Titre du document / Document title

Dissociative trance disorder : Clinical and Rorschach findings in ten persons reporting demon possession and treated by exorcism

Auteur(s) / Author(s)

FERRACUTI S. ⁽¹⁾ ; SACCO R. ⁽¹⁾ ; LAZZARI R. ⁽¹⁾ ;

Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)

⁽¹⁾ Department of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, University of Rome La Sapienza, ITALIE

Résumé / Abstract

Although dissociative trance disorders, especially possession disorder, are probably more common than is usually thought, precise clinical data are lacking. Ten persons undergoing exorcisms for devil trance possession state were studied with the Dissociative Disorders Diagnostic Schedule and the Rorschach test. These persons had many traits in common with dissociative identity disorder patients. They were overwhelmed by paranormal experiences. Despite claiming possession by a demon, most of them managed to maintain normal social functioning. Rorschach findings showed that these persons had a complex personality organization: Some of them displayed a tendency to oversimplify stimulus perception whereas others seemed more committed to psychological complexity. Most had severe impairment of reality testing, and 6 of the participants had an extratensive coping stile. In this group of persons reporting demon possession, dissociative trance disorder seems to be a distinct clinical manifestation of a dissociative continuum, sharing some features with dissociative identity disorder.

Revue / Journal Title

Journal of personality assessment    ISSN  0022-3891   CODEN JNPABU 

Source / Source

1996, vol. 66, n^o3, pp. 525-539 (1 p.3/4)

Langue / Language

Anglais

Editeur / Publisher

Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia, PA, ETATS-UNIS  (1971) (Revue)

Mots-clés anglais / English Keywords

Test Rorschach

;

Projective test

;

Personality test

;

Religious possession

;

Dissociative syndrome

;

Case study

;

Psychometrics

;

Human

;

Mots-clés français / French Keywords

Test Rorschach

;

Technique projective

;

Test personnalité

;

Possession religieuse

;

Dissociation syndrome

;

Etude cas

;

Psychométrie

;

Homme

;

Transe

;

Exorcisme

;

Mots-clés espagnols / Spanish Keywords

Test Rorschach

;

Técnica proyéctiva

;

Prueba personalidad

;

Posesión religiosa

;

Disociación síndrome

;

Estudio caso

;

Psicometría

;

Hombre

;

Localisation / Location

INIST-CNRS, Cote INIST : 2394, 35400004358108.0040