History of ‘Spiritist madness’ in Brazil

ALEXANDER MOREIRA-ALMEIDA *, ANGÉLICA A. SILVA DE ALMEIDA, FRANCISCO LOTUFO NETO
Edited by Dr TOM DENING

history_of_spiritist_madness pdf.

Spiritism is widely accepted in Brazil and influences psychiatric practice, especially through religious-oriented hospitals. However, during the first half of the twentieth century it was considered an important cause of mental illness.
This paper first reviews opinions on ‘Spiritist madness’, written by the most eminent psychiatrists of the time, and then discusses the epistemological factors that have contributed to the conflict between medicine and Spiritism. We critically examine the appropriateness of the methods used in the debates, and how this has led to inferences about associations and causal relationships.

Introduction

Throughout the last century, the psychiatric community has had a range of different attitudes to so-called mediumistic experiences. Although such
experiences are ancient and exist in every culture, well-controlled studies of the subject are scarce. Nowadays, psychiatry considers that spiritualist
experiences are culturally related, and are non-pathological in most cases, even contributing to psychological development and well-being (Cardeña,
Lyinn and Krippmer, 2000; Grof and Grof, 1989; Lukoff, Lu and Tuner, 1992). However, the standpoint assumed by most of the international psychiatric community in the first half of the twentieth century was quite different. Mediumistic practices were taken as serious threats to the population’s mental health and were to be opposed, if necessary by using arrests and hospitalizations.
The historical study of the ‘Spiritist madness’ in Brazil is a special opportunity to analyse the relation between psychiatry and spiritualism, because
it fuses two essential elements of the conflict: a flourishing psychiatric society under strong European influence, and dissemination of religions based on mediumistic practices (Spiritism and Afro-Brazilian religions, such as Umbanda and Candomblé). This study describes and analyses Brazilian psychiatry with regard to Spiritism in the first half of the twentieth century, at the time when debates on the subject were most intense.

Conclusion

Although we have emphasized the importance of epistemological factors in the study of ‘Spiritist madness’ in Brazil, this does not mean that they are the sole nor the main factors. Epistemology is merely one perspective from which the problem can be approached. Our study shows the importance of a critical approach to organized knowledge and to standard practice – even if they seem ‘evident’ and defended by important ‘authorities’. One must realize that the complexity of the real world frequently challenges and overrides the current attempts of scientific explanations derived from controlled environments. The recognition of limitations to scientific knowledge must be balanced against mystification and overenthusiasm. The unfounded idea that science goes far beyond its actual limits is still strong today. For this reason, social and political problems are constructed as if they were scientific, and ‘solutions’ are offered in a simplistic way which ignores the complexities of the real-life social and political issues in
question (Chalmers, 1994).
Finally, Popper (1995) emphasizes a humble intellectual posture, since from every solution to a problem, new unsolved problems arise. He said:

I believe that it would be worth trying to learn something about the world
even if in trying to do so we should merely learn that we do not know much.
This state of learned ignorance might be a help in many of our troubles. It
might be well for all of us to remember that, while differing widely in the
various little bits we know, in our infinite ignorance we are all equal.