DARI RASA SAKIT YANG MENCEKAM HINGGA SUKACITA YANG MELUAPLUAP:

Michael Seno Rahardanto,

2012 | Tesis |

There is still no consensus among mental health professionals about the etiology of spirit possessions. Adherents of psychodynamics referred it as ‘hysteria’; proponents of dissociative theory stated that it is a dissociative process; anthropological-oriented experts expressed the opinion that it is a culturally shaped phenomenon. In this paper, the author proposes that spirit possession can be classified into four different categories, namely the pathological possession, the religious possession, the curative possession, and the entertainment possession. The author uses case study and phenomenology to explore the experience and psychological dynamics of five persons who had experienced spirit possessions. The author use projective tests (BAUM, DAP, HTP) to supply the exploration of participants’ psychological dynamics. Findings showed that pathological possession, religious possession, curative possession and entertainment possession were indeed different types of possessions. Participants who experienced pathological possession reported acute psychological pain during the possessed state. Exploration of the family history reveals a chaotic-disengaged type. Participants who experienced religious possessions (possessed by the Holy Spirit) reported spiritual ecstasy, which was characterized by intense elation. Participant who experienced entertainment possession experience involuntary dancing, which was attributed to the influence of supernatural entities. Overall, the findings gave support to the perspective that spirit possession was, in some ways, a mechanism to express or release the unfulfilled, pent-up psychological needs and desires. However, a single perspective explanation—especially using only physiological perspective—will result to a narrow “medical materialism”. A more holistic and thorough perspective argued that spirit possession is a dynamic interaction between pent-up psychological needs, frustrations, or desires, and the possessed person’s representative of his/her socioreligious belief. Keywords: pathological possession, religious possession, curative possession and entertainment possession, dissociative phenomenon, altered states of consciousness

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