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Is demonic possession a psychological illness?

Movies about satanic possession are the quickest way for me to wet my pants. Nothing is scarier than the idea of a dark force entering someone's body and mind and taking over completely. The Rite, the new film with Anthony Hopkins, is no exception. Based on true events, the story follows a sceptical, science-loving young American seminarian who travels to the Vatican to take an exorcism course. You need these types of characters in scary movies to run into a forest alone in the middle of the night walk into a pitch black room and ask, "hello, is anybody there?" Otherwise there'd be no movie.

But this story is based on true events. So can the phenomenon of possession by a devil or other spirit be explained scientifically or, to be more precise, in psychopathological terms?

“Occasionally we come across patients with psychotic illness – depression or schizophrenia, for example – who believe they are possessed by demons,” explains Patricia Casey, professor of psychiatry at UCD. “In every case, the patient has been completely delusional.” Casey believes that such delusions are cultural. “It’s not the most common delusion that we face and when we do, it’s usually among older people. These days patients are far more likely to be paranoid about computer bugs and internet conspiracies. The content of delusions is determined by the culture of the times. A few years ago it used to be the IRA, or terrorists trying to harm people.”

Modern psychiatry and psychology would argue that symptoms and behaviours once thought related to demonic possession are in fact related to disturbances in brain chemistry. According to research, almost every recognised symptom or behavioural pattern of someone claiming to be possessed can be duplicated artificially. In other words, paranoia and demonic hallucinations can be brought on with the right drugs. By the same token, other medications are known to reduce and in some cases eliminate such feelings of paranoia or schizophrenia.

It is no coincidence either that the majority of people claiming to be possessed are religious themselves or come from religious backgrounds and so believe in the potential for demons to enter one’s soul. “They might not be actively engaged at the time but more often than not sufferers come from religious cultures,” says Casey.

I’m reassured. But it still gives me the willies. In fact, I think I just had a Pampers moment.