The Devilish Side of Psychiatry

Final Destination 3 (2006)The devil always experienced malicious pleasure in imposing himself in neuropsychiatric nosologyOlry and Haines (2017) published a mischievous article in theJournal of the History of the Neurosciences:Having an inquiring mind by nature, the Devil always managed to interfere in all spheres of human activity, including the sciences. ... Biologists use an enzyme called “luciferase” — Lucifer has been described as the “light-bearing” fallen angel, hence the bioluminescence — to spot certain proteins by chromogenous reactions (Lodish et al., 2005, p. 92). ...But how did the Devil get a foot — of course cloven (!) — into the door of the neurosciences?Demonic possession plays an important role, of course, even in modern day psychiatric nosology (see the debate overPossession Trance Disorder in DSM-5). Does it make any sense to use DSM-5 (or DSM-IV) criteria to diagnose spirit possession across cultures? Transcultural psychiatry takes a much more inclusive and sensitive approach to such phenomena, which are often precipitated bytrauma.Olry and Haines (2017) avoid this literature entirely and suggest that:The concept of demonic possession has been mainly of theological (Omand, 1970; Balducci, 1975; Rodewyk, 1988; Amorth, 1999, 2002; Bamonte, 2006; Fortea, 2006, 2008) and/or historical concern (Villeneuve, 1975; Pigin, 1998; Kelly, 2010; Kiely& McKenna, 2007).  ...Although conservative theologians might not question the reality of diab...

Source: The Neurocritic - October 31, 2017 Category: Neuroscience Authors: The Neurocritic Source Type: blogs