Från frälst till sinnessjuk : Religiositet, känslopraktiker och medikalisering i Sverige 1855–1900

Sammanfattning

This study explores the relationship between religiosity, emotions, and mental illness during the second half of the Swedish 19th century. The study aims to understand how emotions and expressions thereof are interpreted and answered to by different actors—the free churches, the surrounding society, and the medical professionals—and what consequences this entails. This is achieved by combining perspectives from the history of emotions with theories of medicalization and power to highlight the process in which the saved individual became mentally ill. Through material sourced from the magazines Evangelisten and Stridsropet, as well as medical records from Upsala Hospital, individuals emerge whose feelings and emotional practices, because of religious revival, moved beyond what was considered normal. Through the material, these expressions portray how people, depending on the meaning and values of their environment, are responded to in different ways, which in turn reveals broader systems of power. The medical perspective grew stronger and more influential during this time of change, when societal organization could be perceived as uncertain and unstable. The study shows that emotions and emotional practices are often consistent across different contexts, with differences primarily arising in the individual's surrounding habitus. Religious movements encouraged deviant behaviour to create cohesion and community but was met with criticism in interactions with the broader society. With the categorization of religious frenzy, a medical interpretation of these individuals was introduced. For the individual, religion plays one of two roles: either as a meaning-making force, providing security in difficult situations, or as an object of fear and anxiety, as the saved individual was consumed by the fear of being abandoned by God. The combination of source materials and the two different theoretical viewpoint is what sets the study apart from other discussions about religion and mental illness. It is concluded that the topic has potential to evolve and might be even more fruitful if discussed further.