Cult Med Psychiatry. 1994 Jun; 18(2): 141-62.

Spirit possession in South Asia, dissociation or hysteria? Part 2: Case histories.

Castillo RJ.

University of Hawaii at West Oahu, Pearl City 96782.

Psychoanalytic theory appears flawed in the way it has been traditionally applied in anthropological studies of spirit possession in South Asia. It is suggested that pathological spirit possession in South Asia has a similar etiology to multiple personality disorder in North America, which is caused by spontaneous trance reactions to extreme situations in the environment, particularly child abuse. Reanalyses of previously published case histories of spirit possession illnesses in South Asia are presented from the perspective of dissociation theory, highlighting possible etiology not considered relevant in earlier psychoanalytic theories.