Psychologist lagging behind exorcists in Algeria: University study reveals

A Master thesis that deals with exorcism in Algeria has revealed that, sorcery, the evil eye and demons’ obsessions are the most widespread spiritual diseases among Algerians outnumbering the organic ones.

•  
• This phenomenon has led to the spread of charlatanism with the benediction n of the authorities at the expense of the psychotherapists who grew helpless in front of this “fait accompli”. The survey insists on the necessity of establishing a kind of partnership between the exorcists and the psychologists to bar the route to the charlatans.
•  
• The same survey has revealed that the exorcists have cured 70% of the diseases that modern medicine has failed to explain including sorcery and the evil eye.
•  
• The psychologists Mohammed Hamek has filmed several exorcists in different corners of the country and noticed that 50% of them are herbalists while 90% do not possess premises to perform their activities and 90°% wear religious clothes. The great majority of the exorcists are undergraduates, the same survey revealed.
•  
• 70% of the people who seek help of the exorcists are those who believe that they are possessed by an evil spirit, the searcher has indicated in his survey.
•  
• Most of the exorcists rely on the Koran and prayers in addition to invocations in some liquids to treat their patients. The exorcists also use talismans and even hypnosis as a modern practice to treat their patients.