Dear Anne
Thank you for your reply. That was the reason I asked because for some Southern African beliefs possession is very real to them. And they can be very vulnerable in many ways. Some of the “healers” will prey on them and charge huge amounts which can place the employee in financial difficulties.
I have experience of a family whose child had a degenerative muscular condition. Family worked extra shifts including moonlighting to pay for air travel and hotel accommodation for a healer to come into the country every couple of months. They were told exorcism and massage would heal this child who had severe sclerosis, contractures to all lumps, was tracheostomy dependent and mechanically ventilated. They were told the child would get up and walk within a year.
They really believed in this. No apparent harm came to the child, she had a trip to London and had a massage. Both parents eventually consented to have psychiatric treatment.
In my inexperienced very humble opinion as a student, I would say an understanding of cultural background and belief systems can be vital to cases like this.
Kindest regards
Barbara Grohs
It was a delicate
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Re: [OCC-HEALTH] Being possessed & exorcism
Belief systems have a powerful effect on our psyche and health no matter what the background or ethnicity of the individual. The fear and distress your client is experiencing must be very debilitating and their exhaustion is unsurprising. Whilst working in Africa and the middle east I have encountered people who have shared the belief system of the client you describe. Although I do not share their belief system I recognise that It is a very real and frightening experience for them. Those in Africa sought help from healers within their own cultural communities known as sangomas. Those in the middle east used what they called “wusms”. I don’t fully understand what that involved Those participating in the use of wusms must have been desperate as it was not a pleasant process.
Anne
On 13/09/2018 21:56, "karen coomer" <[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]> wrote:
The fit note states exhaustion and I have no doubt that the person is exhausted because the symptoms are very distressing. It is very interesting from a biopsychosocial perspective because this person absolutely believes that they are possessed, they are rational and to them it is completely normal within their culture (ethnic minority). What I presented to them was the fact that for many years they had experienced distress and seen lots of spiritual advisers who had done many different things, which I won’t go into, but it has not improved their health or wellbeing. Why not try a different more western approach which is to rule out whether there is an underlying psychiatric problem, they have agreed to this so I will be referring them to a private psychiatrist for an assessment. It is one of the most interesting cases I have had for some time and so I just wondered if anyone else had experience to share like this. Karen
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On 13 Sep 2018, at 20:40, Nancy CARUANA <[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Dear all. My question would be why grant sick leave for an assumed spiritual crisis and spiritual treatment? I once came across a case where someone claimed he was finding cuts in the form of a cross on his leg. He believed it was a stigma and wanted sing leave to investigate from a spiritual aspect. He was refused sick leave but was referred to a psychiatrist and it turned out to be self inflicted like self harm to cope with other issues in his life that caused him stress. He eventually needed psychiatric treatment for which he was granted sick leave.
Thank you for bringing this up it is an interesting topic.
Regards
Nancy Caruana
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On 13 Sep 2018, at 18:08, Karen Coomer <[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi everyone
Has anyone had any experience of dealing with cases where the individual strongly believes they are possessed by the paranormal and has undergone exorcism by spiritual leaders (for which sickness absence has been taken). I have a case like this and am interested in how others have approached it from an OH perspective.
Many thanks
Karen
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