mental health

Exorcism Is Booming

By on • ( 2 Comments )



I recently stumbled upon a “fact” floating around social media that exorcism is now a booming business.

A booming business.

Like tech. Like wellness. Like artisanal sourdough.

Somewhere between oat milk and AI, we’ve apparently made room for demons.

Now, before we all start side-eyeing our neighbors and clutching sage bundles, let’s pause.

Is it actually booming?

Sort of. In a very specific, niche, slightly medieval-meets-modern-anxiety kind of way.

Certain religious institutions, most notably the Catholic Church, have reported an increase in requests for exorcisms. There are even more priests being trained in it.


Let’s get psychologically curious for a second.

Because whenever something like this “booms,” it’s rarely about the thing itself.

It’s about what the thing represents.

We are living in a time where:

Everything is uncertain
Information is overwhelming
Control feels aspirational at best

So what do humans do when life feels chaotic and hard to explain?

We look for clear narratives.

Preferably ones with:

A villain
A cause
And ideally, a ritual to fix it

Because “I feel off, overwhelmed, disconnected, and I don’t know why” is a very uncomfortable place to sit.

“Something external is wrong and can be removed”?

Oddly soothing.

Also, let’s not underestimate the role of late-night Netflix.

You watch one documentary at 11:47 PM about unexplained phenomena and suddenly:

Your house has “energy”
Your mood has “shifted”
And your dog is definitely “sensing something”

(Your dog is sensing a snack. But still.)

There’s also a deeper layer here.

We’ve become:

More psychologically aware
More emotionally literate

But also we’ve become more intolerant of discomfort.

Not in a weak way. In a human way.

We want explanations. We want solutions. We want relief.

Immediately, preferably.

And when science, therapy, and self-help don’t give fast, tidy answers?

Well, nter more dramatic frameworks.

But here’s the grounded truth behind the boom.

Most legitimate exorcism processes involve:

Psychological evaluation
Medical screening
Ruling out mental health conditions first

Which means even in the world of exorcism, we eventually circle back to:

👉 The brain
👉 The mind
👉 The human experience

So what does this “booming business” really say about us?

Not that we’re suddenly overrun with demons.

But that we are:

Searching for meaning
Struggling with uncertainty
Trying to make sense of discomfort

Also, I would just like to know:

If someone does ho into this line of work…

Do they casually mention it at parties?

> “Oh, I’m in consulting.”
> “Oh nice, what kind?”
> “…spiritual conflict resolution.”

In the meantime, I’ll be over here:

Not applying on Monster.com (which I assume still exists in some digital afterlife)
Watching my dogs closely
And trying to distinguish between existential dread and needing a snack

Because honestly?

In this world…

It’s sometimes hard to tell.

Categories: mental health, current events, Religion, Psychology, Culture, identity, society

Tagged as: , , , , ,

2 replies »

  1. Hi!

    Allow me to comment your interesting post. As a Buddhist priest who performs exorcisms – but also an extremely gifted AuDHD person, I like it when a professional in mental health speaks about a practice that exists since millennia. I would add something to acknowledge its actual function and psychological depth.

    Your post accurately diagnoses modern anxiety but maybe misunderstands the role of the ritual by viewing it solely through a Western, clinical – and a little bit cynical – lens.

    When we perform these rituals in our Buddhist tradition, we are not looking for an external villain or a fast shortcut to bypass psychological discomfort. We are using the only language capable of reaching an individual whose suffering has transcended rational prose.

    You note that people seek clear narratives because sitting with overwhelming, unexplained discomfort is too difficult.

    This is true, but where you see a dramatic framework to be dismissed, we see a vital, culturally necessary mechanism for healing.

    In many traditional contexts, an individual experiencing profound sorrow, trauma, or existential fragmentation cannot find solace in a secular therapy room. Their worldview communicates through symbol and archetype. By externalizing the angst as a possession, the ritual allows the person to confront their suffering safely, while the community gathers to validate their pain and remove the isolation of mental illness.

    Furthermore, you mention that legitimate processes eventually circle back to the mind and the human experience. That is precisely where we begin. We do not believe in the literal, external monsters of Hollywood movies.

    The ritual is a skilful means to address deep states of angst and depression when conventional vocabulary fails. It is not an alternative to understanding the brain; it is an ancient psychological architecture that provides a structured path toward reintegration and relief where Western clinical modalities are culturally unavailable or ineffective. The risk many take is dismissing it as a medieval gimmick overlooks how symbols successfully sustain human psychological resilience.

    Thank you for your interesting posts,have a nice weekend!

    Raffaello

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

I welcome your thoughts