Primitive Madmen: Assessing Traditional Views of Shamans as Psychologically Disturbed
It is the mind that maketh good or ill, that
maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor.
—Edmund Spencer
Times change and with them our views of shamans. No longer devils and no longer madmen, the psychological state of shamans can finally be reviewed objectively.
An objective assessment is long overdue. For there is something very curious about the shift away from seeing shamans as psychologically disturbed. Curiously, this shift is not based on careful medical assessments, but rather seems to largely reflect a shift in the Western Zeitgeist, the spirit of the times. Now that researchers recognize the dangers of ethnocentric assumptions that label other people as inferior or disturbed, they seem to simply assume that shamans are usually healthy, but without carefully examining the data. This we need to do.
What is required is some detective work. We need to examine field reports and psychological tests of shamans and then compare them with contemporary diagnostic criteria. Only in this way can we hope to get accurate assessments and, as much as the available data permits, definitively lay to rest old myths about shamanic psychopathology.
The most common diagnoses given to shamans have been—to use the imprecise language found in early anthropological literature—epilepsy, hysteria, schizophrenia, imposter, or con man. Let us first examine the evidence for and against each of these diagnoses and then consider more recent interpretations.
EPILEPSY
Shamans were diagnosed as epileptics because of their “fits” during initial crises. However, these fits have rarely been observed by anthropologists. Rather, any information usually comes from shamans’ recollections many years afterward. This alone would make diagnosis difficult, since recollections of past illness can be notoriously inaccurate. Complicating things further, because they were not medically trained, anthropologists did not know the correct questions to ask in order to make accurate diagnoses. The results are descriptions so vague that it is impossible to determine whether the condition was in fact epilepsy, let alone what type of epilepsy might be involved.
One of the few researchers to actually see “fits” was the Russian ethnographer Shirokogoroff, who conducted important studies of Siberian shamanism. He observed a would-be shaman who was not accepted as one by her tribe. He concluded that
the most typical picture of hysterical character, with strong sexual excitement was beyond any doubt: she was lying on the stove-bed in a condition varying between great rigidity (“arch”) and relaxation; she was hiding herself from the light….there was temporary loss of sensitiveness to a needle….at times continuous movements with the legs and basin were indicative of a strong sexual excitement….Her cognition of reality was rather doubtful, for during her fit she did not recognize persons being around her. However, from time to time, or at least at the end of her fits, she was quite conscious of her surroundings and before a fit she looked for isolation and for certain comfort for herself during the fit.335
This description is one of the most detailed in the literature yet still insufficient to allow certain diagnosis. The description is consistent with “hysterical epilepsy,” but a definitive diagnosis would require more precise information about the episode, the patient’s experience, and laboratory data.m And in any event, this was a would-be shaman and not an accepted practitioner.
In summary, available descriptions are so vague that it is impossible to make any definitive statement about the occurrence of epilepsy in shamans. There is precious little evidence for organic epilepsy. Whatever fits do occur may well be psychological in origin and may simply be expressions of intense emotional agitation. In addition, only some shamans experience fits, and epilepsy could certainly not account for experiences such as the shamanic journey. Consequently, it is clearly incorrect to conclude that all shamans are epileptics or to imagine that shamanism can be either explained or dismissed on the basis of epilepsy.
“HYSTERIA”
The second condition that was often used to diagnose and dismiss shamanism is hysteria. “Hysteria” is actually an old term for a variety of fascinating disorders that are now called “conversion disorders” and “dissociative disorders.”8 Conversion disorders occur when a person unconsciously converts psychological conflicts into physical symptoms.
In dissociative disorders, the symptoms are psychological rather than physical. The key element is loss of conscious awareness and control of mental processes such as memory, perception, or identity. Dissociative disorders include dissociative amnesia, fugue, depersonalization, and dissociative identity disorder, which was formerly known as multiple personality disorder.
Dissociative amnesia involves memory loss of important personal information, usually stressful or traumatic information.
Dissociative fugue patients suddenly become confused about who they are and are unable to recall their past; they may leave home and be found wandering far away.
In dissociative identity disorder, there exist within the person two or more distinct personalities that alternate in their control of the person’s identity and behavior.
Depersonalization involves a sense of detachment and alienation from one’s experience. The shamanic experiences that might conceivably be related to dissociation include the initial crisis, mediumship, and the shamanic journey.
The Initiation Crisis
With its many bizarre experiences and behaviors, it is not surprising that the shamanic initiation crisis has been labeled “hysterical.” The dramatic changes in consciousness and behavior that can accompany it might, perhaps, be classifiable as an unusual, culturally specific form of dissociation. However, once again, the descriptions we have of initiation crises are too imprecise to allow accurate diagnosis. Consequently, all we can conclude is that dissociation might play a role in some initiations.
Mediumship
The second aspect of shamanism that might reflect dissociation is mediumship, or “channeling” as it is now popularly known. During this process, one or more spirits seem to speak through the shaman, who may range from being alert to experiencing a complete absence of personal awareness. During this absence, the spirit(s) may seem to displace the shaman’s personality, whose behavior, mannerisms, and voice may change dramatically.
This phenomenon has occurred throughout diverse cultures and times. In the West, one of the earliest and most famous examples was the Greek oracle at Delphi who was consulted by peasants and kings. Spirit messengers were much in vogue around the end of the nineteenth century when the process was known as mediumship, and interest has recently surged again under the name of channeling.
Western psychiatry tends to regard this as a form of dissociation. Witness the Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry that says: “A curious and not fully explored or understood form of dissociation is that of the trance states of spirit mediums who preside over spiritual séances.”255
There is an interesting clash of worldviews here. For psychiatry, mediumship is a form of dissociation in which the “spirits” are assumed to be splintered fragments of the psyche. For the shaman, on the other hand, and also the Western medium or channeler, the “spirits” are experienced as distinct entities. To decide between these two views is far trickier than it first appears, as we will see in a later chapter.
Mediumship/channeling can be a complex phenomenon, which, though producing much nonsense, can sometimes produce meaningful, even profound, information.158; 195 To simply dismiss it as “hysteria” or dissociation would be an unfortunate error that would prevent us from exploring an unusual capacity of mind. We will return to it later.
The Shamanic Journey
A third phenomenon that might be considered dissociative is the shamanic journey. Here the shaman enters an ASC and experiences traveling as a soul or spirit to other worlds, having complex visions and meeting spirit beings.
The journey might be considered a dissociative disorder for several reasons:
1) The ASC has traditionally been described imprecisely as a “trance”; trances are listed as a culturally specific form of dissociative disorder.8
2) Some of the shaman’s experiences and behavior may be involuntary, and
3) The experiences may seem bizarre, at least to Westerners.
However, there are several arguments against diagnosing shamanic journeys as dissociative disorders. First, the journey is culturally valued, and so to label it as a disorder may be to “fail to distinguish clinic and culture.”424, n
Moreover, the shaman has control over her trance; she enters and leaves it at will. This is very different from classic dissociative disorders that appear to overtake and control their victims. For example, “The Siberian shaman may fall into a state of partial hysterical dissociation like the hysteric in, say Britain, but this state he voluntarily seeks and in doing so he obtains authority and respect from the tribe.”424
Nor does the shamanic journey seem to function as a psychological defense mechanism. In clinical disorders, dissociation functions as a defense mechanism by reducing and distorting consciousness in order to protect the self by avoiding psychological pain. The shamanic journey seems to do just the opposite. Here the shaman deliberately opens herself to either her own pain and suffering, that of her people, or even that of spirits in other worlds, in order to resolve the pain.
This is not to deny that the journey can sometimes be used as a psychological defense, since almost anything can be used defensively. However, this is very different from saying that the journey serves primarily as a defense. Therefore, it seems that there are several arguments against interpreting the shamanic journey as a dissociative disorder.o
LIVING IN A WORLD APART:
PSYCHOSIS AND SCHIZOPHRENIA
Epileptics and neurotics have trouble with the world, but psychotics live in their own world. Lost in private fantasies and beliefs, yet unable to recognize them as the hallucinations and delusions that they are, psychotics suffer in their own virtual realities, unwitting victims of their mind-created nightmares. Small wonder that psychotics can seem bizarre and incomprehensible to the rest of us.
Even though shamans’ experiences make perfect sense to them, they can seem completely bizarre to someone from another culture. Not surprisingly, some Westerners therefore decided that shamans are psychotic. Gross examples include the French anthropologist George Devereux, who described the Mohave shaman as “an outright psychotic,”69 and a contemporary psychiatrist who concluded that schizophrenia and shamanism share “grossly non-reality-oriented ideation, abnormal perceptual experience, profound emotional upheavals, and bizarre mannerisms.”338
The experiences that have most concerned observers have been the initial crisis and the visionary experiences during the shamanic journey. Consequently, we need to examine both of these.
The shamanic journey can be assessed accurately since we possess many detailed accounts of it from native shamans and also from Westerners who have undertaken authentic shamanic training and their own journeys. When the shamanic journey is carefully compared to a schizophrenic episode, as is done in a later chapter, it becomes clear that they are very, very different.
Initiation Crisis
For initiation crises, the situation is less clear since we have so little firsthand data on them. Two questions need to be addressed. These are whether the crises are consistent with psychosis and, if so, whether they are consistent with schizophrenia.
The diagnosis of psychosis during the initial crisis has been based on both the shaman’s experience and behavior. At this time the shaman-to-be may experience herself as tormented and controlled by spirits. She may also exhibit confusion and emotional turmoil, may withdraw from society, and exhibit bizarre behavior such as going naked, refusing food, and biting herself.
However, this belief in spirit possession and persecution is fully consistent with the cultural worldview. In fact, at one time or another many people in the tribe may feel persecuted. What is unique about the shaman is not that she complains of persecution by spirits; it is that she eventually learns how to master and use them.
Given the limited data and the cultural setting, all we can conclude is that the bizarre behavior associated with some initiation crises could be consistent with a psychotic episode. However, it is important to note that initiation crisis disturbances are usually temporary, and only a small percentage of shamans undergo them. This means that only a very small percentage of all shamans, if any, would suffer a psychosis. For a more technical discussion of the possible kinds of psychosis that might occur during an initiation crisis, see endnote p.
This is not to say that all shamans are models of health or model citizens. However, it is to say that contrary to centuries of pathologizing, the vast majority of shamans cannot be diagnosed as mentally ill. In short, shamanism certainly cannot be neatly dismissed as the confused productions of primitive or pathological minds. Something much more remarkable, rewarding, and profound is going on.