Saint Simeon the Stylite: a psychiatric examination of the life of a fifth century monk.

Abstract

Religion is now thefocus ofmore attention in psychiatry. This paper examines the lift ofthe fifth century monk, S imeon the Stylite, from a contemporary psychiatric perspective. S uch a retrospective examination presents dijficulties with regard to the diagnosis ofpossible psychotic phenomena. A f urther problem is trying to distinguish between a religious and a psychiatric interpretation qfparticular experiences. The authors outline the lift ofSimeon and some contemporary opinions. Theyagree with Kroll and deGanck that great caution is needed in the psychiatric interpretation and examination of an historical or religious lift . This paper details some qfthese dijficulties to help determine whether an understanding derivedfrom modern psychiatry is relevant to a different era.