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Diagnosing the devil
A psychiatrist, Dr Richard Gallagher, wrote in the Washington Post about demonic possession. After being approached by an exorcist in the 1980s to help him assess the mental health of a “priestess” who worshipped Satan, Dr Gallagher said his scepticism faded.
“My subject’s behaviour exceeded what I could explain with my training. She could tell some people their secret weaknesses, such as undue pride. She knew how individuals she’d never known had died, including my mother and her fatal case of ovarian cancer. Six people later vouched to me that, during her exorcisms, they heard her speaking multiple languages, including Latin, completely unfamiliar to her outside of her trances,” he said.
