Can a person trigger seizure on other people with sound

[noobody23]

Hi,

Just to be clear, I do not believe in possession, jinn or whatever spiritual stuff, I'm looking for scientific answers to what I have witnessed.

So, when you see a video of an "exorcism", you see the person having some kind of seizure/spasms, and you tell yourself they are either acting, or have an illness, and it has nothing to do with a demon or whatever. I used to think that too.

But here is the thing: my two sisters both went to see an Imam (muslim priest). They went to see him because they had relational problems in their lives, nothing to do with any previous cases of seizures.

When the Imam read them the Quran, they started to have a seizure/started to cry and stuff like that, I don't know the details, but they couldn't control their body. And it's not just the two of them, other people acted the same.

So here is the question: knowing that both my sisters were perfectly healthy, never had any physical/psychological problems before, is it possible that the Imam has somehow caused the seizure by just reading the Quran ?

My sisters told me that they weren't given anything to drink, so it can't be caused by any kind of drug, I can't seem to find any scientific explanation to this.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi noobody23, welcome to CWE!

Some people with epilepsy can have their seizures triggered by sound, but it would be unusual for two people with no prior seizure history to experience that simultaneously.
The only comparable thing I can recall is this: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/18/world/tv-cartoon-s-flashes-send-700-japanese-into-seizures.html However, photosensitivity to strobe lighting is relatively more common than audiosensitivity.

Your sisters may have experienced something called what are called Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures, specifically a subset called "conversion disorder".
You can read about both topics at the links below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogenic_non-epileptic_seizure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_disorder

Had your sisters been given any expectation of what might happen during the session with the imam?

 

[noobody23]

Thank you for your reply!

Yes they knew what might happen, one of their friends had experienced that before. That friend's story is a bit different. From what I was told, she had seizures where she screamed loudly, her family assumed she was possessed (I guess anyone would, it kinda looks freaky even when you know what it is). I don't know what happened next but she seems to be fine now.

What is even more weird, is that one of my sisters is always listening to audios of people reading Quran, and she reads it herself, and it had never triggered anything like that. It only triggered when that specific Imam read it.
Could it be related to the rythme/sound of his voice ?

I called and my sister gave me more details, so here is what she said happened:
First, her leg started to move by iteself, then her arm, her heart started beating faster, and she felt very bad inside, and her heart was hurting. She said that the pain amplified when he was reciting some parts.

Both my sisters freaked out, and he made them believe they are possessed, and they need to be cured. And of course, he asks for money (he lives off of that)... Now he said that he's going to Egypt, where there are more experts, and that it may help cure them because he alone, cannot cure them.

So I'm trying to convince my sisters that this Imam is a charlatan, and that he's manipulating them, hypnotizing them, but I need a concrete scientific proof or they won't believe me.

PS: I'm sorry if I'm on the wrong forum for that kind of questions, feel free to redirect me to another place where I could find more info/ask my questions. Thank you !

 

[noobody23]

Ok, I called my sister again and I have more info.
She told me that since she visited the Imam, the seizure happens even when her husband reads it ...

So it looks like that dude "activated" it, and now, whenever she hears it, she has a seizure. I haven't actually seen it myself, but I'll try to ask her to film it even though it's a bit uncomfortable to ask...

 

[Nakamova]

It sounds to me a bit like your sisters were manipulated via hypnosis. People who are susceptible (especially if they have been "primed" with an expectation of what might happen), can be hypnotized to behave a certain way in response to a specific trigger.

You my try contacting a professional hypnotist for their opinion, such as the one at this site:
https://incrediblehypnotist.com/2017/08/04/conversations-professional-hypnotists/

Ask her husband to film her the next time she "seizes". And then show her what she looks like. Sometimes that can help someone snap out of it.

 

[Nakamova]

One way to tell if someone has been hypnotized is to look at their eyes -- if they are in a hypnotic state, they will have display a nonreactive, dead-eyed stare. Their eyes won't shift, or blink or even react to motion or changes in light.

 

[noobody23]

I read somewhere that in order to hypnotize someone, the person being hypnotized has to understand what you're saying. In their case, it was all in Arabic and they don't speak Arabic at all.

In my opinion, what is more likely, is that it has been triggered by a huge amount of stress.
Imagine you are about to figure out if you are possessed or not. They must have very stressed.

And probably, every time her husband reads it, she knows what might happen and she also stresses a lot which might trigger it.

What do you think ? And do you know any type of seizure that can be easily triggered by stress ?

Edit: I went to read more about Conversion disorder and it might be it. I'm embarassed to tell her to film herself, so I'll ask her to go watch some videos on youtube and tell me if her seizures look anything like those in the videos.
Edit2: She told me that it looks nothing like what she saw on the videos, and she was mad at me because I won't believe that she's possessed by a Jinn. From what I understood, she's still concious when she has her "reaction". I didn't ask her more questions because she was already mad.

 

[Nakamova]

I read somewhere that in order to hypnotize someone, the person being hypnotized has to understand what you're saying. In their case, it was all in Arabic and they don't speak Arabic at all.

No, someone can get hypnotized by any kind of soothing or droning sounds, chanting, etc. The words matter less than the tone. Being hypnotized is a bit like falling into a daydream. You are still conscious but awareness is impaired.

And do you know any type of seizure that can be easily triggered by stress?

Both epileptic and non-epileptic seizures can be triggered by stress. From the circumstances you've described I would say that these are non-epileptic physical reactions, brought about by a combination of her vulnerability (emotional stress) and deliberate manipulation (by the imam).

You could ask her husband to read something in Arabic that is NOT the quran (while pretending that it is), and see if she reacts the same way.

 

[noobody23]

You could ask her husband to read something in Arabic that is NOT the quran (while pretending that it is), and see if she reacts the same way.

Genius! Thank you for this idea!
I'll see if he agrees.