Demon Possession or Mental Illness?

Mental illness can mean different things to different people. In the scientific community, we believe that it can be a totally chemical based condition, but that’s only one possible diagnosis. Is there sometimes more than meets the eye? In many civilizations around the world, it’s not so much about what is physically wrong inside, but rather who may be around with you. The term ‘spirit possession’ is often used as a cultural explanation for what is happening, with symptoms similar to those of schizophrenia.

Belief in possession is not uncommon in psychosis, the mental state that can sometimes accompany severe mental illness and typically involves delusions and hallucinations. Psychiatry usually assumes all such experiences to be faults of the mind, rather than the result of other-worldly powers.

What causes mental illness and its various types? The answer lies in demon possession. When a person has mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar, major depression, psychosis, multiple personality disorder, or has suicidal thoughts, the individual has quite literally “lost their mind” to invading demon spirits.

Demon spirits pray on those who are weak mentally, physically and emotionally. When a person suffers a trauma in their life and they are unable to cope with the trauma mentally and emotionally, a part of their soul chooses not to have that experience and splits off causing “soul fragmentation”. This leaves a vacuum or space for demon spirits to reside within the soul and influence the mind and feelings of the person involved.

These demon spirits enter through holes in the aura when the person is emotionally vulnerable and seeks to “escape” their own life. Marijuana usage in teenagers who are often emotionally troubled and seek to escape the reality of their troubled lives. Taking drugs such as marijuana causes holes to appear in the aura. It is also a form of “escapism” that fragments the soul, leaving the individual open and vulnerable to demon possession. And this is why schizophrenia has been linked to marijuana usage. It is not the marijuana itself that is causing the schizophrenia, it is the invasion of the demon spirit that hi-jacks the soul and mind of the troubled teenager, after they have used marijuana.

This is why we see ordinary young adults stay healthy all their lives – free of schizophrenia – and then all of a sudden have schizophrenia after taking marijuana. It is because they have lost control of their mind due to demon possession.

Severe or more extreme types of mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar, personality disorder, multiple personality disorder, psychosis are caused by a large number of demon and earthbound spirits entering the soul of the person involved. The person has literally lost control of their soul and mind to malevolent or negative spirits. Major depression, suicide and suicidal thoughts are also caused by demon or earthbound spirits influencing the mind and the emotions of the person’s soul they inhabit.

Most people on earth have one or more earthbound or demon spirits within their soul, that has gained entry into their soul either during this lifetime or been carried over from a past life. Yet because demon spirits can only possess a soul according to the degree to which it has chosen to give away control of its soul, most demon possession is only partial in nature and the demon spirit expresses itself through the identity of the human ego. Most people cannot distinguish between what is of their own human ego, which is negative and fear-based in nature, and what is of a demon spirit that has infiltrated their soul under the guise of the ego.

Is a Person Really Possessed or Are They Mentally Ill?

This is a question I deal with a lot. Sadly, a large number of mentally ill people suffer from delusions of persecutions by demons, the dead, or other supernatural entities.   The devil and demons torment those that suffer from any number of psychotic disorders. People who might have lived locked up in a mental institution 50 years ago can now live relatively normal life free from the terror of the demons as spirit releasement has become popular in the recent years and people are able to get relief out of this spiritual therapy.
For sceptics, this is the obvious answer to all hauntings and demon possessions.  It is easy to say mental illness is the answer.  However,  I think there are ways to see a difference between the supernatural and the natural affects of mental illness.  Obviously, many psychiatrists and therapists don’t feel this way, but I think when diagnostic criteria for a mental illness aren’t met and treatment doesn’t work, other things could be considered.

A lot of people diagnosed with bipolar disorder have reported seeing shadow people, as well. Unfortunately, the majority of these people are describing their own paranormal experiences as delusions and hallucinations. The same goes for a lot of people who’ve been diagnosed with schizophrenia; they don’t believe in most of the things they have heard and seen. Should we be so quick to call ourselves crazy and assume that what we have seen or heard could not possibly be real? It actually makes me feel a little sad knowing that most people don’t believe in their own experiences or consider how their experiences with mental illness and paranormal activity can potentially be really profound and meaningful.

Am I suggesting that it’s impossible to experience a hallucination? No, not necessarily, but I don’t think we should immediately dismiss something just because it’s hard to explain or can’t be witnessed by everyone. Who’s to say what’s real and what isn’t? What if everything around us is an illusion, and we’re all a bit crazy for mistaking it to be real? I’ve grown tired of the “experts” who claim that this and that is impossible or unlikely. There is so much more to learn and understand about everything in life, including the paranormal and mental suffering, once you’re willing to adopt the “I don’t know” stance. Whenever we say “I don’t know how to explain that”, our curiosity and non-assuming nature might allow us to eventually come up with some pretty cool and interesting theories that bring us closer to the truth.

My biggest argument against labeling paranormal experiences as hallucinations is that it further adds to the mental illness stigma. It basically says that these people who “hallucinate” have a problem, that they’re out of touch with reality, that their experiences don’t count because there’s something wrong with their brain, and that they’re not credible or trustworthy sources whenever they speak about unusual experiences they’ve endured. What if we did a 180 and turned this view around? What if people suffering with mental illness became our teachers, offering us a new perspective about the nature of reality and all the phenomena surrounding us that normal oraverage people cannot see? Can you imagine that instead of feeling victimized and living in shame about their condition, these people might actually find meaning in their suffering? Instead of making these people feel flawed and in need of serious psychiatric help, what if we helped them to see their unique gifts through loving support? What if there are potential significant gains and a profound purpose behind mental illness, and we’ve been treating it the absolute wrong way for the past few centuries? The current mindset and approach seem a bit backwards to me.

The ways we’ve been conditioned to view mental illness and paranormal experiences are obviously limiting. Mental illness is seen as pointless suffering, and witnessing paranormal activity is either seen as absolute nonsense by the skeptics or a sign of a defective brain/sensory system that needs to be fixed through medication as soon as possible. I’m going to paraphrase a comment I found on a forum that illustrates the modern, limiting view of mental illness and paranormal experiences: “Your experiences sound very disturbing. I hope your new medications help you. Those paranormal entities you’ve seen are the products of your mind and nothing more. Embrace the medication’s ability to quiet the voices, and re-learn to see the world as it is: solid and un-magical.” So, in other words, people who perceive things beyond the physical realm need to dull their senses through medication because being highly sensitive is not normal and absolutely none of that stuff you’ve seen is real anyway because all the “normal people” are the experts on what does and does not exist in this vast universe.

I’m very curious about why so many people have reported seeing shadow people inside their homes and other dark, shadowy figures during something that is clinically referred to as “sleep paralysis”. Could these paranormal entities possibly be inter-dimensional beings that can only be seen by people who have higher levels of sensitivity? Or are the entities there to feed off the negative energy of those who are suffering or to increase their suffering, perhaps out of spite? I know someone of a skeptical mindset probably thinks all of this is a big load of crap, but I really suspect there’s something more going on here than just hallucinations and delusions.

If you were to question a group of people diagnosed with mental illness or sleep paralysis about their paranormal experiences, shouldn’t each person report a unique experience that is significantly different from what everyone else had seen if it was merely a hallucination? Why do people see the same beings and have such similar experiences? For example, countless people who’ve experienced sleep paralysis have encountered “the old hag” and “the hat man”. Many say the shadow entities are a race of malevolent supernatural beings, called the djinn, who despise and envy humans.

I’m not really attempting to explain why people with mental illness or sleep paralysis have reported paranormal experiences, but I trust that their experiences are valid and should be taken seriously because I trust in my own experiences with the paranormal. People who’ve never witnessed any of this will continue to ridicule us and probably say something ignorant like “go take your meds”, but I don’t think we should minimize our experiences and question ourselves simply because it’s not normal to see certain things. Maybe we possess certain abilities or gifts that have allowed us to have these experiences.

I can’t say for sure why any of these paranormal events occur. For now, maybe we should try to accept the fact that we don’t know why some people see entities while others don’t. We could also try to understand that our perception of life and the world around us is very limited during this human experience. It is truly ignorant if we were to say with confidence that we know everything there is to know about other realms and the universe. I encourage you to look deeper into these matters with a curious, open mind instead of dismissing anything paranormal with skepticism and self-assured arrogance.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this or about any paranormal encounters you have experienced.