Mental case or demonic possession?

Fr. Roy Cimagala .

THERE seems to be a sharp surge of disturbed people around these days. As a result, we can see more people who are clearly mentally ill, with very erratic behavior. And if they are not withdrawn from the world, alienating themselves and rotting away in their own universe, they get overly aggressive, violently aggressive, in fact. Some commit suicide.

This is a problem we have to learn how to cope and to try to solve. Of course, it’s a phenomenon that can easily be attributed to the complications and pressures of the times, which in themselves are admittedly no mean things. But there must also be other factors and causes deeper than the toxic complications and pressures of the times that give rise to this world predicament.

More and more people are of the thinking that these disturbed persons are more than just mental cases, to be treated only with psychiatry, some medicine and therapy which are no mean help.

They now talk of the strong possibility that some demonic interference is involved, even demonic oppression and possession. And they cite instances where the persons concerned act in ways that are considered already beyond human possibility.

We need to have a good grip on this rapidly emerging menace. And the first thing to do is to entertain the possibility that indeed these disturbed people are both mentally sick and demonically bothered.

Yes, while it’s true that the predicament can be an either-or proposition, we should not dismiss the possibility that it can also be a both-and one. Not just disjunctive, but also conjunctive. Let’s remember that the devil is always around. It’s not paranoia to be always alerted of the devil’s existence and constant efforts to destroy us, usually in very sweet ways.

It would be good if we level up in our knowledge of psychology. This field of science is getting to be more and more relevant these days. It cannot anymore be the exclusive interest of some people. Everyone should know at least the basics of psychology and from there start accumulating relevant helpful information.

But we should never forget that the psychological and mental mechanism of a person is steeped in his spiritual dimension that can lead him either to the supernatural or infranatural world. It cannot be studied from the point of view of empirical science alone.

It has to input the truths of faith to enable it to cope with the full range of its possibilities.

This is a point that should be taken more seriously these days. The complicated challenges of our times that have brought about many good things and also many bad things cannot but make this kind of demand. We have to take our faith more seriously, assimilating it in our system and making it the guide and shaper of our lives.

With our faith, we have the answer to all the questions, the solution to all our problems, even if the answers and solutions it offers may not be the ones we want. But they are the answers and solutions that God himself gives, and not just us.

Faith is the great healer, the constant pacifier, because it brings Christ into our lives, Christ who heals and who constantly tells us, “Do not be afraid…” We should bring our faith to bear on our sciences and on our other sources of knowledge.

With respect to this phenomenon of rising cases of disturbed people, our faith can detect whether a particular case is just a pure mental or psychological problem, or something where evil spiritual forces are involved.

To be sure, the workings of the demons will always manifest themselves in some mental, psychological or emotional predicaments. But if a person is a man of deep faith, he most likely will have a very good mental or psychological health, and would know how to deal with evil spirits.

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Accepting whatever God gives. I was very moved and impressed when a young man, now rising in his profession, said that he accepts whatever God has given him or has allowed to happen to him.

An illegitimate son, he holds no resentment or grudge against his father who practically neglected him in his growing up years because the father also had some personal demons to contend with. Nor is he ashamed to publicly tell everyone that he is the son of such a father. In fact, now that the father is very sickly, he reaches out to his father and takes care of him, especially because he is now a doctor.

We can learn great lessons from this episode. Yes, we may be victims of some misfortune, natural or man-made, but if our mind and heart are in the right place, that is to say, they are with God, we know that everything will always work out for the good. There’s no reason to feel bad and to fall into worse cases of self-pity, anger and bitterness, hatred and desires for revenge, etc.

With God, everything is taken care of. What we cannot take care, God will do it for us. Of course, God’s ways are not our ways.

They may differ greatly from what we like to happen, but definitely God will take care of everything. He will solve, complete and perfect what we cannot anymore solve, complete and perfect. Nothing is impossible with him. We should just trust him.

This reassurance has been revealed to us by Christ himself. He was willing to offer his life for our sins and for whatever misfortunes we can suffer in this life. And he conquered them all with his resurrection. If all our misfortunes are suffered with Christ, we for sure will also take part in the resurrection of Christ.

Before Christ’s supreme act of love to take care of everything and to save us and to bring us back to God, we already have been reassured of this wonderful truth of God taking care of everything with the example of Job who was severely tested by all kinds of trials and misfortunes. But with his strong faith in God, he stood his ground and in the end was amply rewarded by God.

We need to toughen ourselves and cling tightly to what our faith tells us whenever we suffer some kind of misfortune in this life. For this, we have nothing else to do but to try our best, always asking for God’s grace, to assume the mind of Christ with respect to his suffering and death.

Like Christ, we should be magnanimous, always offering kindness, compassion and mercy to those who may cause us some misfortunes, even the life-long types. Like Christ, we should try to be slow to anger and quick to forgive. Let us have the kind of love that Christ himself commanded us to have: to love one another as he himself has loved us. (cfr. Jn 13,34)

St. Paul described this love in this way: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoice with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Cor 13,4-8)

It is this love that conquers everything, that identifies us with Christ, with God. It is what enables us to happily accept whatever God gives us or allows to happen to us, good or bad in human terms.

Let us try to always and immediately remove anything that negates this kind of love. Let’s put all our trust in God, and let’s just be game with whatever situation, predicament, or misfortune we can have in this life.

E-mail: roycimagala@gmail.com