Spirit Possession Model

Research shows that in more traditional societies the stigma that comes with mental illness is less common. In a study of families of people who suffer from Schizophrenia and other major mental illnesses only 4% of people believed that it was somehow their own fault (Ethan Watters 157). Many Western people believe that the biological understanding of the disease leads to less stigma and more understanding than the spirit possession model that is still believed in many parts of the world. Although in our Puritan culture spirit possession is seen as satanic (clearly negative), this is not true everywhere. In much of the world spiritual possession is not necessarily seen as a negative thing, and many people have experience with it “nearly everyone …show more content…
People with high expressed emotion tend to be hostile, and critical of the mentally ill person (Cross Cultural Variance of Schizophrenia in Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment). They may believe that the person with Schizophrenia is choosing not to get better. The family member may become intrusive and over protective, these behaviors are not only unbeneficial, but may be harmful to the recovery of a person with Schizophrenia. In one study nearly 70% of white Americans with a Schizophrenic relative were rated as presenting high expressed emotions (Ethan Watters 159). Professor Jill Hooley asked these families a list of questions meant to find how much control they thought they had over their life (Do you believe a person really can be a master of his faith? Do you think that a great deal of what happens in a matter of luck?). She found that family members that believed they had control over their lives were also more critical of their Schizophrenic …show more content…
Family members of schizophrenics that present low expressed emotion tend to believe that the illness is not the sufferers fault and in turn they are less critical of them. Families with lower expressed emotions even tend to see the disease differently. Janis Hunter Jenkins noticed in her study of expressed emotion cross culturally that Mexican Americans with lower expressed emotion tended to refer to Schizophrenia as nervios. Using that term seems like it would minimize the disease; nervios can be used to describe headaches, dizziness, anxiety, and even fear (Ethan Watters 160). This is down playing a very serious illness, but it also allows for a greater deal of understanding. When a term like nervios is used, other family member may think that they have suffered from a lesser version of the same disease which lowers stigma, hostility toward the sufferer, and allows the person to feel healthy in times of