Mother of two who appeared ‘possessed’ during full moons, diagnosed with a rare condition

A mother-of-two who fell into a ‘trance-like’ state during the full moon has been diagnosed with a rare mental disorder.

The woman reportedly acted “strangely” during a full moon event, and began speaking in a different voice, sitting unusually still and sobbing uncontrollably.

The episodes often started without warning, her family said, and lasted up to two hours — during which the woman appeared “possessed.”

The 55-year-old housewife, originally from India, was treated by local alternative medicine practitioners for seven years before she was finally hospitalized.

Doctors there carried out tests on her liver, kidneys and brain, which were all normal – but a psychiatric assessment revealed that she had suffered from depression since adolescence.

She also told doctors that she suffered from low energy, feelings of hopelessness and social withdrawal. This, combined with her erratic behavior, led to a diagnosis of ‘trance and possession disorder’ (TPD) – a condition of altered consciousness and inconsistent behavior – with dysthymia – a moderate form of depression.

The woman was put on antidepressants and attended weekly psychotherapy sessions to help improve her symptoms.

Over the following months, her condition gradually improved and the periods when she appeared ‘possessed’ became less frequent.

Disclosure of the case report in the diary Cureussaid her doctors – from the Datta Meghe Institute of Higher Education in Maharashtra, India: ‘Psychotherapy played a crucial role in helping her understand the link between her depressive tendencies and trance episodes.

‘She learned effective coping strategies and assertiveness skills to manage stress and emotional triggers, which contributed to her overall well-being.’

They added: ‘The delay in seeking treatment for TPD secondary to stigmatization (particularly observed in rural areas) may worsen patient symptoms.’

TPD is a rare condition with no known estimates of how many people suffer from it.

It is often characterized by patients experiencing extreme constriction or loss of awareness of their surroundings, leading to a lack of responsiveness and uncontrollable movements of the limbs or fingers and toes.

In the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes, the global system used to define diseases, TPD is described as when an individual’s sense of personal identity is replaced by an external ‘possessive’ identity and in which the behavior or the movements of the individual are experienced. as controlled by the possessing agent.

The woman in the case report was taken to hospital by her daughter, who said her mother was also affected frequent headaches, bad mood, difficulty performing daily tasks, sleep problems and withdrawn behavior.

According to members of her family and close social circle, she had no history of drug abuse.

Her episodes of “possession” are said to occur most frequently during the full moon, the family said, but could occur at any time of the day.

Some research has suggested that a full moon affects sleep, potentially leading to less sleep in general and less deep and REM sleep.

This disruption can cause a person to be much more tired during the day, increasing the risk of concentration problems, exhaustion and conditions such as psychosis – or loss of contact with reality.

However, a larger 2015 study of 2,125 people found no link between sleep and the moon cycles.

In 2022scientists revealed a similar TPD case in a woman from Poland.

The woman, who was Roman Catholic, sometimes suffered from a lack of control over sexual impulses and changes in consciousness and had to undergo an exorcism before seeking help from doctors.

When they revealed the case, doctors warned other doctors to avoid using the word “possession” because it was “burdened with social consequences” and could “reinforce patients’ beliefs about the supernatural.”