A community survey of psychological symptoms: evaluating evolutionary theories regarding shamanism and schizophrenia

Abstract

Evolutionary theories regarding shamanism and schizophrenia provide hypotheses testable through analysis of survey data. A questionnaire, administered to a predominately African-American sample in North Carolina (N = 965), surveyed schizotypal experience and other psychological symptoms, absorption and related psychological variables, childhood and adolescent difficulty, and incidence of unusual experiences (apparitions, paranormal dreams, waking ESP, out-of-body experience, near-death experience, sleep paralysis, UFOs, spiritual healing, and religious experiences). Study findings replicated Mirowsky's results regarding overlapping boundaries between psychiatric diagnoses. Findings also supported evolutionary hypotheses regarding correlations between schizotypal experiences, psychological variables related to shamanism, unusual experiences, and childhood/adolescent difficulty. Findings suggest use of religion-based cognitive behavioural therapy for distressed people reporting frequent unusual experiences.

Keywords:

• schizotypy
• psychosis
• hypnosis
• shamanism
• absorption
• schizophrenia

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank the anthropology undergraduate students who collected survey data and the social research methods students who entered data.