Exorcism as treatment for madness

Domain XVI · Historical, discredited & harmful · German-speaking Europe

What it is

What it is. In medieval and early-modern Europe some forms of disturbed behaviour and distress were understood, by the sufferer, the family and the clergy, as the work of demons, and were brought to priests, shrines and pilgrimage sites as well as, or instead of, to physicians. Midelfort's study of…

Format

• Session number and length follow the client's needs and the setting.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• Advocacy and follow-up: support access to evidence-based mental health care, and to religious care where wanted, alongside rather than instead of it.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• missed appointments around religious events; family pressure. Working: treatment continues.
• scapegoating of the ill person; secrecy. Working: the family agrees a plan that keeps the person safe.
• religious practice becoming a source of fear or scrupulosity. Working: faith becomes a source of steadiness.
• guilt about doubt; loneliness after leaving a community. Working: the client chooses their path with less fear.
• subtle ridicule or over-identification. Working: you can stay curious with a client whose world differs from yours.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.