Who's The Credibility Of Demonic Possession?

Mental illnesses have a high prevalence amongst the United States population. Each year, tens of millions of individuals suffer and are affected by mental illnesses (National Institute of Mental Health, 1). These illnesses range from anxiety disorder, eating disorders, major depression, personality disorder, and many more. Yet, with the existing knowledge, mental providers and professionals, and the DSM-5, mental illness remains a growing mystery to the public. Literature has played a significant role in how mental illnesses are defined, their characteristics, and the portrayal of those who are mentally ill to the public eye. From memoirs on mental illness such as Susanna Kaysen 's Girl, Interrupted to Daphne 's Scholinksi 's The Last Time I

Several centuries ago, many practicing Christians, and those of other religions, had a strong belief that the Devil could give certain people known as witches the power to harm others in return for their loyalty. A “witchcraft craze” rippled through

There are a bunch of ways to test to see if a possession was real. They would test a possession by using a dhup or an incense by putting it under the nose of the “possessed”. If that person did not flinch with the incense under their nose, then they were thought to be possessed.

Mental illness has been around since the days of recorded history. People such as Aristotle, Thomas Overbury, and Jean de la Bruyere have studied the personality disorders. However, through history, people with personality disorders have been shunned and feared because of who they are.

Morse, Donald R. "Evidence for Voodoo Curses." Journal of Spirituality & Paranormal Studies Oct. 2010: 181+. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

Many of the different ideas of what Hysteria is came from other countries across the US like Greece, France, and some from Italy. A Greek physician provided a good description of hysteria, many of the people in Greece thought that the people had epilepsy, but the physician clearly distinguished hysteria from epilepsy (Tasca, Cecilia). “ During the first ten centuries of Christianity, with medical thought stagnating under the authoritarian influence of Galenic concepts, most cases of hysteria were probably mistaken for various bodily diseases. During the Middle Ages, as the attitude toward sickness changed from naturalistic to demonotheologic, many cases of hysteria, and undoubtedly of organic disease too, were interpreted as manifestations of witchcraft” (Hysteria). During the Salem Witch trials there was a huge case of mass Hysteria because of the many people that were accused of practicing witchcraft. Many of the people throughout the world thought that hysteria was epilepsy, but because of lots of extensive research it was proven that these cases were Hysteria (North, Carol

The Salem Witch Trials began during the spring of 1692 in February and ended a year later in May, and took place in Massachusetts. Over 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 people were executed.

Eliezer Wiesel’s Night is a memoir about his own personal tragic experience with the Holocaust Concentration Camps. While there Eliezer’s entire life turns upside down as he is exposed to the worst forms of torture that anyone should be involved with. Night greatly demonstrates the evils that were bestowed upon the Jewish community and the other groups thought by Hitler to be intolerable. The Concentration Camps caused the Jewish people to be deprived of the proper nutrition leaving them not only physically scarred, but psychologically as well.

“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Witchcraft was nothing like a new phenomenon, it was seen as a practical practice in part of traditional villages and cultures for many centuries. Throughout time, witchcraft came to be viewed as both dangerous and sinister, and many churches began to connect the transformation of witchcraft as activities of the Devil. Many people were accused of witchcraft practices after the establishment of the Inquisition during the thirteenth century. Multiple witchcraft trials were held throughout England, Switzerland, Scotland and Germany, and those who were suspected of witchcraft were turned over to secular authorities in order to be burned at the stake or to be hanged.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, was a very intriguing story. It incorporated numerous themes that certain individuals can relate to and spoke upon realistic cases. Author Junot Diaz wrote this interpretation from where he was raised. This fiction novel set up the themes of relationships, abuse, sexuality, parenthood and so forth. The one theme that stood out to the writer in this novel was culture. To be more specific, cultural supernaturalism. The writer will elaborate more in depth in her essay on why she views the theme supernaturalism as a strong point.

What is a mental illness? A mental illness can be a wide range of conditions that affect mood, thinking, and behavior. There are more than 200 confirmed forms of mental illness. There are different ways to treat these forms of mental illness. But back in Shakespearean times, mental illness was not really understood. It was often times misinterpreted as witchcraft. This was a contradictory thing because women who were good with herbs, were able to help heal the sick because they could turn the herbs into great medicine. But then they were accused of witchcraft

The articles The Myth of Mental Illness and Road Rage: Recognizing a Psychological Disorder addressed the issue of mental illness in two completely different contexts. Both authors agreed that societal context plays a large role in classifying what is “mental illness”. In The Myth of Mental Illness, Thomas S. Szasz was critical and sceptical of the definition of mental illness. Mental illness was defined as a deviation in behaviour from psychological, ethical or legal norms. He then proceeded to ask the reader, “Who defines the norms and hence the deviation?” He claimed that it is the society that decides what is considered as the norm, implying the significance of society in the classification of mental illness. In Road Rage: Recognizing a

The abnormal way in which these sexual anxieties are presented permits the discussion of these apprehensions. The supernatural renders Lucy inhuman — her twisted face resembles “The coils of Medusa’s snakes ” (Stoker 250) — and as such, the sexual and moral dangers she posits in her independence are punishable by the four men. The same men who once desired nothing more than her pure affections are those who persecute her to the grave, for Lucy now personifies the destructive morals of the transgressive female. The violence employed in their fight against the vampire, in addition to their destruction of Lucy’s egregious body, demonstrates that male anxieties and fears often transform into hatred towards that which questions their masculinity.

A small amount of anxiety can be a good thing. A lot of anxiety is when it becomes a problem. “The dividing line is when the fear becomes so great that it causes a lot of distress and/or it makes the person not able to do certain things” says Dr. Bridget Walker. Having a constant or persistent feeling of fear and distress, is known as anxiety. In the past, people with mental disorders have been misunderstood and poorly treated. During, times in ancient Greece, many societies connected mental disorders to punishments from the gods or being possessed by demons. But, people still tried to find a more scientific explanation. No matter the cause, if not properly cared for, anxiety can lead to serious problems and disorders.

For as long time age’s, we have been fascinated with the idea of other worlds and other creatures that are somehow 'supernatural'. All around us is the physical world and the reality of that world is something we deal with on a daily basis. But since the dawn of man we have been telling stories of something else, something 'other', which might take the form of ghosts, of demons, of aliens or of elves. On the one hand these are horror stories, designed to scare and frighten and that makes them popular around campfires. The supernatural includes all that cannot be explained by the laws of nature, including things characteristic of or relating to ghosts, gods,