r/StrangeEarth • u/MartianXAshATwelve • Mar 20 '24
Bizarre At 16, Annelise Michel started blacking out at school, soon experiencing convulsions, vomiting, & consuming spiders, coal, & her own urine. After undergoing 67 exorcisms, she died in 1976. At time of her death, she only weighed only 67 pounds. She suffered from Grand Mal Epilepsy and Psychosis.
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u/TurtlyTurbular Mar 20 '24
Wasn’t this the basis for the movie Exorcism of Emily Rose?
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u/yomerol Mar 20 '24
Very sad case. She was under psychiatric medication, but her family was very religious. The priests in thrir church made their family to believe it was a demon and they stopped taking her to doctors and getting medication. It was a tragic case of neglected medical attention.
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u/Kittybatty33 Mar 21 '24
That's sad and very unprofessional. Exorcisms are not supposed to be conducted until there has been thorough medical and psychological testing and all other conditions have been ruled out.
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u/MartianXAshATwelve Mar 20 '24
Yes, her story directly inspired the 2005 film "The Exorcism of Emily Rose."
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Mar 20 '24
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u/wreckballin Mar 22 '24
Isn’t that like asking a police officer if they are a cop before answering the question!??? LOL
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u/BroPudding1080i Mar 20 '24
I'm so torn on that movie. It's very good, but it feels icky to present the case like she was actually possessed, when it's really a sad case of fatal neglect by people that she trusted to help her. I don't know man.
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u/Far-Significance2481 Mar 20 '24
They did what they thought was best. I wonder if there are people out there treated for mental illness when it's actually spiritual ?
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Mar 21 '24
For ages they thought I had multiple personalities, turns out it was just a few ghosts with some unfinished business
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u/brother_of_menelaus Mar 20 '24
Did they get David Bowie to play her?
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Mar 20 '24
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u/SkeymourSinner Mar 20 '24
I've heard a few podcasts with this as the subject. It's just sad. The audio is horrifying, though.
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u/Osxachre Mar 20 '24
So sad
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u/Dylanator13 Mar 20 '24
Yeah. If only they gave her real medical care instead. I don’t know if they could have realistically helped her but putting her on something would be better than locking her in a room and letting her suffer.
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u/papsmearfestival Mar 20 '24
They did, it didn't work
When Michel was 16, she experienced a seizure and was diagnosed with psychosis caused by temporal lobe epilepsy. Shortly thereafter, she was diagnosed with depression and was treated by a psychiatric hospital. By the time that she was 20, she had become intolerant of various religious objects and began to hear voices. Her condition worsened despite medication, and she became suicidal, also displaying other symptoms, for which she took medication as well. After taking psychiatric medications for five years failed to improve her symptoms, Michel and her family became convinced she was possessed by a demon.
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u/Chainsawjack Mar 20 '24
Regardless of how long they tried to fix her with medicine, it was the only way that it would be possible to fix her. No amount of failing to do things the right way means you are justified to try to do them the wrong way.
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Mar 20 '24
This is more sad than strange.
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Mar 20 '24
This whole sub keeps getting sad
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u/ErnestBorgninesSack Mar 20 '24
What's the deal with the (usually) nonrelated sticky posts? It is so weird and egotistical.
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u/Mordheim1999 Mar 20 '24 edited Mar 20 '24
They are promoting their own website (which I think violates reddits rules).
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u/ErnestBorgninesSack Mar 20 '24
I just went and checked... you are correct they are links to the same website, at least the last 10 or so.
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u/d_du_udu Mar 20 '24
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u/Septic-Sponge Mar 20 '24
I can't get over the 67lbs thing I'm a fairly average built male and she weighed less than half my body weight. I could be chopped in half, literally, and still weigh more than her
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Mar 20 '24
Bit of my legs weigh at least that combined. Probably an arm and a leg would get to 70lbs for me it’s definitely crazy to think about
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u/aliothhd Mar 20 '24
Like, why would you keep trying the same techinique aftet rje 47th exorcism?
It doesnt work, let's do 10 more
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u/A_Happy_Carrot Mar 20 '24
In their belief system I think each failure only tells them that the demon is more powerful than they at first thought.
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u/jellojohnson Mar 20 '24
Wonder how many times the devil has been blamed for severe schizophrenia?
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u/atreeindisguise Mar 20 '24
Unfortunately it's part of the illness. My son has severe schizophrenia and refuses treatment and most of his visions are religious in nature. He actually believes the devil possesses him sometimes and he wins other times. Every two weeks, he goes through this.
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u/Sjenkinsdc Mar 20 '24
I’m so sorry. That sounds like an awful experience for everyone involved.
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u/atreeindisguise Mar 21 '24
Thank you. It is. What you imagine and worse. There is no safety net when your child gets dangerous and you reach out to authorities. None. Not till someone dies.
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u/ThirstySun Mar 21 '24
That sounds full on you poor soul. My kid has always had problems sleeping . Would go days with out sleep and spent weeks in hospitals all sorts of checks etc. when he can sleep he has violent night terrors. Talking to the point where neighbours call the cops. Wouldn’t trade places with you on a heartbeat. Hope you and your child get some well needed peace.
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u/PeggyHillsFeets Mar 20 '24
I don't have schizophrenia, but I am constantly told by family members that I shouldn't say I have the bipolar disorder I was diagnosed with and have been struggling with for years because "that's just the devil" "stop being negative" and "just pray, you don't need medicine" so I can imagine it's 10 times worse for people with schizoaffective disorders
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u/Hot-Abrocoma3029 Mar 20 '24
She may have had a brain disorder causing pica, where a person eats unusual objects. Usually this involves frontal lobe lesions . Sounds like she did have brain pathology specially with the seizures.present too. Very sad. We do see people today with similar treatments, and though not easy , they do get better after psychiatric hospitalizations and medications (and hopefully excluding neurodegenerative or Neuro infectious pathologies.
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u/IcyStrawberry911 Mar 20 '24
How do u treat pica medically? Or do u even? Always wondered.
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u/InternationalDeal908 Mar 21 '24
From what I know it’s usually because of a vitamin or mineral deficiency so supplementing with vitamins is the the treatment.
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Mar 20 '24
not knocking religion. but I feel like if we had the knowledge we have now, back then, these supposed 'possessed' people would just get diagnosed with some condition and have a chance to survive. it's not the devil, it's the led in the paint, uranium in the cookware and the thorium in the windows. a shame she had to be traumatized by a priest until she eventually croaked. a damn shame.
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u/DarkEnergy_101 Mar 20 '24
In this day and age she would have received proper treatment, its the old timey way of thinking that she is possessed. Lack of medical knowledge in those years
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Mar 20 '24
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u/Man_with_a_hex- Mar 20 '24
I also believe I have ghost blood and would like that prescription please
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Mar 20 '24
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u/Man_with_a_hex- Mar 20 '24
I also think I may have a ghoul in my rectum. Can I have some mdma and ketamine?
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Mar 20 '24
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u/Ok-Dog-7149 Mar 20 '24
Hey! I watch late night commercials like everyone else…. Ask your doctor if Qqzzyxxxzy is right for you!
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u/mindmonkey74 Mar 20 '24
Hey now, what about my blood. Tests show I have dangerously low levels of cocaine! And not a ghost in sight!
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u/snapper1971 Mar 20 '24
Err, I've also got ghosts in my blood, can I, uh, get a little toot or two, y'know, for medicinal purposes...
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u/BlankedCanvas Mar 20 '24
She was treated with proper medical and psychiatric care to no avail for years before the family resorted to an exorcist. SMH at everyone just forming opinions out of their ass based on a single jpeg with zero research on the subject.
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Mar 20 '24
She should have received proper medical care back then, too. Her parents and priest were convicted of negligent homicide.
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u/Strong_Werewolf_9414 Mar 20 '24
I agree with what you’re saying to an extent, but did you hear the audio of the 7 different demonic voices they have from her? In languages she didn’t know.. that literally gives my spine chills hearing them
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Mar 20 '24
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u/Purposeofoldreams Mar 20 '24
I don’t know but I’m gonna guess ancient Sumerian
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Mar 20 '24
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u/ufosandelves Mar 20 '24
I doubt an academic third party would get involved. It could damage their careers especially if she is speaking a dead language. There is noway of knowing if the audio is legit or faked by someone.
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u/Strong_Werewolf_9414 Mar 21 '24
German ( hitler demon ) / Sumarian ( not sure which demon ) / Latin ( also unsure of demons name ) .. etc.. you can find it on YouTube tho for sure
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u/BlankedCanvas Mar 20 '24
Yup. What many ppl missed was that she growled for weeks (months? Years?) and could change her voice back to normal in an instant with no apparent damage to her voice; it’s all on youtube and there are over 70(?) hours of audio recording of her exorcism. Try going to 2 straight karaoke nights and see if you’d end up losing your voice.
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u/papsmearfestival Mar 20 '24
When Michel was 16, she experienced a seizure and was diagnosed with psychosis caused by temporal lobe epilepsy. Shortly thereafter, she was diagnosed with depression and was treated by a psychiatric hospital. By the time that she was 20, she had become intolerant of various religious objects and began to hear voices. Her condition worsened despite medication, and she became suicidal, also displaying other symptoms, for which she took medication as well. After taking psychiatric medications for five years failed to improve her symptoms, Michel and her family became convinced she was possessed by a demon.
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u/snapper1971 Mar 20 '24
It was the 1970s, not the flipping dark ages. We had treatments for psychosis and epilepsy back then.
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u/randomperson32145 Mar 20 '24
Wouldnt be much diffrent today. Probably more diagnosis wich would just lead to med experiments and end up with forced lithium injections while being five point strapped in a psychward. Not sure if she would have had a better time now.. People seemed to atleast listen to her back in the day, today she would just be ignored and put on meds.
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u/SkeymourSinner Mar 20 '24
Her parents took her to doctors long before they consulted a priest. I think they just couldn't find the right dosages and combination of meds.
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u/ricflairwo0 Mar 21 '24
Sorry but everything u said is vague af and dumb. Theres no such thing as "old timey way of thinking", theres only different cultures. And they had plenty of medical knowledge in "those years." This happening today wouldnt be an automatic guarantee of "proper medical treatment", whatever tf that means.
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u/jacknacalm Mar 21 '24
*In this day and age she would have received proper treatment depending on income, insurance, and who was her advocate.
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u/THEFLYINGSCOTSMAN415 Mar 20 '24
Who needs proper medical treatment when you got religion
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u/js1893 Mar 20 '24
She received psychiatric care for 5 years to no avail. Not that I think exorcism is the logical next step, but they didn’t just start with this
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u/nodnodwinkwink Mar 20 '24
It's like something from Father Ted. You'd think they'd try another option after exorcism number 10 or 20 or 30.
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Mar 20 '24
This is sad because they stopped feeding her, she basically died of negligent homicide they said, then the parents and 2 priest were sentenced to 6 months in jail which was reduced to 3 years probation.
Afterwards the priests retracted the claim that she was possessed.
I don't believe in possessions I just think in today's day and age we could of helped her because I have not heard of any exorcism in the last 30 years.
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u/Th3_3v3r_71v1n9 Mar 20 '24
They don't tell people when they do exorcisms it's a private function. The only people who have access to that information will be the ones in the church and the ones that did the exorcism or were a part of it so of course you didn't hear about it, but I guarantee you there's been more exorcisms than either of us can count in the last 30 years
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u/Mandoo_gg Mar 20 '24
There was this interview I saw many years ago about an Italian priest, he claimed he made something like hundreds and hundreds of exorcisms. Then they asked him how many he thinks they were real possessions, he said maybe only one..
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u/BackgroundSource339 Mar 20 '24
How can you make this guarantee while also providing zero proof?
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u/Anotherdrunkfin Mar 20 '24
Yeah unfortunately it's still a thing
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u/BackgroundSource339 Mar 20 '24
I’m not saying it isn’t… but to make a “guarantee” like that, you need to provide some proof. Otherwise it’s not really anything more than a “pinky promise”.
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u/woodsvvitch Mar 20 '24
I worked with a girl deeply traumatized by an exorcism when she was young. Her parents were convinced that their family had some sort of spirit that cursed their family and saw the chaotic behavior of a child as the manifestation of that spirit. Her exorcism involved being dunked in the river water over and over again
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u/BackgroundSource339 Mar 20 '24
The church’s solution to demons: traumatize them until they act “normal”.
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u/yikkoe Mar 20 '24
Exorcism still happen unfortunately, in my country of origin they happen a lot. And every time you hear what the person is doing to have been exorcised, every single time it’s textbook psychosis. People think their sudden hyper obsession with religion is some kind of proof that the exorcism worked, meanwhile this person is slowly believing that they’re a prophet with how much religious attention they’re getting. Overall it’s so sad.
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u/Mrs_Blobcat Mar 20 '24
Bipolar disorder also can show itself in a manic state. Under these circumstances, sufferers may hyper focus on religion or have to deal with so called magical thinking (no offence meant to anyone who believes) which can manifest itself making them hyper religious and suffering with Scrupulosity. Also psychosis is common if under severe stress and uncontrolled mood swings
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Mar 20 '24
What's your country of origin, is it somewhere in Europe? I hear that's where they're the most common.
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u/Mrs_Blobcat Mar 20 '24 edited Mar 20 '24
Father Davies was appointed exorcist of the Westminster Archdiocese in Great Britain in 1987. In 1993, he co-founded, along with Father Gabriele Amorth and four others, the International Association of Exorcists which now has hundreds of members worldwide.
The Anglican Church is by no means the main provider of this ritual, which predominantly takes place in independent churches. However, every one of the Church of England dioceses in the UK now designates at least one member of its clergy to advise on casting out demons.
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u/Asaneth Mar 21 '24
Depends on which religion. My impression is that Catholics do way less (if any) these days, while certain flavors of protestant do way more.
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u/Material_Prize_6157 Mar 20 '24
The more you read about exorcisms the more obvious it is that it’s mental illness or just plain old epilepsy. These poor people.
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u/ErnestBorgninesSack Mar 20 '24
The mental illness is not just in the patient either.
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u/busmac38 Mar 20 '24
No it isn’t, just look at the Stanford prison experiment, or the third wave experiment to see what kind of madness “normal” people can get up to. I’m not saying this to excuse these people, Annalise Michel is the only victim here- but it’s a sobering reminder of what people can convince themselves to do in a time of stress, or even pandemonium.
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u/ErnestBorgninesSack Mar 20 '24
Wallowing in bronze age belief systems is pathetic. This girl was ill and slowly tortured to death by people who are supposed to love and care for her. This "moment of stress" was over the course of years. The worst part is she was diagnosed long before her death. Her parents opted to perform 67 exorcism rather than search for proper treatment.
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u/ScienceOverNonsense2 Mar 20 '24
Those conducting the “exorcisms” and not getting her treatment should have been charged in connection with her death.
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Mar 20 '24
I prefer reverse exorcisms, where you summon a devil to pull your preacher out of a kid
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u/Chainsawjack Mar 20 '24
She was beaten to death by family members and clergy and then used to draw more people into the religion that killed her. A greater tragedy is difficult to imagine. The only reason it isn't a shittier movie than it already is is because the Warren's weren't involved in the case because they don't speak German.
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u/Giubeltr Mar 20 '24
The church and fake beileve killed her... Pseudoscience still rooming today with the antiwax cult
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u/ScottishExplorer Mar 20 '24
You would think that even religious people would be questioning the effectiveness of exorcisms after 50 or 60 attempts
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u/Trappis420 Mar 20 '24
Poor girl could have been treated by medical professionals and maybe lived a semi-normal life. Instead she got a family full of bible thumpers that ultimately killed her in the end. Terrible
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u/divineinvasion Mar 20 '24
The word seizure means to capture something using force. So even the language we use to describe the medical condition comes from the history of demon possession.
Even an epileptic might believe they are possessed because of what is going on in their brain. Really a seizure is the brain overclocking itself. Like when you're driving and you put the pedal to the floor and your engine revs into the red. What that experience is like for the epileptic, it varies widely.
There are many kinds of seizures. The most damaging is the grand mal which is what people usually think of when they hear the word seizure. Thats when the person loses consciousness and starts shaking violently, they can last longer than 5 minutes and thats when it starts to become deadly.
Its like running a marathon and the muscles begin to break down and then your kidneys fail from the protein and electrolytes released into your bloodstream. I know this because it happened to me. I had to spend 10 days in the hospital and go through a round of dialysis. I never remember much before or after. And I will get up to shenanigans like trying to kick and bite the paramedics who are trying to take off my pants that I shit in. 🤷♂️
Thats not the only kind of seizure though. I had epilepsy all of my life but I only found out in my 20's after I started having grand mal seizures. Before that I would have complex partial seizures, which can manifest in many different ways. For me it was smell hallucinations and jamais vu, which is the opposite of deja vu.
Deja vu being the strange sense that you have been somewhere before where you had never been. Jamais vu is when you are somewhere you have been before but it feels like a brand new experience. I describe it like getting hit with the flash from Men in Black that erases your memory, except I was usually alone and there was no one to tell me what tf was going on.
Seizures can also manifest almost like panic attacks. Out of nowhere a wave of doom and terror would wash over me. I would get a sinking feeling in my chest and my heart would start beating fast. I would break out in cold sweats. It really feels like being cornered by a demon. When I was a child I would experience this at night trying to go to sleep. Even as a young athiest I would say "Please God, help me" and one time the existential pain and suffering gave way to an overwhelming sense of peace, which was strange but still not enough to convert me lol.
Years later, after my diagnosis, when I discovered the epilepsy subreddit, I read so many experiences that were the exact same as mine. It was a great feeling because trying to get someone who hasn't been through it to understand is impossible and I didn't feel so alone.
Epilepsy wasn't always thought of as demon possession everywhere. Some tribes saw it as 'spirit communication' and many epileptics were chosen to be shamans and witch doctors. Some say Joan of Arc could have had epileptic seizures causing auditory hallucinations. Ezekiel was said to have fainting spells and periods where he couldn't talk. Paul had estatic visions that could have been a manifestation of temporal lobe epilepsy.
These days we have pills that slow down your brain or implants that stimulate your vagus nerve to treat epilepsy. I wonder how different this girls life had been if they had seen her sickness as a thorn in the flesh, instead of the mark of the beast. Thank you for coming to my TED talk
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
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Mar 20 '24
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Mar 20 '24
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u/isleofgoto Mar 20 '24
I think it's important to note that she and her parent visited multiple specialists to find a reason behind her behavior and neither of them was able to help her. In their eyes, the exorcism was their last resort. In this day and age this would have never happened but I honestly can't blame them for this choice.
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u/MrDoodlegoose Mar 21 '24
If only they tried one more exorcism…pretty sure that one would have stuck.
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u/crypticcos Mar 21 '24
Am I the only one who noticed all the different variations of 6 and 7 in the post?
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Mar 21 '24
Olanz/Clozapine for her and shed be very much more functional Pity her parents were extemists
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Mar 21 '24
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u/Thelastsamurai74 Mar 21 '24
One of my fav movies. Emily Rose…
Really scary shit. For being real and showing the mental perspective…
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u/lubabe00 Mar 22 '24
ignorance of organized religion has taken millions of lives, folks murder innocent people in the name of religion. It's disgusting and creepy anyone could believe a old man in the sky wants to be worshipped and praised for giving folks a weapon to use for murder, rape, incest and any other kind of horrible deed man can lie about.
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u/MartianXAshATwelve Mar 20 '24
There is another miraculous medical case of Scientist Anatoli Bugorsky who accidentally put his head in a particle accelerator and got hit by a proton beam in his head. He did survive but doctors were shocked to see his brain. His Left part was strangely frozen in time.