Mohammed was an epileptic?

[Kiouni]

I'm reading a book by French neuro-scientist Dr. Francisco Varela and he this about epilepsy:

Early Christians believed they were possessed by the devil and burned them at the stake. Other religions have thought that these people were possessed by some good spirit. The early Greeks thought that epilepsy was a blessing and it was called the "sacred disease." It's believed now that the wonderful visions of some great Christian saints like Joan of Arc were in fact epileptic seizures. Mohammed was believed to be an epileptic, as he admitted in his writing."

[papau]

1. Standard Medical books note ancient times"Sacred Disease" - but there is no "vision" aspect

Epilepsy (sometimes referred to as a seizure disorder),a common chronic neurological condition that is characterized by recurrent unprovoked epileptic seizures that are transient signs and/or symptoms due to abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain, affects approximately 50 million people worldwide.

Convulsive or other seizure-like activity, non-epileptic in origin, can be observed in many other medical conditions. These non-epileptic seizures can be hard to differentiate and may lead to misdiagnosis.

Epilepsy covers conditions with different aetiologies, natural histories and prognoses, each requiring different management strategies. A full medical diagnosis requires a definite categorisation of seizure and syndrome types.

No other condition has been implicated as the cause of the epilepsy.

After a seizure, it is typical for a person to be exhausted and confused. Often the person is not immediately aware that they have just had a seizure. During this time one should stay with the person - reassuring and comforting them - until they appear to act as they normally would. In some instances the person may also vomit after coming to. People should not eat or drink until they have returned to their normal level of awareness, and they should not be allowed to wander about unsupervised. Many patients will sleep deeply for a few hours after a seizure - this is common for those having just experienced a more violent type of seizure such as a tonic-clonic. In about 50% of people with epilepsy, headaches may occur after a seizure. These headaches share many features with migraines, and respond to the same medications.

The word epilepsy is derived from the Greek epilepsia, which in turn can be broken in to epi- (upon) and lepsis (to take hold of, or seizure).] In the past, epilepsy was associated with religious experiences and even demonic possession. In ancient times, epilepsy was known as the "Sacred Disease" because people thought that epileptic seizures were a form of attack by demons, or that the visions experienced by persons with epilepsy were sent by the gods. However, in many cultures, persons with epilepsy have been stigmatized, shunned, or even imprisoned; in the Salpêtrière, the birthplace of modern neurology, Jean-Martin Charcot found people with epilepsy side-by-side with the mentally retarded, those with chronic syphilis, and the criminally insane. In Tanzania to this day, as with other parts of Africa epilepsy is associated with possession by evil spirits, witchcraft, or poisoning, and is believed by many to be contagious.<18> In ancient Rome, epilepsy was known as the Morbus Comitialis ('disease of the assembly hall') and was seen as a curse from the gods.

Stigma continues to this day, in both the public and private spheres, but polls suggest it is generally decreasing with time, at least in the developed world; Hippocrates remarked that epilepsy would be considered divine only until it was understood.

(above from wiki)

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. I think it depends on where in the brain the seizure occurs

I remember reading some time ago that a seizure in the temporal lobes can cause all of the symptoms of a religious vision. Likewise several forms of schizophrenia. It has been postulated that Paul's vision on the road to Damascus was actually a psychotic break, as the symptoms described in his letters (falling down in a fit, amazing visions, temporary blindness, etc.) fit such an event very closely; perhaps Muhammad had such breaks frequently.

[varkam]

5. Seconded.

It depends largely, AFAIK, on the focal point of the seizure. I wish I could remember the name of the professor, but there was an article in Wired I believe that discussed a researcher in Canada who was actually inducing religious visions and experiences in people by stimulating areas of the temporal lobe. If he can do it with artificial stimulation, then I imagine a seizure could pull it off as well.

[trotsky]

2. Very common among notable religious figures.

http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/famous_religious.html

According to Dr. Jerome Engel, a number of men and women who have attained religious prominence may have done so in spite of, or perhaps due to, their epileptic signs and symptoms. In fact epilepsy, as "the sacred disease," has been profoundly intertwined with religious practices throughout the ages and the world.

Saint Paul's seizure-like experiences are the best documented of the major religious figures. On the road to Damascus he saw a bright light flashing around him, fell to the ground and was left temporarily blinded by his vision and unable to eat or drink. Paul is thought by some physicians to have had facial motor and sensitive disturbances coming after ecstatic seizures; they have diagnosed him with temporal lobe epilepsy which occasionally developed into secondary tonic-clonic attacks.

... (more at link)

[dave_p]

3. Tha allegation's common

... because modern observers too often find it easier than contemplating the ancient or medieval mind. Visions and revelations were nothing medical then, they were just part & parcel of a dimly-understood world where supernatural agency filled in the gaps left by incomplete scientific knowledge.

We have visions all the time, but we think of them as unconscious sparks of memory and imagination, and call them dreams. To the ancients there was no particular reason why such things shouldn't be seen as revelations from a deity. I prefer our way, but our way wasn't theirs.

[Orrex]

6. Welcome to DU, dave_p!

:hi:

Personally, I have no patience with retro-diagnosis (or diagnosis in absentia) of prominent historical figures. Too often (which is to say, almost always) it's put forth as a way to draft the historical figure into serving a modern cause, however noble that cause might be. Einstein is canonized as the patron saint of Asperger's Syndrome. Leonardo is diagnosed with ADHD or OCD. And on and on. Sorry, but in the absence of direct and extensive examination, these diagnoses are little better than pure speculation. Certain physical and/or genetic conditions may be diagnosed from beyond the grave, of course, but these are the exception.

It's dangerous and trivializing IMO to ascribe the behaviors of centuries-dead people to illnesses that we've only begun to understand in the past few decades.

[papau]

7. Indeed a vision is only a dream if the person feels that it is only a dream - but

religion is personal - and both the non-religious and the religious can not second guess another person's life experiences.

A vision is a far cry from a nerve stimulation, or not. Again it is the personal interpretation.

If the observer is frighten by the idea of visions, or feels he has never had them so no one else could have had them, or believes and has faith that science has or will have all the answers, then it is a given that the observer believes those with visions are just having dreams or nerve damage.

If ones life experience has had or is open to visions and does not see a need to put ones faith in science eventually having all the answers, the accepting a vision as a vision is likely.

It all depends on where one wants to put ones faith - sort of what church do you chose to belong to- eh?

:-)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

8. I had not heard this before

Especially the fact that Mohammed wrote. He was illiterate. He recited the verses of the Qur'an given to him by the Angel Gibril (Gabriel), and they were recorded by others. I would be interested to know what "proof" this person has that Mohammed was epileptic. Whose words is he really citing?

[Name removed]

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