Possession Syndrome in Rural Nepal: A Case Study Examining Cultural, Clinical and Forensic Implications
Alok Atreya, Sabbu Maharjan, Samata Nepal, Ajay Risal, Sneha Chaudhary, Namuna Rasaely, Erik Jönsson · 2025
Read Possession Syndrome in Rural Nepal: A Case Study Examining Cultural, Clinical and Forensic Implications by Alok Atreya, Sabbu Maharjan, Samata Nepal, Ajay Risal, Sneha Chaudhary, Namuna Rasaely, Erik Jönsson (2025) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-12752826.txt.
Description
Alok Atreya and six co-authors report a possession case from rural Nepal in a 2025 paper. In such states, a person's behavior is taken over by what is claimed to be a spirit or deity, and local Hindu communities often read mental illness that way. A thirty-year-old woman arrived with sudden episodes of altered awareness, chant-like speech, and deity-linked behavior. A relative had shown similar episodes, and the family had first gone to traditional healers.
Medical tests were normal. She improved quickly on medication plus supportive therapy, and the episodes stopped during her short hospital stay. The authors stress cultural competence in forensic psychiatric work where belief shapes symptoms.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Alok Atreya, Sabbu Maharjan, Samata Nepal, Ajay Risal, Sneha Chaudhary, Namuna Rasaely, Erik Jönsson |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2025 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 19 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |