Demonic Possession

[scorpiogirly]

Do you believe?

I've been watching a lot of podcasts on YouTube lately with exorcist from the church.

I'm torn. Do you believe?

nope

I don’t really believe in it, but I do find the topic absolutely fascinating. I enjoy a horror film centred around demonic possession!

Yes. But not in anyone with the indwelling Holy Spirit.

I am a lay minister in the church.

Yes, I believe in demonic possessions.

What I don't believe is everything that I see on YouTube/TikTok.

Can you explain why you believe it please? And do you mean you don’t believe in possession related stuff on YouTube/TikTok?

Sorry to jump on your thread OP, I do find this topic interesting!

Well my friend is a Catholic priest and they do a lot of deliverance in his London church. They prefer deliverance rather than exorcism. They have to be careful becsuse a lot of it is mental illness or acute stress so they don't just dive in. They make sure the person has the right support structure and counselling before doing anything.

Nope, it’s bloody ridiculous and used to abuse children and adults.

can I ask if you’re a qualified psychiatrist?

I can, and I will do later. Just finished on my lunch break!

No. It was an excuse to explain mental illness in the past. There's no reason to believe it now.

No.

How come exorcists only seem to deal with pretty low level dumb demons inhabiting vulnerable people? Why not try it with powerful people who are actually committing evil things?

Why aren’t they out at night like Buffy the vampire slayer? Throwing holy water over Putin?

God no, it's completely ridiculous. Understandable that before modern medicine the church might characterise some manifestations of mental illness as demonic possession, but there's no excuse for it in the 21st century.

Nope. It’s another religious stick to beat the vulnerable and the weak. See also:- limbo and buying indulgences.

Absolutely not. I always thought demonic possession was a concept created by people of yesteryear to explain things such as various mental illnesses.

I remember YEARS ago an acquaintance of mine told me she did not believe in schizophrenia. She thought it was demon possession as she did not understand why they were always prompted to harm people and never have “voices” tell them to do good things….

I pointed out to her that because it’s PARANOID schizophrenia when people do commit harm it’s likely out of fear of being hurt.

She refused to accept that and I never looked at her in the same way.

Tbf it’s a weird cultural thing. In the western culture people with schizophrenia will hear negative voices but in other cultures the voices can be kind and helpful.

I can also see why someone with schizophrenia would think that they are hearing demons, they are mentally ill and not in the best position to think rationally.

No. Of course not.

If someone acts in a way that seems distressed or distressing, it's because they're having mental health issues. Or are being bullied/abused and acting in such ways to alert you to the harm they are feeling.

If someone is having a crisis you should call 111 and they can get them through to the MH crisis line. If they are liable to hurt themselves or others try and stop them from having access to weapons and make sure they're at ground level.
Do not confront them if they may be violent.

But there is no such thing as 'demonic possession'.

Don't be daft, although DH says when I get Hangry its like I am possessed

This. Also, there is a risk of people being quite extreme in either direction about this issue: either there is no such thing as evil spiritual forces OR they see them everywhere

Is that true about it being cultural specific? In terms of what they hear? I know prevalence of certain MH illnesses definitely is culturally specific but I would thinkThe reality is we don’t know how most interpret those voices as the stories we tend to hear tend to be when something goes wrong (as I said to my mate).

Schizophrenics are far more likely to be harmed than to cause harm. But they don’t make the news headlines

Unfortunaly it is still not an uncommon belief that those who have schizophrenia and suffering with symptoms have been possessed by demons

this is complicated when they are unwell, when they are not compliant with their medication, drug and alcohol use

its always a very careful balancing act but when you have family, friends who have these beliefs it really can make managing symptoms very very challenging for the person and teams around them

When my DC had night terrors, it would have been easy to believe it. His face was like a waxy mask, his eyes deep and dark, and he pointed to and saw and talked about things and people who weren’t there. Then by day he’d be fine. Obviously.

It’s easy to see how that would be interpreted.

No, of course not.

Wickedclimber · Today 13:18

I am a lay minister in the church.
Yes, I believe in demonic possessions.
What I don't believe is everything that I see on YouTube/TikTok.

It sounds almost as though you think it's either/or. The fact that there's a lot of crazy bullshit on YouTube and TikTok does not make believing in demonic possession sound any more sane. There are people gullible enough to believe in either or both. And people sensible enough to believe in neither.

No its not quite that simple.

But what is going on in society will often reflect in negative symptoms. For example with delusions being in contact with Trump is something I have heard a few times recently, contacting head of state is common (countless times heard of going to see the Queen, calling the Queen, interestingly the King isn't mention but maybe something to do with Trump being so prominent at the moment) during Covid a mix of the conspiracy theories with added narrative. The belief in prayer and the influence of religion in many cultures is very entrenched so this will often have an impact

Yes i definitely believe in negative energies lingering around places. I went to visit ancient ruins in mexico. The tour guide told us that a lot of dark things had happened on that site, including a lot of sacrifices.

After i went there i felt like a negative energy had attached itself to me. I felt darker and more violent. I looked different aswell. I came home and people said to me that id really changed for the worse. My mum even said to me "sometimes i feel like im not talking to you at all, its like talking to a demon"

I had to do a lot of energy cleansing techniques that i found online. I still dont feel a hundred percent myself. Im nastier and crueller than i used to be. But it doesnt feel like my energy, it feels like ive had a bath in negative energy and that negative energy is all around my body. And that energy is influencing me. I still feel like something could be attached to me.

I need to try more energy cleansing. Its definitelty taught me to be more careful where i visit.

That's a very good point 😂