder (DID) and DTD under dissociative disorders not elsewhere classified. Evaluation of these criteria is currently urgently required. This study explores the match between local symptoms of Spirit Possession in Uganda and experimental research criteria for PTD in the DSM-IV and proposed criteria for DID in the DSM-5.

Jeffrey G Snodgrass - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • a tale of goddesses money and other terribly wonderful things Spirit Possession commodity fetishism and the narrative of capitalism in rajasthan india
    American Ethnologist, 2002
    Co-Authors: Jeffrey G Snodgrass
    Abstract:

    In this article, I examine the Spiritual Possession of a young Indian woman'a member of a community of performers known as Bhats'by her husband's lineage goddess. The events unfold in the Rajasthani town of Udaipur where Bhats now market traditional culture to tourists. Showing how this Possession responds to my informants' new exchange relations, I argue for the utility of the Marxist notion of "commodity fetishism." I contend, however, that Marxist accounts, because of their typically insistent condemnation of capitalist transformation, are not able to account fully for the Bhat experience of new money relations. I maintain, instead, that an analysis emphasizing multiple moral narratives more completely illuminates the Bhats' complex encounter with the economic forms of modernity. I further suggest that discourse-based descriptions of Spiritual Possession also cannot do full justice to this woman's case, which is as much a failure to communicate as a successfully articulated, if disguised, mode of communication. I thus argue for an appreciation of the way religious forms, and particularly Spiritual Possessions, represent a form of language and the failure of language, as well as a kind of story and the inability to narrate experience. Overall, I develop an analytical framework that draws out the representational implications of the notion of fetishism' which, according to Marx, describes a situation in which images (such as money), if compelling enough, eclipse their referents (labor)'and that might do more justice to the Bhats', themselves praise singers, own sophisticated engagement with fictions. [India, Spirit Possession, religion, money, commodity fetishism, capitalism, narrative, discourse, Marxism, poststructuralism]

  • imitation is far more than the sincerest of flattery the mimetic power of Spirit Possession in rajasthan india
    Cultural Anthropology, 2002
    Co-Authors: Jeffrey G Snodgrass
    Abstract:

    On May 11 and 13, 1998, India tested a series of nuclear devices in the desert state of Rajasthan. On May 28, Pakistan completed similar trials. During these tests I was researching Spirit Possession in Rajasthan in the town of Udaipur just to the east and south of the blasts. The trials, though not of direct concern to my research, were hard to ignore. Everyone was eager to discuss them with me as an American and thus a representative of the nuclear power. Virtually all Rajasthanis with whom I spoke saw these tests as dangerous and wrong. They feared the tests might lead to nuclear war with Pakistan and perhaps to the destruction of the world. Although the tests were unanimously condemned, they were, just as univocally, deemed necessary. India,' I was told, was surrounded by nuclear and soon-to-be nuclear states who longed for her land and resourcesnot only Pakistan, but China and Russia as well. Threatened with invasion, she needed to imitate the technologies and weapons of her enemies-especially the dangerous ones-if she were to survive. Meanwhile, in my formal research during this period, I was learning that Rajasthanis are possessed by a range of Spiritual entities. Some of these are judged good and beneficial: Spirits of murdered royalty, a god of the underworld referred to as Bhaironji, and deceased Muslim saints. Others are regarded as evil and malevolent: perpetual debtors who die perpetual debtors, stillborn babies whose mounts (ghorala, related to the Hindi term for horse) open and close their mouths in a sucking motion like a breast-feeding child, deceased widows (considered sexually voracious or "hungry" entities who lust after the bodies of newlyweds), and foreign tourists (particularly those who have committed suicide far from home and wander the grounds of Rajasthan's palace hotels).2 Possession by a Spirit, even by those who are considered good, is typically construed as undesirable. The loss of control of one's senses that