Exorcism Leads to Reenactment of Trauma in a Mauritian Woman

ABSTRACT

Childhood trauma can have a lasting effect on personality and daily functioning, leading to dissociative changes in behavior and identity. How these are interpreted and handled usually depends on local culture and beliefs. This article presents the case of a Mauritian woman with a history of childhood abuse who was exorcised to “dispel an evil spirit.” An in-depth interview exploring her experiences and meaning-making was transcribed and subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. This article discusses possession as a culturally accepted metaphor for incomprehensible behaviors. It shows that help-seeking pathways are determined by symptom interpretation models that are reinforced by the local environment. It also demonstrates that exorcisms are potentially retraumatizing by the enactment of painful memories and emotions during this ritual. The authors stipulate that exorcism seekers could benefit from additional clinical assessment by professionals experienced in the dissociation field.