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Altered States of Consciousness and Mental Health
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Altered States of Consciousness and Mental Health
A Cross-Cultural Perspective

Edited by:
  • Colleen Ward - Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand


October 1989 | 320 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Demonic possession, multiple personalities, spirit possession, self-healing, and exorcism--the psychological study of such phenomena has long been fraught with difficulties. A strong behavioristic approach in the discipline has resulted in a reluctance to examine internal, intangible, inaccessible mental states that are not readily amenable to experimental investigation. In Altered States of Consciousness and Mental Health, a distinguished group of contributors explores these and other phenomena from a cross-cultural perspective. They dispell common misconceptions, clarify terms, and resolve controversies surrounding the relationships between consciousness and psychological well-being. Historical, biological, psychological, and methodological factors are considered from a variety of cultural contexts. In addition, contributors provide fascinating case studies and interviews for each of the phenomena discussed. This ground-breaking study will be of particular interest to cross-cultural psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, ethnopsychiatrists, and mental health professionals who find themselves coming into increasing contact with these phenomena. "It is an important contribution to cross-cultural understanding of human thinking. . . . I would recommend it strongly to all psychologists and psychiatrists interested in trying to widen the perspectives of their basically Eurocentric disciplines." --British Journal of Psychiatry "An interesting and thought-provoking collection of papers in this emerging field which deserves to become a standard text in the years ahead." --Clinical Psychology Europe "What the book does is to open discussion and pave the way for more and better investigations of the phenomena of altered states of consciousness and their relation to mental health." --New Zealand Journal of Psychology

 
PART ONE: ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND MENTAL HEALTH: THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES
Colleen A Ward
The Cross-cultural Study of Altered States of Consciousness and Mental Health
Michael Lambek
From Disease to Discourse
Remarks on the Conceptualization of Trance and Spirit Possession

 
 
PART TWO: ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY
Simon Kemp
`Ravished of a Fiend'
Demonology and Medieval Madness

 
C R Chandra Shekar
Possession Syndrome in India
Nicholas P Spanos
Hypnosis, Demonic Possession and Multiple Personality
Strategic Enactments and Disavowals of Responsibility for Actions

 
Colleen A Ward
Possession and Exorcism - Psychopathology and Psychotherapy in a Magico-Religious Context
 
PART THREE: THERAPEUTIC ASPECTS OF ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
J P Valla and Raymond Prince
Religious Experiences as Self-Healing Mechanisms
Wolfgang Jilek
Therapeutic Use of Altered States of Consciousness in Contemporary North American Indian Dance Ceremonials
Stanley Krippner
A Call to Heal
Entry Patterns in Brazilian Mediumship

 
Richard Katz
Healing and Transformation
Perspectives on Development, Education and Community

 
 
PART FOUR: ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES ON ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Leonard Zusne
Altered States of Consciousness, Magical Thinking and Psychopathology
The Case of Ludwig Staudenmaier

 
Raymond L M Lee
Self Presentation in Malaysian Spirit Seances
A Dramaturgical Perspective on Altered States of Consciousness in Healing Ceremonies

 
Paul Stoller
Stressing Social Change and Songhay Possession
Marlene Dobkin de Rios
Power and Hallucinogenic States of Consciousness Among the Moche
An Ancient Peruvian Society

 

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Hardcover
ISBN: 9780803932777
$240.00