Insanity, and some of the most severe psychological disorders that we see take hold of some individuals, are complex in their nature and make-up. In studying the Spiritist Doctrine's teachings about spiritual obsessions, we can understand how many individuals who suffer from mental infirmities are actually victims of advanced spiritual obsessions that have gained complete control over them. At the same time, however, there are also physical factors involved due to the actions of the reincarnatory operations of expiation.

The vast majority of scientists in the medical field today still do not admit, understand, or consider causes of insanity other than those of a material nature stemming from dysfunction or damage of the brain, chemical imbalances, etc. When treating these physical illnesses that effect the mind, they are able to clinically treat the symptoms of the force which acts upon the patient and causes him to suffer some form of madness or mental and/or emotional disturbance. Yet, when there is no physical signs that indicate a cause or trigger for such disturbances, science is unable to effect a cure.

The fact of the matter is that madness can occur with or without evident physical cause.  In either case, the medical and psychological professions, and their patients, would benefit extremely from the comprehension and consideration of eternal life of the Spirit and the operation of divine laws in the process of reincarnation. As the Doctrine of Spiritism teaches us, insanity, madness and mental disorders can derive from physical causes as well as obsession, or both simultaneously, whereby in any case, there is always a seed for the occurrence carried by the Spirit who becomes its victim. Let's see why.

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From the physical angle, the Doctrine teaches us about the role of the spirit body, called the perispirit, which archives the past thoughts and actions of a Spirit and holds the mechanism for employing the results of such (according to divine law of action and reaction)- through reward or expiation- in subsequent physical incarnations, also factoring in the present actions of that spirit during such incarnation. The expiatory process is one by which a Spirit who has committed crimes against himself or another in a given life without making reparations for such in that same life (which is commonly the case) comes to experience the suffering that results from his past mistakes, which consequently works to purify his soul. Depending on how he handles his present incarnation, he can often inhibit it and contrarily cause himself even more anguish.

The perispirit carries the code, the "spiritual DNA" if you will, for the formation of a physical body that meets the Spirit's needs for trials and expiations in a given incarnation. Once the seeds of such are implanted, if the individual devotes himself to good and attains moral worth, he will not only remain in tune with the thought-frequency of good Spirits that will help him and protect him, he also may inhibit or at least weaken those pre-established conditioning factors of imposed suffering. Should regularly act, instead, with any one or more negative habits such as pride, greed, selfishness, aggression, vengefulness, indifference, etc., he could activate a mechanism that begins the degradation of his health, thereby creating favorable conditions for the body to fall susceptible to this or that disease. As you can see, the perispirit is the key to the predisposition toward illness carried by the Spirit. In some cases, this illness can be one of mental derangement or emotional instability.

There are other cases of mental derangement where, again, the perispirit carries the code for the physical development of the illness, yet in these cases, the illness starts in the very beginning of the incarnation, "little by little wearing off stored specific energies and predisposing the Spirit to the crisis that will lead to neurosis, psychosis, or to the many forms of mental imbalance throwing him into the cruel and narrow corridor of madness." (M.P. de Miranda). In this kind of expiatory process, the condition of mental imprisonment is obligatory and the Spirit has no choice but to undergo those conditions, often times having no chance even to make any counteractive efforts in this incarnation. (Note: This only happens as a purifying mechanism of severe crimes previously committed).

Now, looking at cases where there is a physical cause for the madness, one that can be detected and treated by scientific medicine, we can understand that the primary cause is spiritual, yet the mechanism is physical.  In addition to the element of spiritual predisposition, the Doctrine also clarifies for us that it is not the physical brain that thinks, rationalizes, and commands the body to act, but rather the Spirit, by use of the brain, and that when the brain or other parts of the body are damaged or imbalanced, the Spirit's role is also affected by not being able to fully or adequately manifest itself.

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From the spiritual angle, the Doctrine of Spiritism teaches us about the life of the Spirit beyond the death of the body and the relationships that we incarnates maintain with those who are presently in the discarnate state. We understand how, for a variety of reasons, these relationships can be harmful and can take the form of a spiritual obsession. When this obsession advances to a more serious state, it can actually lead to cases of madness. This message is clear in a Spirit communication found in "The Medium's Book", where the (superior/knowledgeable) Spirits were asked, "Could corporeal subjugation be carried to the extent of producing madness?" Their answer was, "Yes- a species of madness of which the cause is unknown to the world in general, but which has no connection with ordinary madness. Among those who are treated as mad, there are many who are only subjugated, and whose treatment ought to be exclusively moral; but such patients are often made really mad by the physical treatment to which they are subjected. When your doctors understand Spiritism, they will then cure many more patients than they now do." (see item 254, q6).

We have already discussed the factors that lead to a Spiritual obsession. We'll just reiterate here, that, just as there is a spiritual predisposition to physical illness, enacted by undesirable behaviors, there is a moral weakness in the obsessed Spirit that allows the obsessor to achieve his desired results, again triggered by thoughts and actions that lower the individual's vibratory range, causing him to attune then with viscous and persecuting entities, thus starting a long obsession process.  It should also be noted that the persistent and damaging actions of one Spirit over another can also, with time, produce physical harm, sometimes irreversible.

In either case, whether a truly physical madness or an actual spiritual obsession, the Spirit is lucid and thinks, except it's thought is cut and manifests imperfectly.  What happens is an irregularity of transmission or manifestation of the thought.  In the first case, the irregularity is due to the material incapacity of the brain to receive and faithfully transmit the contemplations of the Spirit.  In the latter case, the transmission of thought from the Spirit to the brain is interrupted by the polluted fluids (energies) and thought waves of the obsessor.

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Because of the complexity of factors involved in the varieties of madness, as well as the initial and subsequent symptoms that unfold, the best approach to treatment includes both physical and material (medical) resources. Spirit author Manoel Philomeno De Mirando explains: 

"Insanity due to obsession looms high among the many disorders that plague mankind nowadays.  Hunted by untold inner troubles, obsessed people have been deplorably overlooked by most psychiatrists and psychologists who, stubbornly attached to their materialistic outlook, deny the presence of discarnate entities as intruding personalities in the roots of several mental diseases.

On the other hand, many Christians, enlightened by Spiritist teachings, set out to help the mentally sick believing that most mentally deranged people are victims of obsession and need only spiritual treatment, overlooking the indispensable medical care.  Both extremes are wrong and should be avoided.  Of course, all of us, Spirits in evolution, carry the causes of our mental and physical derangements with us.  Since pain is in itself a process of spiritual refinement for the ever unfolding soul, we infer that suffering arises from the Spirit's misuse of life resources granted to him by the Superior Powers that supervise life.  Such recourses should of course be used positively, as tools to help his evolution."

Kardec, Allan. "Obsession." The Mediums' Book. 2nd ed (1st edition FEB). Trans. Anna Blackwell (translated 1876). Ed. Livraria Espírita Allan Kardec. Brasilia-DF, Brazil:  Federação Espírita Brasileira [Brazilian Spiritist Federation}.1986. 292 (item 254 q6).

De Miranda, Manoel Philomeno [Spirit Author], Franco, Divaldo P. [Medium]. Obsession. (translation of "Grilhoes Partidos). Trans. Donato Ely J. and Miranda, Herminio C. Salvador, Ba, Brazil. Centro Espirita "Caminho da Redenção". 1980. 3; 17-19.

Systematized Study published by the Brazilian Spiritist Federation. Program V, Unit 8, Subunit3 Obsession and Madness. Published 1996, Brasilia (DF).

De Âgelis, Joanna [Spirit Author], Franco, Divaldo P. [Medium]. "Mental Disorders and Possession." After The Storm. 2nd ed. Centro Espirita Caminho da Redencao. Trans. Haddad, S.J. Salvador-Bahia-Brazil. Livraria Espirita Alvorada Editora. 73-76