Spirit possession and bewitchment presenting as physical illness: report of four cases in Nepalese males.

Introduction Witchcraft ideation is common in Nepal, among many third world countries and many popular healers practise there, including the jhankri or spirit medium, the tantrik or healer practised in tantrism and the deuta, a healer possessed by a mother goddess, Hartimata 1. Spirit possession is a recognised phenomenon in Nepal and carries no connotations of psychiatric disease. Actual or presumed bewitchment may produce physical and psychic symptoms and thus masquerade as physical or psychiatric illness. We describe 4 patients admitted to hospital between 1984 and 1986 who were first considered to have physical disease, 3 neurological and 1 infective, but who were either possessed by a spirit or bewitched. All were cured following consultation withjhankris (native healers).