The Defilers: Interesting article on mental illness vs. the demonic

Winner of the 2005 Best New Canadian Christian Author Award.

Interesting article on mental illness vs. the demonic

This Washington Post article looks at the differing attitudes immigrants might have towards mental illness. Some of it concerns the Virginia Tech shooter. Sandra D. Boodman writes:

Days after the shootings, there were reports that in the months before the April 16 tragedy Cho's mother had sought assistance from several Northern Virginia Korean churches in ridding Cho of what one pastor called the youth's "demonic power."

Seeking help from a church for a psychological problem is common practice in the Korean community, psychiatrists say, because churches play a singularly important role. It is the place many immigrants turn to as a last resort -- if they seek help at all.

"Asians don't view it as a sickness or an illness, but as a family curse," said Esther Chung, a minister and part-time counselor at the Korean Family Counseling and Research Center in Vienna. "They try to take care of it themselves."

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