Obsession and madness

We present in this issue the topic #126 from the Systematized Study of the Spiritist Doctrine, that is being presented weekly, according to the programme elaborated by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation (FEB), structured in 6 modules and 147 topics.

If the reader uses this program for a study group, we suggest that questions proposed be discussed freely before the reading of the text that follows. If you would like to study alone, we ask you to try to answer the questions at first and only then read the text that follows. The answer key can be found at the end of the lesson. 

Questions 

1. Is madness always a result of cerebral damage?

2. Can obsession lead the individual to madness?  

3. What is the difference between obsession and madness?

4. Can the persistent action of a bad spirit lead to cerebral damages on the influenced person?  

5. How could Jesus get rid of the cases of obsession giving one simple order as described by disciples?  

Text

Madness shows itself in two different ways  

1. Obsession is not madness, but it can provoke it. Science, however, doesn’t take this fact in consideration because it still doesn’t accept life of the soul after the death of the body. The reluctance in accepting the spiritual influence on cases of madness leads scientists to see the problem of madness limitedly. As Dr. Bezerra de Menezes taught, science only knows madness that is result of a disturbance of the thought with its base on the brain.

2. The causes and the types can vary but the pathological state of the individual is always the same: madness caused by the disturbance of thoughts with its base on the brain. According to Science, madness cannot happen without the brain being damaged. Although unofficially, there is the acceptance of madness without brain damage within scientists.

3. When doctors detect brain damages, they can establish one clinical treatment: surgery or therapy. If madness appears and brain damage or damage in the nervous system is not present, its difficult, if not impossible, to establish a treatment. This is why, according to specialists, the most difficult part when dealing with this problem is diagnosing.  

4. Dr. Bezerra de Menezes teaches us that madness appears in two ways: with or without brain damage. That’s why he suggests different treatments to different cases. Problems that are related to the brain should be treated by doctors. Problems that are not physical should be treated considering extra physical causes acting on them.  

Obsession, when untreated, can lead to madness

5. The brain is only an organ, it is not the centre of human intelligence. The brain is and should be seen as a material instrument that our soul uses while connected to our physical body. It’s the soul who think, ratiocinate and imagine. The brain is only an instrument of its manifestation. If the brain has any damage or dysfunction in place, it is natural that the soul will have its development affected by it. It will be affected because the soul cannot act adequately using a damage instrument.

6. Obsession, where the immediate causes are the influence of an external factor to the person, is something else. But it brings difficulties to the individual and make the problem worse. This type of obsession in itself isn’t madness, but its progress to more advanced stages without treatment can lead to madness.

7. This thought was passed to us by Allan Kardec in The Medium’s Book, where it says that among the ones who are considered mad, there are some who are only subjugated by bad spirits. These ones need moral and spiritual treatment. If they receive physical inappropriate treatments, they can become mad.

8. Therefore in obsession, what determines the disturbance in the transmission of thoughts is the fluid of the bad spirit between the agent (soul) and the instrument (brain) where the communication becomes interrupted. The soul thinks normally but its thoughts are expressed imperfectly because of the barrier created by the bad spirits fluid.  

In obsession or in madness, the soul can still be lucid

9. According to Dr. Bezerra de Menezes, in obsession or in madness, the soul can be lucid, but there is a complication between the transmission or manifestation of thoughts. This complication can be, in the first case (madness), a result of the incapacity of the individual’s brain to receive or transmit faithfully the ideas of the patient’s soul. In the second case (obsession), the ideas are not being delivered to the individual’s brain because of the fluids sent by the bad spirit which is on the way.  

10. We should also consider that a persistent and negative influence from a bad spirit upon someone can lead to physical damage, sometimes irreversible.

11. Mentioned on the New Testament, obsession and subjugation were very common at the time of Jesus. These are some well known examples:

• Mark (1:21-27) and Luke (4:31-37) wrote about the cure that Jesus performed on a disturbed person in Capernaum,
• Matthew (10:32-34) wrote about a cure of a mute person,
• Matthew (12:22-28) wrote about an individual who was subjugated by a bad spirit and became blind and deaf.  

12. In all of these writings Jesus was present who liberate them all from the negative influence: people who were influencing negatively and the ones who were influenced. Jesus cured them because of his moral superiority. He would give an order and the bad spirits would obey immediately.

Answer Key