Haunted by ghosts: prevalence, predictors and outcomes of spirit possession experiences among former child soldiers and war-affected civilians in Northern Uganda.
Social science & medicine (1982) August 1, 2012 Frank Neuner, Anett Pfeiffer, Elisabeth Schauer-Kaiser et al. 120 citations
In war-affected northern Uganda, a local form of spirit possession called cen was more common among former child soldiers than among those never abducted. Among 1,113 youths aged 12 to 25, cen was linked to extreme trauma and independently predicted worse functional outcomes—including higher suicide risk, more physical complaints, and greater aggression—even after accounting for PTSD and depression. The findings suggest that prolonged war, combined with spiritual beliefs and propaganda, can produce high rates of harmful spirit possession, and support the idea that spirit possession can be a valid trauma-related disorder in this setting.