Introduction of The Exorcism of Emily Rose
A movie released in the year 2005 “Exorcism of Emily Rose” based on a true incident that happened with a woman named Anneliese Michel. The tragic case of Anneliese Michel highlights a distressing blend of faith, mental illness, and legal repercussions. Diagnosed with mental sickness led the Catholic family to seek an exorcism. Despite undergoing exorcism sessions, Anneliese died in 1976 from malnutrition. Her death raised critical questions about the interplay between religious beliefs and mental health care.
Early Life and Diagnosis
Anneliese Michel, born in September 1952 into a Catholic family, was a girl from Klingenberg, West Germany. Her parents were very religious believed in God and also believed in the existence of demons. Anneliese led a normal childhood and attended school like any other child. However, at the age of 16, she began experiencing paroxysms and was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy.
Struggles with Mental Health
As time went on, Anneliese’s condition worsened. She started feeling depressed and began experiencing hallucinations, such as hearing strange, creepy voices. Despite her parents taking her to numerous psychiatrists and neurologists, her mental health did not improve. She even attempted suicide and reported seeing demonic faces and hearing their voices. Anneliese was hospitalized, but nothing seemed to work.
Seeking Help from the Church
After five years of continued medication and no improvement, her parents convinced that she was possessed by a demonic entity, decided to seek help from the Catholic Church. They continued her medical treatment but eventually after seeing no results. Michel turned to a family friend who was running a church.
Observations of Possession
Observers noticed that Anneliese’s voice would change when she was possessed. She asserted that she was Adolf Hitler, Lucifer, and various other figures. Sometimes she ate insects, threw things, cried, and threatened others. Despite these incidents, the Catholic Church initially rejected their requests for an exorcism multiple times due to strict criteria.
The Exorcism
Eventually, Anneliese’s condition met the Church’s criteria for possession. In 1975, local priests received approval from the bishop to perform an exorcism. During these sessions, Anneliese showed signs of aggression and continued taking her medications. However, her condition did not improve; in fact, she became more aggressive, even eating insects alive.
Decline and Death
The exorcism sessions were very painful and lasted up to four hours each. Anneliese underwent 67 such sessions, one or two per week, but her health continued to deteriorate. She ultimately died on July 1, 1976, from malnutrition and dehydration, not from demonic possession.
Legal and Medical Aftermath
An investigation was conducted, resulting in the priests and Anneliese’s parents being found guilty of negligent homicide. Doctors testified that Anneliese was not possessed but was suffering from psychological effects due to her religious beliefs. They diagnosed her with three mental illnesses:
Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: A neurological condition causing seizures that originate from the temporal lobes, affecting behavior and emotions, often accompanied by hallucinations and intense religious experiences.
Anorexia Nervosa: A mental sickness in which a person is frightened about his/her weight even if they are healthy, the reduced amount of food leads to malnutrition and dehydration.
Hyper-religious Personality Disorder: An excessive preoccupation with religious themes and practices that interfere with daily functioning, often exacerbated by underlying neurological or psychological conditions.
Anneliese Michel’s tragic story remains a powerful and haunting example of the complex interplay between faith, mental health, and the law.