Dissociative possession and trance disorders show similar patterns across cultures, yet their cross-cultural validity remains debated, which hinders research and prevalence interpretation. In India, dissociative and conversion disorders are common in clinical settings. True cultural variations exist in these conditions. A new framework could help clinicians better understand possession states and spirit possession.
Religion and psychiatry both address the unknown, meaning, and healing, but their border is contested. Religious beliefs can shape behavior and may lie on a continuum with overvalued ideas and delusions. Possession states appear in psychiatric and religious categories, with research literature and cultural groups describing overlap. Studies suggest possible factors for differentiating schizophrenia from demonic influence and report on exorcism's efficacy among possessed or psychotic subjects. Diagnostic criteria have been proposed for dissociative trance disorder or possession disorder. Mental health professionals and religious believers may need criteria to distinguish adaptive from maladaptive religious experiences.