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This is a really good article for demons and mental illness. A lot of people will claim that they are haunted by demons, or possessed by demons because of depression or another mental illness they may have. The reason why people jump to conclusions so quickly is because of their parents, religion, or because of there superstitious beliefs. Red flag for this would be appeal to authority because this girl was being told by her parents and a spiritual healer that it was not depression it was a demonic possession. Sometimes you need to get two options on a subject before jumping to conclusions when there may be no need for it.

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Illustration by Eleanor Doughty

Throughout her adolescence in Saudi Arabia, Nadia* struggled to find joy in life.

"As time went on, I felt like I couldn't hold myself together," Nadia said. "It feels like my life is wasted, because society doesn't think that I have value, there is so much pressure to be something you are not here."

Around her 18th birthday, her angst turned into full blown depression. She often felt worthless, suffered from anxiety and at times could barely get out of bed. Nadia knew she needed help and turned to her parents for support. Uneducated about mental illness and extremely superstitious, her parents took her to a religious (also known as faith or traditional) healer to perform an exorcism on her. They believed that she was possessed.

Nadia explained her symptoms to the religious healer who affirmed her parents' fears and claimed that evil spirits entered her because of her lack of faith.

"He made me drink something strange, recited the Quran and then choked me with two of his fingers until I passed out," Nadia said. "When I woke up he convinced my parents that I was definitely possessed, because if I wasn't, I would have never passed out-even though I had marks on my throat." Her parents thought that the healer laying hands on her was part of the ritual.
Read more: How Islamophobia Hurts Muslim Women the Most

After the exorcism, the religious healer claimed she needed ten more similar sessions to take the demons out. Nadia refused and told her parents that she would kill herself if they ever tried to brought her back to the healer. She described the session as "hell."

"So, here I am, ten years later and still apparently 'possessed,'" Nadia laughed. "I had to learn to try to get through the days on my own."

Whether it's shamans from Ecuador to Russia or Christian religious leaders from the US, various regions and religions across the globe use faith healers. Religious healers may have little to no psychology or medical related background, and earn their living by performing religious rituals and healing people from supernatural issues such as possession. According to one Stanford University researcher, "The concept and practice of exorcism crosses cultural and historical boundaries."

Muslim communities in the Middle East use faith healers, too: According to the Pew Research Center, approximately half of the population in Iraq (47 percent), Egypt (44 percent), the United Arab Emirates (45 percent) and Jordan (42 percent) use traditional Islamic healers. "Popular beliefs in Middle Eastern cultures," states a report in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry, "have traditionally viewed mental illness as a punishment from God, the result of possession by evil spirits (Jinn), the effects of the 'evil eye' or the effects of evil in objects that are transferred into the individual."

Abdul Majeed Ali Hasan, an imam in the Ministry of Islamic Affairs for the UAE government, stated in an interview that the majority of "possession" cases are in fact psychological illness "wrongly assumed to be possession." He also revealed that people's superstition often causes them to think they themselves are possessed.

"Many people who come for a [spiritual] treatment do not have any illness or possession, but their sickness is mere imagination, due to watching horror movies and reading novels, which propagate possession," Hasan said.

The lack of awareness around mental health issues in Muslim communities prompted clinical psychologist Dr. Nafisa Sekandari to co-found a mental health resource and awareness center online.

I don't think it's necessary to separate religion from treatment; I believe in using whatever connection people have to aid in treatment.

"We believe education is key and that is the main reason we started our website: Mentalhealth4muslims.com," Dr. Sekandari said. "Many [religious healers] prey on those with limited understanding and take advantage of them [people] financially."

Dr. Sekandari is based in the US, where she has also seen people's confusion with mental illness and possession get in the way of treatment. She said that people often focus on trying to get evil spirits out instead of working on the real issues that lie within. In order to support her patients that have a strong focus on the supernatural, she strives to educate Muslims that the Quran does not only include supernatural possession, but it also teaches about mental illness. She then offers a "multimodal approach" where people can get the psychological support they need and still incorporate Islam as part of their treatment.

"I don't think it's necessary to separate religion from treatment; I believe in using whatever connection people have to aid in treatment," Dr. Sekandari said. "For some it's prayer, so prayer can be used in addition to more traditional treatments such as medication and therapy. I have had the most success when I meet my patients where they are instead of expecting them to change completely who they are."
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While educating individuals is necessary for proper treatment, Dr Sekandari says that in order for this harmful confusion between mental illness and possession to stop, imams (Muslim religious leaders) must be educated. Religious leaders often lead and set the tone for Muslim communities, which includes religious healers, so Dr. Sekandari and her colleagues at Mentalhealth4muslims.com are currently training imams about mental health and are giving them tools to communicate the information effectively to their congregation.

Nadia became aware that she was struggling with depression because of such resources that she discovered. However, she is not able to process or work through issues with a doctor or anyone in her Saudi community because of the stigmatism around mental illness. The only time she feels able to share about her depression is with her international friends-where she doesn't feel judged.

"All of my friends from abroad talk about mental health issues as though it is something normal," Nadia said. "But in my culture, it's not normal...it's crazy."

Nadia met these friends at her international workplace. At times, even getting to work can be excruciating because of her depression. After suffering from depression for 10 years, Nadia has endured a long and "dark" struggle where it can be extremely difficult to get out of bed. On her most difficult days, she feels like she is "falling apart" but has been unable to find a counsellor that will "stop spiritualizing everything." Instead, she sees her international friends as her "'support group.'"
* Name has been changed
"They need to separate religion from psychology, especially for us women, who suffer from depression because of our shitty circumstances, or we cannot-and will not-get help," Nadia sad. "Society also needs to be rid of this of shame toward mental illness and stop saying that people are weak or not perfect believers, or possessed! Spirituality is important but it doesn't mean that you deny what is really going on because it will only get worse."

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When Mental Illness Is Mistaken for Demonic Possession

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Illustration by Eleanor Doughty Throughout her adolescence in Saudi Arabia, Nadia* struggled to find joy in life. "As time went on, I felt like I couldn't hold myself together," Nadia said. "It feels like my life is wasted, because society doesn't think that I have value, there is so much pressure to be something you are not here."

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This video doesn't specifically talk about demons or demonic possession but it talks about how a man who never believed in god was sent to hell and got a small taste of what its like surrounded by demons and saved by Jesus. there are many red flags with this video simply because nobody was around when it happened and their is no proof of what he actually witnessed, it is just a he said she said debate trying to come to a settlement.

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From Hell to Heaven: One Man’s Journey to Life-Changing Faith

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Living a rebellious life backfired when Jordan experienced a drug overdose. After experiences of heaven and hell, Jordan returned to this life with a passion for God.

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Demons and demonic possession can be a very scary and intense situation to be in. The demon can manipulate your body and brake it to scare,harm and destroy you and your family. This photo is showing what demons tend to do once they start taking over and possessing to their needs. i personally believe all the red flags can apply to demons and demonic possession for the simple fact that they all fit in very well. For this topic a ton of information is being through out, we listen to authority, we are constantly learning about this subject every day and we're trying to gather a ton of information to get an end result.

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This is a basic wiki page that gives us a general idea of what demons are and where the belief started. Nobody really knows when demons became into existence, why do they like to harm us and give us negative feelings and emotional states. Are demons and demonic possession real? I have no idea I like to think that these entities are real roaming this world and who have take possession of humans for torment and pleasure.

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Many cultures and religions contain some concept of demonic possession, but the details vary considerably. The oldest references to demonic possession are from the Sumerians, who believed that all diseases of the body and mind were caused by "sickness demons" called gidim or gid-dim.

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This is a true story about  a man named Joe who talks about his experience with demons, how they have controlled his life for a long time and what effect they had on him. It is very hard to tell which is the truth and which is a lie. The red flags I have found in this video are, Confirmation Bias because this man could have been going through an extremely hard time in his life and though because its hard that demons are the ones controlling him and ruining his life. Mystical Energy is a big red flag because people have claimed to see or be controlled by demons but they have never actually been proven by any scientific proof.

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Joe sensed a presence of darkness from an early age, and the loneliness and fear from an unstable childhood opened doors to demonic activity throughout his life.

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This image is portraying a typical stereo type that when somebody becomes possessed you will be able to crawl on walls, speak in tung and have these super natural powers. red flags are confusion of causation and correlation because people think when someone is acting odd or crazy they could be possessed when in reality they might just have some mental issues or medical problems. Most people just ignore what the problem could really be and go straight to demons because of what movies and stories have told them.

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This website is somebody giving the answer to weather demons are real or fake. They use passages from the bible to prove demons are real and to tell the story of how they became. Red flags with this is that it is appeal to authority because it is Jehovah’s Witnesses pushing the bible onto you. It is also proof by verbosity, ancient wisdom and confusion of causation and correlation. Reasons why i don't believe this site is because its from Jehovah's witness and because they are quoting the bible which can be very inaccurate since it has been re-written many times, so true facts can be lost in translation.

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This link is a video talking about 5 of the top creepiest demonic possession cases known about. Out of all the demonic stories I'v heard I'm not to sure to say if any of these are true or not. there have been a lot of claims of possession but from no experience I can't say they are real or not. Red flags in this are mystical energy, appeal to authority, proof by verbosity. A lot of people jump right to demonic possession when somebody starts to act weird because they might not want to believe that they may have some illness which isn't demonic its just there own body.

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5 Extremely Creepy Cases Of Demonic Possession

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Subscribe for a new video every week! ►► http://goo.gl/lYWszy Check out the NEW Top5s website! ►► http://www.Top5s.co.uk ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ From the real inspiration behind the Exorcist movie, to the terrifying story of Anneliese Michel who was said to be possessed by 6 demons, Cain, Nero, Judas Iscariot, Valentin Fleischmann, Adolf Hitler and Lucifer here are 5 of the scariest cases of Demonic Possession ever documented.

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I the topic I have chosen to talk about is demons and demonic possession. This photo is what people believe to be a demon or satin. They believe that demons can talk in tung and have the ability to appear, disappear, and possess people if they please. This image is showing us what somebody believes a demon looks like. The red flags with this image is that it is appeal to authority, people only believe demons look like this because of pictures and movies.

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Post 1. Assignment 2. Demons and Demonic Possessions. 

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Post 1. Assignment 2. Demons and Demonic Possessions. 

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By: Shane Cirignano