I may be in the wrong site but I really do not know where to investigate. Is it possible to develop the “cult-like” mind and thought processes from Internet occult sites and reading books?

My son, who is 15, was just diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome while being in a hospital behavioral unit for suicidal thoughts. The focus of his total energy in on “spiritualism, witchcraft and the occult.” He does not nor has he ever taken illegal drugs. He is on 600 mg of Seroquel to control his thoughts, which include that he can astral travel and has been to Iraq, and that he can enter “another world“ where he is the hero or"god-like" character. The doctors can handle the medical end but they have told me they cannot “deprogram him” and this will take years of therapy.

His preoccupation with the occult has grown and includes spell making, candle burning and praying to numerous gods, statues of which sit around the house. This started when he was 12 and he started out with drawing the Pentagram and wearing the Pentagram symbols in necklaces and other items. He has approximately 35 occult books and belongs to several Internet sites, which promote the occult. He insists it is ok because there is no Satanism involved, however, he has a prayer to Luther who I was taught to believe was the devil, but he insists it is not so. The fascination is so intense that he truly believes that "dead is not dead". Even after 5 days of treatment, he still cannot stop talking about mysticism ideas. I cringe each time he mentions it and of course with Asperger Syndrome - changing the topic of discussion is impossible because he keeps coming back to it. He has created this cult thinking on his own -- meaning he does not belong to an outside group.

The oddest quirk in this whole scenario is that he has attended Catholic school his whole life and currently is a freshman in a Catholic high school. However, he refuses to declare himself Catholic and insists he believes there is 1 Supreme God but that there are numerous gods and spirits roaming this earth. He is constantly arguing with the teachers and tries to convert others to his way of thinking.

He is ready to come home and the doctor has advised me to "destroy all the books" and ban the Internet. What do I do when he starts talking about astral travel or certain gods? He has done this at school also and the kids are afraid of him because of these ideas he freely states and they know he "casts spells". The principal called and said my son's preoccupation with death and death like subjects is causing unrest and he could be expelled. Thanks for any suggestons.

the real subtext is power, and its often a way to discover your own identity, apart from your family.

I knew someone whose mother hated the Catholic church, because she had a bad time growing up in it. So my pal became a Catholic for a number of years as part of her adolescence, and it pissed her mother off, big time.

In the case of going online, a person can pick his or her choice of subject matter and binge on it. In conversation with real live people, you cant obsess about a topic without people eventually getting bored and telling you 'Lets change the subject, this is getting old.' Computers can foster obsessions in a way that face to face social interactions do not.

As for occultism, it isnt necessarily 'bad' (though some subgroups within it are definitely unsafe), but that today society has become more conservative and risk averse. A youngster with these interests is more likely to catch flak than in the 1970s, when things occult were 'in vogue'and more 'mainstream' than today.

Problem is, as you've mentioned, in conditions like Asperger's where 1) a person's thought patterns become obsessive and 2) they dont know how to read social cues indicating that they're upsetting people,. then this really gets tough.

**I am not a mental health professional. I recommend that first and formost you get your son hooked up with a therapist who specializes in Asperger's and a support group on Asperger issues for you and your family.

***Key thing is you have just a few years left while you still have the legal power to make your son get medical treatment and counseling. After he's 18 or 21 depending on which state you live in, he's legally free and cannot be forced to get help.

These few years are your last chance for your son to learn some social skills. *I recommend a discussion with a social worker to review your options*. There's a chance that an intensive inpatient program may be what your son needs. That would get him away from his computer, set some limits on how much he can interact with his spooky material and put him in a setting where he'd be supervised and get intensive tutoring in social skills and how to read interpersonal cues and body language.

Hi,

I'm new here,too. This is my first post,too. Be that as it may, I empathize with you as a parent myself AND with your son as well. [I remember how hard it was, for me, as a teenager.]

I can only empathize, but I do believe in prayer, and I will pray for both of you.

I hope you will keep us posted.