Multiple personality and spirit possession.
Psychiatry November 1, 1981 M G Kenny 34 citations
Multiple personality disorder is often seen as rare and occult, but it closely resembles widely reported spirit-possession phenomena. From an anthropological perspective, the interesting question is why multiple personality occurs so seldom rather than why it occurs at all. This essay traces the intellectual history of the perceived relation between multiple personality, possession, and similar states. It examines how Western psychological theorists once allowed for the real existence of possession, then reviews cases where possession played a literal role. As belief in possession declined, so did interest in multiple personality and the frequency of reported cases. The essay argues that psychological curing is creative, theory influences the phenomena it explains, and social and cultural factors shape self-perception and ego boundaries.