Demon Possession And Mental Illness

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Demon Possession and Mental Illness
For centuries, society has placed sigma on people with mental illness, even today with all the medical knowledge we have, there’s still no clear understanding of what causes or how to prevent mental illness. But after reading the quote “The mind is its own place, and in itself. Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n” (Beelzebub, in Book 1, lines 254-255). Immediately, the thought of mental illness came to mind. Mental illness affects the lives and well-being of numerous people throughout the world.
I grew up in the household with a parent who was mentally ill. In fact, all of the women in my family have inherited some form of mental illness. The other thing that was pertinent in my family was church. We grew up with the religion, roman catholic being essential part of our life’s, so when I read the passage “The mind is its own place, and in itself. Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n” (Beelzebub, in Book 1, lines 254-255).it brought me back to my childhood. Mental illnesses a stigma and misunderstood for centuries. In the 15th century mental illness or the symptoms “abnormal behavior” was seen as a form of witchcraft. The roman church that’s all mental illness as god’s punishment and witches giving their soul are making deals with the devil. Probably in the Eastern Europe and mostly women were looked at as witches, women were seen as weaker and strong influence is on men. So at that time if a man displayed symptoms of mental illness, it was thought that his wife put a spell on him. Therefore, at that time, were put to death by hanging and “witches were burned in Salem in the 17th century” (1692-1693) Hysteria and schizophrenia were the two most common m...

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... women in my family, I inherited a slight case of mental illness.

In conclusion, taking into consideration the way that people were viewed throughout history and the things I was told growing up, the thought of developing any type of mental illness to genetics was very scary. That is why when I read the quote “The mind is its own place, and in itself. Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n” (Beelzebub, in Book 1, lines 254-255). He reminded me of the torment and suffering a person can have in their mind with disease. Having no control of your thoughts, emotions and medical well-being, because of a malfunction or chemical problem in your brain. I know firsthand how this can make you feel you’re in a hellish, and evil place in your mind. Your mind is such a powerful organ and really is its own place that he could make you think you’re in hell or in heaven.

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