This has been on my mind the last month as it seems to be cropping up in things I read a lot. People in blogs, the local newspaper and here talking about going to therapy to deal with/exorcise (wtf) their demons. I have had things happen in my past some not nice, some horrible but they are just things that happened. Do you think calling them "demons" gives them a power they do not deserve?

[stopdog]

I don't - I have not had the therapists use such a term.

Sorrry not therapists this is just people talking about their experience in therapy. I am sorry i wasn't clear. I don't think i have heard a T say this either.

[mindwrench]

In my perception, the connotation is generally negative towards the person being referred to in the news stories, much like the term "skeletons in the closet". If i were to refer to things that trouble me as demons, I don't know that it makes them any more difficult to deal with, but it would sure sound worse if I were the subject of a news story.

[TishaBuv]

Yeah, they mean things that haunt you. How about skeletons in the closet? Good observation. Yes, I think those terms give them more power and a life of their own and are scary.

[leomama]

Originally Posted by BunYip

This has been on my mind the last month as it seems to be cropping up in things I read a lot. People in blogs, the local newspaper and here talking about going to therapy to deal with/exorcise (wtf) their demons. I have had things happen in my past some not nice, some horrible but they are just things that happened. Do you think calling them "demons" gives them a power they do not deserve?

I think it's totally inappropriate in a secular context.

[stopdog]

I don't think it is unusual for someone to use language like "personal demons" to refer to problems. I have heard it used - just not by the two therapists I hire. I have read such language in their books and blogs and such. It is a bit over the top language for my personal taste - but I don't think it gives anything too much power - I have never thought of it as being that big of a deal. More just a bit of overstatement or hyperbole is how I see it.

Perhaps it stems from some biblical ideas that those with MI were possessed by bad spirits.

[Onward2wards]

Originally Posted by Little Cat

Perhaps it stems from some biblical ideas that those with MI were possessed by bad spirits.

I think that's it. Now it has become a common term for whatever issues bother us and seem to crop up repeatedly. For me, the term doesn't give things any more weight, it just metaphorically describes that feeling of being oppressed or tripped up by factors that aren't immediately apparent in the moment.

[growlycat]

I dislike the term. Not only does it have superstitious connotations but it puts the blame on a bogeyman, not an abuser, not yourself for whatever responsibility you can own (you don't own all of it that's for sure). It makes it sound like mental illness is a hex. To quote insane clown posse "magnets. How do they work? ". Yeah, stupid like that kind of stupid.

[rainbow8]

I've heard it used too and I don't like it. It makes me think of the movie, The Exorcist! It's too violent of a word, in my opinion.

[Argonautomobile]

It's not a term I use much for myself, but I understand the temptation to. Sometimes we run into things that seem unlanguageable in their horror. It can be difficult--impossible, sometimes--to find words that carry the weight that their referent deserves. Especially when the more accepted parlance seems sanitized--Carlin has a great monologue about this. He talks about how "shell shock" (A vicious term, it sort of bursts from the lips, kind of like guns themselves) morphed into "Post-traumatic stress disorder" and then into PTSD--a term that puts decidedly more distance between the person and the trauma.

So, yeah, I can understand referring to one's own demons. I've (privately) used dramatic or religious vocabulary when thinking about my own neuroses. It's sort of hard not to, when you feel damned.

[growlycat]

Quoting carlin makes my heart beat a little faster

[Argonautomobile]

here it is

[atisketatasket]

I don't have any problem with the phrase, it's a metaphor, and one used for so long I don't think it has any more significance than being synonymous with "serious issues."

Incidentally, if anyone wants an etymology lesson, it's from the Greek δαίμων, which doesn't mean what we think of as a demon, but something or someone strange, which cannot be comprehended or understood by the speaker. And so it acquired a supernatural meaning later.

It is a very common idiom to "face your demons" or "confront your demons". Been around for a very long time.

[TraceNspace]

I have used it to describe intrusive thoughts more than say hurtful people or events. It's for lack of a better word. I don't believe in demons. In the sense of facing demons, I don't think using an analogy of an evil thing to describe a negative thing gives it power over me. I lean more towards feeling cathartic to be able to stress how evil and awful "my demons" or my intrusive thoughts feel to me.

Originally Posted by BunYip

This has been on my mind the last month as it seems to be cropping up in things I read a lot. People in blogs, the local newspaper and here talking about going to therapy to deal with/exorcise (wtf) their demons. I have had things happen in my past some not nice, some horrible but they are just things that happened. Do you think calling them "demons" gives them a power they do not deserve?

No. It depends on what influences people have had in their life's.
That might be the only way they can explain what's going on.

If the word doesn't work for you. Don't use it.
I've never used it, but I don't see any problems with others describing their inner life's using it.

I don't like the term. I come from a culture where literal demonic possession or spiritual possession is a real, pervasive belief which frequently hinders people from accessing the mental healthcare they desire to access.

Give it a couple of days. I'm sure there will be a poll regarding the use of the word 'demons'.

[stopdog]

Those guys do use it a frequently, I think:
How to Face Your Demons

http://www.livskompass.se/wp-content...f_ACT.2006.pdf

The Double Demons of Depression and Addiction | Dual Diagnosis

PUTTING SCHIZOPHRENIA'S DEMONS TO SLEEP | Behavioral Healthcare Magazine

Trip to the therapist drives out demons for stressed out bikers | London Evening Standard

just as examples

[divine1966]

I don't care either way if it's not used in therapy. I would be apprehensive about people using it in regards to therapy.

I at first thought this is about people who actually believe there are literally demons out there or that they are possessed by demons, so telling those people to "fight their demons" is a bad idea IMHO.

I am not bothered by the term but would not find it helpful to refer to my personal issues as demons. It is not because it has an esoteric connotation but because I don't find compartmentalizing my inner world and personality that way useful, for me it is not very compatible with a sense of integrity. I think the same way about any idea to separate good and bad versions of the self, especially when it comes to attributing problems to the "bad guy", isolating it and trying to get rid of it.

There is a version that I encountered in relation to addiction recovery, a program that labels addictive urges and behaviors as "the beast". I am not a fan of the concept of "inner child" for similar reasons. I think that segregating wounded or destructive parts of ourselves can sometimes be useful to raise awareness but, at least the way I feel, it also has potential to create a shift in responsibility for ourselves and our problems.