Case Study: Annelise Michel

Anneliese was a German Catholic woman who was said to be possessed by demons, and therefore had man exorcisms carried out on her. The case has been mistaken for mental illness, religious hysteria, and abuse. The Exorcism of Emily Rose is one movie that was loosely based around Michel’s story about her possession. Anneliese was born on 21^st September 1952 in West Germany into a strict Catholic family. When she turned sixteen, she was diagnosed with epilepsy due to continuous seizures she kept having, and she was later diagnosed with depression and began to hear voices in her head. Michel’s depression began to get worse because her treatment she was receiving in her psychiatric hospital was not working. Her long term treatment was unsuccessful, in every aspects of her illness, which frustrated Anneliese deeply. Anneliese began to blame her illness on demonic possession, because she could not withstand religious rites, or walk past a crucifix. Michel had another seizure in her psychiatric hospital where she was saying and began talking about devil faces that she could see.  Michel was now certain that she was not ill but she was possessed and therefore appealed for an exorcism from the Catholic Church.  Many priests declined her, and she was put back on medication used for schizophrenic patients. She went on a pilgrimage, and at this point her family had finally come to conclusion she is possessed.  Finally they met Ernst Al, who agreed to perform an exorcism on Anneliese and after sixty seven exorcisms; Anneliese began to starve herself due to the exorcisms. On July 1^st, Anneliese died in her house due to malnutrition and dehydration which was blamed on the priests who performed the exorcisms on her, and were then fined.

This case study has shown us the effects of a possession and thus given us inspiration for our main antagonist. In researching Anneliese Michel, we gained a better understanding of the effects of possessions and the means people go through to be rid of them. This also gave us the idea of our antagonist's possession being misdiagnosed as schizophrenia and therefore not taken seriously until it is forced to be taken seriously.