Even though I’ve enjoyed what we’ve read of A Head Full of Ghosts so far, I’ve found myself most interested by the title and what it implies. In both The Exorcist and A Head Full of Ghosts, the possibility that the “possessed” character simply has schizophrenia is brought up. That got me thinking about schizophrenia itself, more specifically how we conceptualize it and how it relates to the idea of “possession.” If we define possession as an entity taking control or root in a host body of another, separate entity, then could we conceivably call schizophrenia a type of possession?
Tremblay’s title, taken from a Bad Religion song, creates the imagery of an individual whose head is filled with identities not their own, of someone who is “carrying” separate individuals within themselves. It feels obvious to me that what people in past centuries called “demonic possession” was in reality something along the lines of schizophrenia, but if there can be modern “technological ghosts” (along the lines of Bob Ross), is there a “modern technological” equivalent of possession? If someone is hearing and being influenced by voices locked within their own head, is that any less terrifying or uncanny than some supernatural force entering their body? I think by and large schizophrenia gets categorized as simply “hearing voices” or “seeing things”, and to do so is to drastically take away from what is actually occurring, and how frightening it can be.