Jesus meets the Gerasene Demoniac. Demon Possession

In the Gospels, found in the New Testament, Jesus meets several different people who suffer from demon possession. The Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are personal accounts from different writers. Thus the reader is exposed to the same story from a different perspective, at times including additional details. Jesus meets a demon possessed mute man in Matthew 9:32-34 and Luke 11:14-26. He meets a demon possessed blind and mute man in Matthew 12:22-28. He also meets a Gerasene man who is suffering from demons and lives in a cemetery in Matthew 8:30-37, Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:27-38. The video clip below provides a dramatic reading of Mark 5:1-20, whereby Jesus meets the Gerasene man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nen8yht6lg

This was a very scary man. He lived in a cemetery, was violent, exceptionally strong and he needed to be chained. This man evoked fear. He was known to scream, yell uncontrollably and he lived alone on the outskirts of town.

Obviously there are some anti-social personality issues as evidenced by his living conditions, some self-destructive behaviour and a semblance of multiple personality disorder. However, there is more to this diagnosis. This man was demon possessed. The man had super natural strength; the demons inside him recognized Jesus and his personality changed rapidly after Jesus cast out the demons. These symptoms appear to resemble Dickason's definition in his book Demon Possession and the Christian, although Dickason refers to it as demonization. The characteristics include superhuman strength, speaking in unknown languages or strange voices, fits of rage, sudden changes in personality, fear of crowds and resistance to religious or spiritual names or symbols. 

My personal experience of demonization is limited. In seminary, our conservative New Testament professor played an audio-tape of a weekend session he and others had with a sexually abused women who was suffering in different ways. It was believed she was demon possessed and as we listened to the tape it became evident that she had been taken over by something. The physical strength (enough of six men), the destructive anger, the varied voices, the inability to hear the name of Jesus or the words from the Bible seemed inhuman. It was disturbing. Actually when googling to the topic you too can find clips which highlight the sights and sounds. Very disturbing.

Religion and science often operate in different realms and at times diagnosis can be a challenge. In severely psychotic patients diagnosis can be very tricky. This was evident in the cases of Andrea Yates and Diane Evers whereby both psychiatric and demonization issues were attributed to them drowning their children. Dr Scott Peck in his book The Glimpses of the Devil: A Psychiatrists Personal Account of Possession, Exorcism, and Redemption also acknowledges the complexity of diagnosis. He states"the proper question to pose diagnostically would be: ‘Is the patient just mentally ill or is he or is she mentally ill and possessed?'

The link between demon Possession and mental illness is complex. Check out Stephen Diamond's artical Exorcism and the Endangered Future of Psychology in Psychology Today for some interesting insight on the topic. 

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evil-deeds/200804/exorcism-and-the-future-psychotherapy