Carl Wickland

Carl August Wickland, born in Sweden in 1861, was a psychiatrist and psychical researcher in the early 20th century. After emigrating to the United States, he pursued a medical career, graduating in 1900 and becoming involved with various medical societies. Wickland eventually shifted his focus from conventional psychology to the belief that psychiatric conditions were caused by the influence of deceased spirits.

He developed a theory that patients were possessed by "obsessing spirits" and proposed that low-voltage electric shocks could help dislodge these entities. His wife, Anna, often assisted by acting as a medium to guide the spirits toward spiritual progress. Wickland's work gained attention within Spiritualist circles, who viewed him as an expert on "destructive spirits." He founded the National Psychological Institute in Los Angeles to investigate psychic phenomena, though this endeavor was criticized as "pseudo-psychology."

Carl Wickland departed from mainstream psychiatric thought, proposing that mental and psychological ailments were predominantly the result of possession by spirits of the deceased. He identified these entities as "obsessing spirits" that afflicted a significant number of his patients. Wickland's unconventional treatment involved the application of low-voltage electric shocks, which he believed could effectively expel these spirits. Crucially, his wife, Anna, played a vital role in this process, serving as a medium. Her function was to facilitate communication with the dislodged spirits, guiding them towards what Wickland termed "progress in the spirit world."

Within the Spiritualist community, Wickland was recognized as an authority on the topic of "destructive spirits." His extensive fieldwork and experiences were chronicled in his 1924 book, "Thirty Years Among the Dead." He reported being in contact with a spiritual entity known as the "Mercy Band," which he believed assisted in removing possessors and aiding them in the afterlife. However, his approach drew criticism from figures like psychologist Robert A. Baker, who placed Wickland among psychiatrists who prioritized the supernatural over scientific understanding. The National Psychological Institute he established in Los Angeles to study psychic phenomena also faced public criticism, with a letter in the journal *Science* in 1918 labeling its activities as "pseudo-psychology."