"El Duende" and Other Incubi

Cross-cultural approaches to multiple personality disorder: Therapeutic practices in Brazilian spiritism.

“…Ward (1980) comments that there is no single condition associated with “peripheral possession” because it is a cultural explanation for a variety of disorders rather than representing a determinant of a specific disorder. Those investigators (e.g., Allison, 1980; Leon, 1975; Sargent, 1974; Ward, 1980) who have studied the efficacy of exorcism and associated forms of treatment for possession have found them, at least on a short-term basis, to be highly effective.…”

“…Incorporation (“central possession”) exists side by side with possession by malevolent spirits (“peripheral possession”). This type of possession has been found to be distributed among various disorders, e.g., depression, epilepsy, hysteria, and schizophrenia as well as MPD (Leon, 1975; Ludwig, 1965; Yap, 1960). Ward (1980) comments that there is no single condition associated with “peripheral possession” because it is a cultural explanation for a variety of disorders rather than representing a determinant of a specific disorder.…”

“…Those investigators (e.g., Allison, 1980;Leon, 1975;Sargent, 1974;Ward, 1980) who have studied the efficacy of exorcism and associated forms of treatment for possession have found them, at least on a short-term basis, to be highly effective.…”

Demonic possession and mental disorder in medieval and early modern Europe

“…In one incident in an Apostolic church in Yucatan, parishioners who had believed themselves possessed by the Holy Spirit revised their ideas when it was found they had thrown their bibles away (Goodman et al 1974). On the other hand, in the few clinical cases reported (Leon, 1975), patients complain of diabolical rather than divine involvement.…”

Os primeiros curadores da humanidade: abordagens psicológicas e psiquiátricas sobre os xamãs e o xamanismo

“…Arthur Kleinman wrestled with these issues while conducting an outcome study of a Taiwanese shamanic tang-ki healing (Kleinman, 1980). Charles Leon faced similar issues during his seven-year study of spirit possession in Colombia (Leon, 1975). Another confounding factor is that while many shamanic healing systems do not discriminate between physical and mental disorders they may discriminate in terms of age, gender, or social position (Rozak, 1992).…”