An Epidemic of Possession in a School of South India

Possession by a spirit or demon or God is an age old phenomenon which is still being reported from many countries all over the world. Possession syndrome is defined as an episodic disruption of behavior dur ing which it is presumed tha t the subject 's personality has been replaced by that of a spirit or God (Wintrob, 1973 ; Wijesinghe et al., 1976). I ts manifestations, purpose and consequences are different in different cultures. Possession involves one person or many persons in a group set up . I t can be voluntary possession, when a gets possessed willingly, usually by God or a good and helping demon. Thus possessed person enjoys a high status in his society (Carstairs, 1958 ; Kiev, 1961). In involuntary possession, the person gets possessed unwillingly, usually by a troublesome spirit. This type of possession is considered to be an affiction and t rea tment is sought (Ward and Beaubraun, 1980 ; Chandrashekar et al., 1980 ; Venkata ramaiah et al., 1980).