Ninety Years of Multiple Psychotic-Like and Spiritual Experiences in a Doctor Honoris Causa: A Case Report and Literature Review
Abstract
Psychotic experiences are common experiences shared by a considerable part of the world's population. Moreover, most of the individuals who report these experiences also report those called spiritual and dissociative phenomena. In specific culture and religious backgrounds, these experiences are frequently seen as a part of normal human experiences, usually called mediumship. We report a case of a famous Brazilian medium with 90 years of experiencing psychotic-like, dissociative and/or spiritual experiences, but coped well with the experiences and never sought psychiatric or psychological assistance. The medium received several honorific prizes, such as doctor honoris causa from different institutions, published more than 200 books, and ran a nonprofit organization that takes care of 5000 people daily. Finally, we review the literature on this topic and stress the urge for more research aiming to distinguish pathological and nonpathological psychotic experiences to avoid overmedicalization and iatrogenic treatments.
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Control over the experience can be obtained over time through training in spiritual communities or groups.
“It is worth noting that control over the experience can be obtained over time through training in spiritual communities or groups.54,61”
Case reports by Damiano et al. and Delmonte et al. describe individuals who had disturbing anomalous experiences that were later assimilated as healthy lifelong spiritual experiences, going on to become productive and respected spiritual leaders.
“To illustrate this distinction in clinical practice, case reports by Damiano et al.54 and Delmonte et al.61 describe individuals who had disturbing anomalous experiences that were later assimilated as healthy lifelong spiritual experiences, going on to become productive and respected spiritual leaders.”
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Mosqueiro, B. P., Costa, M. D. A., Caribé, A. C., Oliveira e Oliveira, F. H. A., Pizutti, L., Zimpel, R. R., Baldaçara, L., da Silva, A. G., & Moreira-Almeida, A. (2023) · Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.47626/1516-4446-2023-3056 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“To illustrate this distinction in clinical practice, case reports by Damiano et al. 54 and Delmonte et al. 61 describe individuals who had disturbing anomalous experiences that were later assimilated as healthy lifelong spiritual experiences, going on to become productive and respected spiritual leaders.”
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- Authors
- Damiano, R. F., Machado, L., Loch, A. A., Moreira-Almeida, A., & Machado, L.
- Affiliations
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (BR)
- Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (BR)
- NUPES (Research Center in Spirituality and Health), School of Medicine, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF), Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais
- Corresponding author
- Damiano, Rodolfo Furlan
- Venue
- Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease
- Published
- 2021-06
- Volume
- 209
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 449-453
- ISSN
- 0022-3018 (ISSN-L)
- 1539-736X
- OpenAlex
- W3165235417
- Cited by
- 8
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 0.98
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices
- Keywords
- psychotic-like experiences, spiritual experience, dissociative experiences, mediumship, overmedicalization
- MeSH terms
- Functional Status, Aged, 80 and over, Brazil, Famous Persons, Hallucinations, Humans, Male, Psychotic Disorders, Universities, Spirituality
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