Dissociative symptoms and reported trauma among patients with spirit possession and matched healthy controls in Uganda.
Cult Med Psychiatry June 1, 2010 Marjolein Van Duijl, Ellert Nijenhuis, Ivan H. Komproe et al. 118 citations
In Uganda, people diagnosed with spirit possession by traditional healers report more severe dissociative symptoms and more potentially traumatizing events than a matched nonpossessed group. Both psychoform and somatoform dissociation were significantly associated with these events. However, participants did not subjectively link their dissociative symptoms to past trauma, consistent with local cultural interpretations. Spirit possession may function as a culture-specific expression of dissociation related to potential traumatizing events.